CORNBREAD

Darryl “Cornbread” McCray is a former Philadelphia graffiti artist who gained notoriety for spraying his logo across the city from the late 1960s to early 1970s. Now a mild-mannered arts advocate, McCray is appalled by the evolution of graffiti as an art to a form of vandalism. It was in the 1980s when McCray realized how spray paint and vandalism left Philadelphia a mess. McCray helped clean-up his city by becoming a member of Mayor Wilson Goode’s former Anti-Graffiti Network. Since this time, McCray has become an avid supporter of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, and works as a public speaker for this cause.

Jon E. Bekken, chairman of Albright College’s communications department realized McCray’s value as a knowledgeable expert in street art and invited the artist to speak at the school. “I’m interested in a wide range of communications, in particular in ways in which people who don’t have access to media outlets try to get a voice,” Bekken said. McCray gave some pointers to prospective taggers of the college: “If you’ve got the talent to do graffiti, you can get paid for it. But don’t go out and vandalize.”

[“Cornbread” in the 1960s]

SOURCES:

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=79200

http://wallstreetmeeting.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/cornbread.jpg

http://www.egodesign.ca/_files/articles/blocks/2649_cornbread.jpg

Here is a slide show put together of local art centers, and some quick information, but i suggest looking up these places for further research on getting involved locally in the arts.

Slide Show:

The Banana Factory

Luna Parc

Bottle Works Ethnics Art Center

Painted Bride Art Center

Brandywine Workshop

Additional art centers... Abington Art Center, Allens Lane Art center, Brewhouse space 101, Cheltenham Art center, The Clay studio, Trick Art and historical center, Mahayunk Art Center, Philly Art Alliance, Pittsburg Center for the Arts, Pittsburg Filmmakers, Pittsburg Glass Center, The Print Center.

Work from the members of the Arts and Culture Group

Hey guys!

First off, I want ed to remind everyone that they should join the Arts & Culture Google group, as I have found it helpful in answering some of the questions I had about our projects and the group in particular.

My research so far has lead me to the efforts of some of the group members, and finding simillar kind of grassroots campaigns in other cities that might help offer inspiration/guidance to the current members of the MMP Arts and culture group. Just for our reference, here are a few links to the work of some of the artist in the group.

- - Article about the RECLAIM PRINT project. (Beth Pulcinella)

- - A blog of multimedia interviews genreally focusing on social issues/change. (Mariel Walloff)

- - Philadelphia Students Union. (Jacob Winterstien)

The next few links are of examples of what other people are doing to help encite change.

- - Media Action Grassroots Network (Looking at the Members list will give you many different examples of other groups that are like MMP, and can give you ideas for potential group functions.

- - Mural Arts Program (Just incase you don't know about it already.)

- - Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations. (Provides a link of other community development groups that might be interested in cooperating with MMP/Arts and culture.)

- - Meshed Histories: The Influence of Screen Printing on Social Movements. (Interesting article that talks about some of what Pat talked about in his original Arts and Culture pitch.


Okay! Thats all for now!

Spotlight: JOE BORUCHOW

JOE BORUCHOW is a self-taught stencil artist working in Philadelphia. Though he originally began making stencils and cutouts to advertise local bands, Boruchow’s art has leapt off the “posting boards and telephone poles” of Philadelphia. His art now expresses social commentary on topics from war to politics to violence in our own city.

Sources:

http://www.joeboruchow.com/

http://citypaper.net/blogs/clog/category/street-art/

Spotlight: LIBER-8 ME

Artist STEWART EBERSOLE depicts urban blight with the clenching fists of his “Liber-8 Me” project.

Sources:

http://citypaper.net/blogs/clog/category/street-art/

http://citypaper.net/blogs/clog/2008/02/12/liber-8-me-unmasked-street-artist-stewart-ebersole-of-the-renegade-art-coalition-speaks/

Mural Arts Program

Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program came about in 1984 in an effort to eliminate the graffiti that plagued the city. Muralist Jane Golden was hired to seek local graffiti artists and channel their skills from making detrimental graffiti to creating murals that glorify the city. In addition to creating more than two thousand murals, the Mural Arts Program directly assisted in supplying unity and love throughout the streets of Philadelphia through art.

Sources:

http://www.muralarts.org/

http://www.muralfarm.org/Muralfarm/Home.aspx

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/20090910_Artist_brings_power_of_love_to_Phila__streets.html

The Art of Street Art

How does graffiti and street art work? Well, it can be seen as a sort of “guerilla advertising” like practice. To the average person walking along the sidewalk, public art like this stands out, and can certainly leave an impression. Instead of publicizing something commercial, the artist promotes his or her own beliefs, or simply wants to show off their artwork. In Philadelphia, Street art is most often seen via “tagging” (graffiti featuring words or symbols as opposed to images) or through the Mural Arts Program.

Sources:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tagging

http://citynoise.org/article/9363/in/philadelphia@pa

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moocat/281385059/

An Introduction to Street Art

In a research endeavor, I originally attempted to find PROTEST ART local to Philadelphia. Unfortunately, this was too narrow a topic to find anything substantial or meaningful. I began to research a related topic: GRAFFITI ART of Philadelphia, and how it promotes change.

Source:

http://citynoise.org/article/9363/in/philadelphia@pa