Welling Up a Little? That’s the Street Art “Community” Feeling

May 24, 2010 Artists, NYC, Queens

Welling Court Mural Project Opens Over the Weekend in a Queens Community; Many Street Artists Contribute

There can be a bit of grand posturing around the word “community” especially by people (or corporations) who spend more time chasing the Gravy Train than climbing on the Love Train. And swimming in an acid-tongued media landscape that keeps saying we’re are a giant polarized society simply bubbling with animosity, you could be forgiven for not leaving your house, let alone breaking bread with your neighbor who is different.

JMR (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

New York people prove that lie to be wrong every day – we are a hugely diverse lot- our different mother tongues alone could lick a frosting bowl the size of Shea Stadium. And yet mysteriously all of us weird different kinds of people are all getting along with each other day after day – sometimes we even enjoy each other!

Dan Witz (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sweet Toof from Burning Candy Crew (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Welling Court Murals, a project with Street Artists in a neighborhood in Queens, New York, came to fruition on Saturday and the results were as colorful and eclectic as we are. While the people on the block barbecued and danced and played games, kids chased each other and rode their bikes and took many pictures of Street Artists doing their thing on the walls- spray cans, paint brushes, wheat paste, and markers busy.

Ron English, Darkcloud, Celso and Deeks (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saturday was the “show day” for this project that the folks at Ad Hoc Art, with Alison and Garrison Buxton at the helm, have been “community organizing” for a long time. However, by no means is it the end of the project, as new friendships and alliances were forged and a neighborhood has a new panoply of street art to look at, ponder, and hopefully be inspired by.

Clint (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Welling Court Mural Project was one of the most cohesive “community” events we’ve seen in a long time. Street Artists plus an engaged neighborhood of very nice people… delicious home-made foods, music from Latin America and India/Pakistan, adults, kids, painting, asking and answering myriad questions, posing for pictures in front of pieces — all proving again that the arts can bring people together. A sincere “Thank you” to Ad Hoc and Allison and Garrison and all the artists for putting your best out there for others to share.

Gaia, PMP, Leon Reid (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Michael DeFeo doing a little inside joke on that Banksy character (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

M-City (detail) (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nineta, Chris Stain (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Overview with Michael DeFeo, Royce Bannon. Matt Siren, Robots, Burning Candy and Too Fly (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Remi/Rough and Stormie Mills in their first ever New York piece (detail) (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lady Pink, Cycle (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ron English (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Welling Court Artists include: Alice Mizrachi, Beast, Chris Mendoza, Chris Stain, Celso, Cern, Cey Adams, CR, Cycle, Dan Witz, Darkclouds, Daryll Peirce, Don Leicht, Ellis G, Free5, Gaia, Garrison & Alison Buxton, Greg Lamarche, JMR, John Fekner, Lady Pink, Leon Reid, Matt Siren, M-City, Michael De Feo, Mr. Kiji, Pablo Power, Peripheral Media Projects, R. Nicholas Kuszyk, Remi/Rough, Ron English, Royce Bannon, Sofia Maldonado, Stormie Mills, Sweet Toof, Swoon, TooFly, Tristan Eaton, and Veng RWK.