CREATIVE ALLIANCE
The first project was a live painting at a super fun event outside the Creative Alliance. Hip Hop heads and performers from the 90's collaborated with today's scene for an awesome night. Gregg and I worked on a fun piece inspired by A Tribe Called Quest.
Live painting set up next to local dancers/breakers
Gregg working on the tape
"Street Poetry Is My Every Day" quote: by Tribe Called Quest, photo Citypaper
ARTSCAPE
Artscape is the largest outdoor arts festival, boasting 300k visitors over the weekend. Gregg spent Saturday working on a live painting in collaboration with Section1 a new art park in development for Baltimore.
Gregg takes a semi-shaded break from the heatwave to watch paint dry.
Gregg's final piece. Please contact richiebest2@gmail.com for purchase. All proceeds to Section1
Sunday, Gregg was at the GBCA Artscape tent. He worked on more live paintings throughout the day, but the main event was his spoken word performance. Thanks so much to GBCA for the platform and space for all of us lil Baltimore organizations to share our important messages!
Featuring 3 pieces, including "Nobody", Gregg speaks on Indigenous Life
setting up for some live painting
Indiginous Life x Street Life x Art Life
MURALS
Thanks to Mercury Management, we were able to find a few walls through East Baltimore for Gregg's portrait work. His first piece at 1001 N. Luzerne utilizes the unique grate/window in the middle of the wall.
From Gregg:
"This piece is produced to purely interact with the space is resides. The ‘window’ is playing a part in creating the idea that we can see into the heart of the figure. ... I challenged (the residents) to add to the window, making it more of what they wanted to see. Flowers, a heart, whatever. In the these city areas, there is urban decay. Creating art that changes what you’re looking at is provocative, to be sure, but challenging members of the community to look at and engage the work in a way that is not only meaningful to them, but adds new meaning to the work! "
Gregg's second mural was placed on Harford Road, near 25th.
From Gregg:
"With the concentration on portraits, it’s been important to create portraits of Indigenous people that exist. To place a portrait of an Indigenous person inside a cityscape that may not hold Indigenous people in an obvious way raises questions, but also makes bold statements. We’re still here, no matter how long you’ve been here, or who owns it, this is still Indian Land, we are diverse, beautiful and still here, among others. While a subtle thing, it’s an important thing, and now we have a beautiful Indigenous grandma smiling at you from the East Side of Baltimore!"
Enjoying Baltimore
A big part of HOME is getting the resident artists into the fabric of the city, specifically the Highlandtown neighborhood. The more an artist understands about the community they are working in, the more relevant the work becomes to the viewer. Thanks to all my friends that have welcomed Gregg with open, loving arms...this is definitely a team effort!
Rooftop chilling with Gregg and Scott Burkholder (friend and former Baltimore Love Project Director)
Alright, we're back to work! Looking forward to sharing more soon.
with love,
Michael
