Graffiti Grove
Graffiti Grove
@ Randall School
65 I Street SW Washington DC 20024
With the 2020 calendar year quickly approaching, we present a community engagement initiative that will incorporate what the redevelopment of Randall School stands for and the moments leading in to the demolition of one of the most iconic structures in the city. By leveraging partnerships and organizations deeply rooted, we can utilize the facility in ways unimagined for the greater good of arts & culture.
Quotes by Mera Rubell
“Everyone said, ‘You can’t go near this hotel. It’s the worst neighborhood and you’re from out of town and you’re making a big mistake,’ ” says Mera Rubell. “No matter where this hotel was, we would have bought it. We always believed in urban rebirth. We believed in SoHo. We believed in South Beach. We believe that cities do come back and architecture never dies.” “It wasn’t a grand plan to come to Washington and have a museum away from Miami,” she says. “It felt like there was a real necessity.”
Mera says she’s well aware of the challenges Washington artists face. The upside of this city, she offers, is that artists can find well-paying jobs in government or teaching to supplement their income: “An artist who has a daytime job has the freedom to do whatever the hell they want to do with their art. They aren’t desperate to just produce. They make the art they need to make and not just to pay the rent.
“Artists have a way of cutting to the chase and saying things that reach us on a human level that transcends our differences, whether it is country, religion, or sex,” she adds. As for consumers of art, “they find God inside of it. They find the humanity. They find the talent. It changes their life.”
Site Overview
H Street SW Entrance w/ International Mural Artist Activation (1)
Beautification of H Street SW in partnership with Blind Whino & Department of Parks and Recreation. Access point to #GraffitiGrove Experiential.
PichiAvo (Spain)
Spanish based artist duo, are recognized for their ability to ignite relationships between art, sculpture, architecture, space and social contexts. Their style adopts a focus which is both beautiful and performative, firm in its discussion and totally the perfect deconstruction of classic art and contemporary urban art, in order to create a new fusion, which whilst faithful to its classic heritage, creates a new and exciting vision of art. PichiAvo are one since 2007, fleeing from the self-centeredness of graffiti, united to create a single piece of work, reciting a conceptually urban poetry, born from the artistic formalism of the street, transferring fragments of a wall to the canvas and from the canvas to the wall in a personal version.
Courtyard w/ Local & National Mural Artist Activation (2)
Temporary courtyard refresh for arts & community programming, live music, cultural activities and possible seasonal event rental space.
Attended School Of Visual Arts, New York City
Lives And Works In New York City
Collaborations And Commissions Include Colette, Adidas, Saatchi&Saatchi, Haydenshapes, Wework, Obey Clothing, Faberge, New Museum
Woodside’s Large Scale Works Have Graced Walls In New York City, Paris, Los Angeles And Sydney
This JBG Companies commissioned project was curated by Blind Whino. We completed a total of 19 murals (featuring Jason Woodside) at its Washington-area properties, some of them small interior walls and some expansive exterior works. Filmed by Orli Arias (1st Impressions) Edited by GuzGuz (EBM)
Jessie Unterhalter and Katey Truhn are a Baltimore based artist team striving to transform public spaces into playful and vibrant experiences. The artist duo met while at MICA in 2001, forming a lasting, creative friendship and artistic collaboration.
Since 2011, Jessie and Katey have been consistently creating large-scale, public murals. The all inclusive and socially engaging nature of creating art for the public is a driving force in their art making. Inspired by the architectural surfaces of each environment, their dynamic paintings often curve around corners and spill onto the ground. Their work explores themes of movement and symmetry, inspired by bold color combinations, patterns in nature, and woven textiles. Over the past two years the team has been exploring tradition batik, hand dyeing, and appliqué methods in their studio where they have created several large scale framed paintings. These painting have been exhibited in Brooklyn, Miami, Baltimore and Russia.
They have been awarded two PNC Transformative Grants to bring their bold geometric paintings to baltimore community. Their unique partnerships with the community earned the team residencies with the The Albright Knox Museum in Buffalo, NY, The Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, ME and the John Micheal Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, WI.
They were selected for the New York Department of Transportation’s 191st Tunnel Beautification Project in May 2015, and worked with Philadelphia’s Murals Arts Program to create “Summer Kaleidoscope,” a 400ft long floor mural and pop-up park. These projects were covered widely, including articles in the New York Times, Philadelphia Magazine, Huffington Post, Gothamist, Flavorpill, and the Philadelphia Voice.
Jessie and Katey have been featured in a number of national mural festivals and showcases, including Pow Wow Hawaii, Living Walls in Atlanta, GA, Open Walls 1 & 2 in Baltimore, MD, Wall Therapy in Rochester, NY, RVA Street Art Festival in Richmond, VA and, most recently, Artmosphere Street Art Biennial in Moscow, Russia.
Phase I
Mural Project
October 1st - October 31st, 2019
Multiple Wall & Building Murals painted throughout the Randall campus. Engaging the community to participate in public art helps build culture.
Phase II
Graffiti Grove
September 1st 2019 - July 5th 2020
20,000 square foot raw open space repurposed with multiple art and commerce components.
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January: MLK Weekend (10,000+ people)
March/April: Cherry Blossom Festival (100,000+ people)
June: Halcyon International Arts Festival (50,000 people)
July: Capitol Fringe Festival (100,000+ people) // Independence Day Celebration (150,000 people)
September: 202Creates Month (40,000+ people) // DPR Recreation Day (15,000+ people)
October: Emerge Art Fair (50,000+ people) // Haunted Halloween (25,000 people) // Howard Homecoming (100,000 people)
About Us
The Sneaker Suite was originally launched in 2005 as a conceptual creative footwear showcase blending live music, forward fashion, festive foods, eclectic art, and unique, exclusive sneakers. For over 9 years, the Sneaker Suite platform remains solid with “one off”, custom branded events highlighting multiple corporate partners through high level productions such as Sneaker Pimps and Kicks for Kids Charity Shoe Drive. In 2008, the Sneaker Suite birthed a more focused category subsidiary entitled Suite Nation, a DC-based national event design firm serving clients outside the sneaker realm in genres such as automotive, beer, wine and spirits, clothing apparel, brick and mortar retail & many more. We offer seamless one-of-a-kind opportunities for increased brand awareness and brand loyalty; providing a consistent, dedicated, influential audience for brand advertisers accordingly.