"Pic of the Day"
Showing posts with label aerosol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aerosol. Show all posts
Monday, December 12, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Featured Artist: Lavie Raven
Over the past weekend, Community Rejuvenation Project was blessed to collaborate again with Lavie Raven, a master aerosol writer from Chicago. One of the fastest and most efficient writers that we've encountered. Raven is also an innovator in the world of Hip-Hop Education. A Co-Founder and Director of the University of Hip-Hop, Raven has been teaching youth the techniques of aerosol painting for 20 years. CRP founder, Desi W.O.M.E, was one of his students beginning in 1993. The University of Hip-Hop incorporates the other three elements of hip-hop including emceeing, deejaying and breaking as well. UHH is a program in numerous schools and community centers, including partnerships with Connect Force, the massive hip-hop program on the north side of Chicago. Raven is on the board of directors at the Southwest Youth Collaborative, which is home to the original University of Hip-Hop classes. Raven's art have taken him all over the country and to several countries. He regularly visits the Community Rejuvenation Project, at least once a year for the past four years. Raven's presence brings new energy and guarantees the creation of at least one mural over the course of days. Kilumbo Warriors, Respeta Tonantzin, and the 2009 Summer Youth Employment Program are just a few of the projects that Raven has participated in. He has also facilitated several cultural exchanges for youth between Chicago and Oakland. In 2012, CRP is looking to expand their collaboration with Raven and the University of Hip-Hop to four visits throughout the year.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Striking with Art: Underground Resistance surfaces in Ghost Town
Photos by Eric Arnold, Daniel Zarazua and Desi W.O.M.E
In solidarity with the Oakland General Strike and the Liberate Oakland Movement, the Community Rejuvenation Project is proud to present our latest mural, “Sprouted Prayers: Underground Resistance.” The project reflects the prayers of our ancestors manifesting in our placement in the struggle today. At the core of the mural is Underground Resistance, encouraging 99% struggling for economic and social justice to remain firm in their commitment. African and Indigenous elders and Taiwanese freedom fighters stand with the Black Panthers and Harriet Tubman endorsing and supporting the emerging generation of youth carrying the movement forward. Calendar images from the Mexica Sun Stone that mark relevant dates are interspersed with the butterflies also representing the ancestors. The youngest warrior on the wall is Selah, the latest addition to the W.O.M.E massive, who was born while the mural was being painted. Beats 737 added his name to the wall.
The vision for the new piece grew out of a dialogue initiated by Daniel Zarazua, a CRP photographer and regular collaborator, who wanted to see connections made to his hometown of Detroit and his motherland, Taiwan. Underground Resistance also has direct connection to the techno innovators with the same name. The collective of DJs and musicians carry a parallel revolutionary message and avant-guard approach to music. His research also led to the inclusion of the indigenous Taiwanese freedom fighters who resisted Japanese imperialism in the 1930s.
The mural features the work of guest artist and master aerosol writer, Lavie Raven (feature post on Raven coming soon). Raven has visited the collective regularly and flew in over the weekend to participate in a series of murals as CRP restores and redoes its works on the Martin Luther King Cultural Corridor. The project was the historic first meeting and collaboration between Raven and fellow master practitioner Mike 360. Rounding out the artists were Beats 737, Muse, Abakus, Pancho Pescador and Desi W.O.M.E. Photographer and Communications Director, Eric Arnold even contributed, painting kemetic symbols for the primarily African American community where the mural resides.
Located at 28th and Martin Luther King Way, the latest mural was created as part of the CRP’s mural restoration and maintenance program. When murals fade or are significantly vandalized, the collective returns to restore or repaint the works. The previous mural, “Four Elements,” had received some minor mosquito bites from the local fan club and faded significantly prior to its replacement with the latest works.
Visit Daniel Zarazua's website at www.domingoyu.com
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Why Abatement Sucks: New Mural Buffed in Ghost Town
Photos by Eric Arnold
The stretch of Martin Luther King Way running from West Grand Avenue to 580 Freeway lies within one of Oakland's deadliest neighborhoods, appropriately nicknamed Ghosttown by the local residents. Homeless encampments populate the long dark stretches under the freeway overpasses. Drugs and alcohol are rampant. Dotted with liquors store and abandoned buildings, the neighborhood accumulates the more litter than the majority of the city. Nearby San Pablo Ave is haven for prostitution.
A year ago, CRP made an effort to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood for local residents. The collective painted 5 murals along a four block stretch between 22nd and Sycamore and named the area the Martin Luther King Cultural Corridor in an effort to protect their work from city abatement. The project centered on 25th and MLK. In January 2010, CRP had picked up 7 bags of trash from that corner while birthing the original mural, Oakland Celebrations, depicting Carijama, indigenous and Chinese dancers connected through the wheels of colorful scraper bikes.
The collective had observed that the mural had accumulated a large collection of signatures from a confused fan club, who seemed to think that signing their name to mural would give them credit for painting it. Mike 360 and Desi W.O.M.E went to work transforming sections of the abandoned Foster's Freeze with new pieces and covering up the "mosquito bite" signatures. Across the street, the "Love, Art and Music are the Universal Language" mural on the chain link fence had been haphazardly flipped over by construction workers who were rebuilding the park. The park had been shut down years before when it devolved into a shooting gallery for local heroin addicts. The artists had only planned on doing some maintenance on the mural and left behind their clean-up tools. Regardless, the project was too massive for two people in one afternoon. The artists repaired the front of the building and left.
A plan was made to return the following week and do a more comprehensive project. Elijah would drive up from Santa Cruz and new works would be painted on the wood fence in the lot. The art would begin on Friday and a volunteer clean-up would be organized for Saturday morning. The trash piled behind the building dwarfed the litter in the front. Vandals had struck a newly painted, yet still boarded up house, with bubble letters that reached over the windows. The entire lot was strewn with garbage ranging from moldy couches to fast food packaging. Local dopefiends gathered in the clutter to smoke their rocks out of site. Amidst the rubble, a soggy abatement notice from the city of Oakland partially protruded limply from a pile near the fence.
As Elijah and Desi began on the most prominent area of the fence, local residents began passing by and complimenting them on their work. The two artists painted throughout the afternoon, utilizing the garbage to stand on and reach the top of the fence. Elijah was interested in making a statement for the local community and Desi drew the connection between the national foreclosure crisis and the neighborhood gentrification. Desi painted the word "Divest" in an elaborate style and Elijah complimented it with a character wearing the facade of a house as his attire, representative of the basic need in the community for adequate housing. They planned to write "Bankers' Greed vs. People's Need" on the side. As the sun was going down, the artists were joined by Beats who prepared a section to the left to say "Resistance." Right before dark, the artists were visited by two police officers. Expecting their support, Desi greeted them. They were shocked when they were told to stop immediately or face arrest. The owner of the fence had complained, even though the mural faced the abandoned lot and not the man's property. Desi and Elijah had gotten verbal permission from a man sitting on the porch of the house earlier that day, so the occurrence was strange. The artists' requests to speak to the owner were repeatedly denied. The group explained the plans for the clean-up project and were ignored. The property owner's word was final. The group was ordered to paint over the mural in the morning or face arrest. Meanwhile nothing would be done about the lot, because that was a different owner's responsibility. The next morning, the artists complied with the request and painted over the mural, leaving a message questioning the city's abatement strategy in its wake.
This experience exemplifies the city's disjointed approach to community clean-up. Artist painting a mural in an abandoned lot to improve the neighborhood are ordered to stop while nothing is done to clean the enormous piles of trash at the same location. Private property owners are the only people with rights under these circumstances. When they do not comply with abatement standards, they are given meaningless notices and the trash remains. When the community attempts to transform an abandoned and blighted lot, they are pushed out because they are not the property owners, yet the entire neighborhood is affected by the neglect of a few absentee landlords. Blight reinforces the degradation of the neighborhood in the consciousness of the community. Its demoralizes and disempowers the residents. Murals on the other hand, help define the identity of the neighborhood and become a source of pride. They give people something that they want to maintain. Given the proper support, murals can transform a community without pushing out its long-term residents and raise the property values for a neighborhood without gentrification. CRP believes in a holistic strategy to abatement that included surveys, murals, community clean-up, and block parties. Its time for a new approach to the maintenance of our neighborhoods.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Richmond Spokeshop Grand Opening
Richmond turned out deep to the grand opening of its first and only Bike Lounge, the Spokes Shop, on Sunday. Everyone from Mayor Gail McLaughlin to local farmers from Urban Tilth was on hand to dedicate the space and represent with Brian Drayton, executive director and the Spokes people, many young adults from all over Richmond. One young man explained his pride by stating that it was the first time he had seen a project all the way to fruition. CRP was in the building representing the popular mural painted by Elijah Pfotenhauer, Beats 737, and Desi W.O.M.E just a few weeks ago.
The Spoke Shop is an innovative approach to promoting cycling culture. It will be a lounge and neighborhood hub, with coffee, books on biking. Spokes will offer a mobile bike repair service and other was to support bikers in the community. Located near the newly renovated Greenway, it will serve bikers throughout out the Bay Area. CRP was honored to participate in making the dream a reality and looks forward to creating more murals dedicated to healthy lifestyles in Richmond.
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