#that is the year of this picture which was taken after the mural was vandalized and restored

[emma-dennehy-presents]

My grandmother talks about how growing up in Belfast, Ireland, British soldiers would raid the local Irish people's houses, steal from them, smash up their homes or burn them out, beat up or kill or imprison the men, rape the women, and then justify their actions by saying the local people were harbouring IRA terrorists and illegal weapons stores even though they weren't. Any time the British committed an act of violence against the Irish it was the same excuse.

And every time Israel blows up a school, hospital, refugee camp killing hundreds of civilians in the process and justifies it by saying they were harbouring Hamas it makes me think of that. Colonialism never changes.

[bbcbreakingnews]

Three people arrested after BLM mural painted in front of Trump Tower in New York is defaced again

Three people were arrested after the Black Lives Matter mural painted on Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower in New York was vandalized for the second time in a week, police said.

Among the vandals arrested when the incident happened about 4pm Friday was a woman who donned a rainbow colored cape and wore shirt that said ‘All Lives Matter’ as she ran the length of the mural pouring blue paint in a video taken of the vandalism. 

Another woman is alleged to have joined her in leaving hand prints with the paint. 

Three people were arrested after the Black Lives Matter mural painted on Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower in New York was vandalized for the second time in a week, police said. A woman in a rainbow cape is pictured pouring blue paint on the mural, from video footage

Another woman is pictured pouring more of the blue paint on the mural along Fifth Avenue

The woman in the rainbow cape is spotted putting her painted hand prints on the mural

The woman in the rainbow cape, who is also wearing an All Lives Matter shirt, is pictured after cops moved in to arrest the vandals

As many as 10 people are believed to have joined in a coordinated effort to vandalize the mural, WNBC reported. 

The vandalism comes after an unidentified man was caught on surveillance video pouring red paint on the same mural Monday.

The city moved quickly each time to restore the mural, which President Donald Trump called ‘a symbol of hate’. 

The mural was painted last week by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and local community activists. 

Juliet Germanotta, 39, D’Anna Morgan, 25, and Luis Martinez, 44, all of New York, were charged with criminal mischief after they were arrested for the latest stunt on Friday.

All were released pending desk appearances.

CIty workers are seen cleaning the blue paint off the mural

Workers from the Department of Transportation wiped away the blue paint where they could 

A city worker touches up the mural with roller brush, covering up the blue paint

An unidentified 64-year-old woman also was given a summons for illegally posting fliers during the vandalism. 

Meanwhile, New York authorities are seeking the public’s help in identifying the man from Monday’s vandalism.

The NYPD released footage of the vandal pouring the red paint and shared that he also is wanted for criminal mischief. 

Video shows the man at approximately 12.03pm pull the paint out of a bag as he approaches the mural on 725th 5th Avenue.

Cops release surveillance footage and photos of vandal who poured red paint on Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan

He can then be seen pouring the paint on various letters of the mural before heading off in an unknown direction.  

The suspect appears to be a white man who could be in his mid-20s or early-30s. 

Police described the vandal as being medium build and said that he was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, black shorts, black sneakers and black sunglasses.

Video first went viral on Monday showing the man vandalize the mural

Police described the vandal as being medium build and said that he was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, black shorts, black sneakers and black sunglasses

De Blasio hit out at the person responsible on Monday night, tweeting: ‘To whoever vandalized our mural on 5th Avenue: nice try @NYCDOT has already fixed it.’  

The unidentified man fled the scene after throwing the paint

Trump Tower has been the site of dozens of protests since Donald Trump was elected – including one on Saturday where anti-racism protests clashed with the president’s supporters at the new mural.  

One of the witnesses to Monday’s defacement was a man wearing and selling ‘Dump Trump’ gear on the street.  

He was pictured standing nearby a man holding up a sign seemingly intended to gaslight people highlighting racial inequalities. 

It read: ‘The only time black lives matter is when they are shot by a white policeman or an Oreo cookie. Defend all policemen.’

An ‘Oreo’ is a derogatory term used against people of color, comparing them to the cookie which is classically brown on the outside and white on the inside. The slur suggests the person exhibits behavior that the person judging aligns with being characteristically white. 

The Black Lives Matter mural outside Trump Tower was one of five that de Blasio promised to paint across New York City last month as part of an initiative to honor civil rights activists.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who joined the community effort to paint the mural in large yellow letters last Thursday, hit out at the person responsible for the defacement in a tweet

Heavily-armed NYPD officers looked on as workers repainted the mural outside Trump Tower

Trump Tower has been the site of dozens of protests since Donald Trump was elected 

Trump supporters clashed with anti-racism protesters outside Trump Tower on Saturday

One of the witnesses to Monday’s defacement was a man wearing and selling ‘Dump Trump’ gear on the street when Trump supporters confronted him 

A Trump supporter held up a sign in reference to protests over racial inequalities on Monday

‘When we say “Black Lives Matter”, there is no more American statement, there is no more patriotic statement because there is no America without Black America,’ the mayor said at the time.  

‘We are acknowledging the truth of ourselves as Americans by saying “Black Lives Matter”. We are righting a wrong.’ 

Trump expressed his opposition to the mural earlier this month, saying it would denigrate the luxury shopping area. He also said it would ‘further antagonize New York’s finest’. 

 ‘Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street,’ Trump tweeted on July 1. 

But police appeared to ignore the president’s remarks and were seen protecting the people painting the mural from counter-protesters on Thursday.  

Mayor Bill de Blasio is seen helping paint the Black Lives Matter mural last Thursday

De Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray are seen painting next to The Reverend Al Sharpton

President Donald Trump expressed his opposition to the mural outside his building earlier this month, saying it would ‘further antagonize New York’s finest’

Black Lives Matter murals in other cities have been similarly defaced in recent weeks, including in Chicago, Milwaukee and Washington, DC. 

Last week a couple in Martinez, California, were charged with a hate crime after they destroyed a mural there. 

‘We must address the root and byproduct of systemic racism in our country. The Black Lives Matter movement is an important civil rights cause that deserves all of our attention,’ Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton said in a statement announcing the charges against David Nelson and Nicole Anderson. 

‘The mural completed last weekend was a peaceful and powerful way to communicate the importance of Black lives in Contra Costa County and the country. We must continue to elevate discussions and actually listen to one another in an effort to heal our community and country.’ 

The decision to paint the murals came as Americans across the country expressed their hurt at statues and memorials to Confederate soldiers and slave-owners that have loomed over public places for decades. 

Trump recently signed an executive order that would see anyone found to have tampered with a statue or monument face up to 10 years in prison.   

The post Three people arrested after BLM mural painted in front of Trump Tower in New York is defaced again appeared first on BBC BREAKING NEWS.

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[blogdanielwilson-blog]

A Dying Town, a Crumbling Hotel and the Water That Could Restore Both

MINERAL WELLS, Tex. — Equipped with a flashlight, Laird Fairchild unlocks a side door of the Baker Hotel and begins a darkened 14-story ascent to the top.

Along the way, each floor reveals a grim tableau from decades of neglect. Graffiti and vandalism. Crumbling plaster. Shards of glass. Stripped walls. Broken, uprooted boards that once collectively served as brilliantly polished dance floors.

For much of the early and mid-20th century, the Baker and its North Texas city shared a vibrant economy. Lithium-laced healing waters gave Mineral Wells its name and turned it into an internationally famous spa and tourist destination. T.B. Baker, a Texas hotel magnate, opened the hotel bearing his name in 1929.

A towering Spanish Colonial Revival hotel in the heart of Mineral Wells, the Baker closed in 1972 and has stood as an inescapable reminder of the city’s economic misfortunes over the past 47 years.

Now, however, energized business leaders are rallying behind a planned $65 million renovation to reopen the Baker in 2022 and cement a downtown revitalization that has been underway for several years.

“This is not a renovation of a building,” said Mr. Fairchild, a co-founder of Hunter Chase Capital Partners, a real estate developer in Southlake, more than an hour’s drive northeast of Mineral Wells. “This is a renovation of a town.”

For decades, the Baker embodied elegance, with a guest list that included Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, the Three Stooges and, according to local legend, Bonnie and Clyde. But advances in medical science eroded Mineral Wells’ appeal as a health resort, and the city’s economy plummeted after the shutdown of Fort Wolters, a military base where helicopter pilots were trained during the Vietnam War.

As businesses closed and jobs vanished, some disgruntled residents began calling their city “Miserable Wells.”

Mineral Wells, with a population of just over 15,300, had a poverty rate of 23.5 percent in 2017, according to census data, compared with a state average of 14.7 percent. Median household income was $39,292, lower than the statewide median of $59,206.

Nevertheless, a surge of optimism has begun taking root throughout Mineral Wells as Mr. Fairchild works with Randy Nix, a local developer, and other community leaders on what they hope will become a 21st-century update of the city’s glory days. The efforts have given rise to yet another nickname: “Miracle Wells.”

At the center of the redevelopment is the Baker, which has what Mr. Fairchild called a “cultlike following” across the globe, with thousands of followers on Facebook. City officials say they are repeatedly asked about the hotel during out-of-town trips. The Chamber of Commerce receives about 100 requests a year to hold weddings there.

“There’s something about that hotel,” said Mike Allen, who was on the City Council for 22 years and served as mayor for 10 years before retiring in 2018. “If you pay too much attention, she will put her claws into you.”

Mr. Fairchild said he had become enamored of the imposing building more than a decade ago. Working with a longtime friend and business associate, Chad Patton, he successfully negotiated with the hotel’s owner, Times Industrial Limited Partnership of Mesa, Ariz.

They declined to reveal the purchase price, but they offered broad outlines of a complicated financing package heavily dependent on state, federal and local tax incentives.

“It’s kind of like putting together a complicated puzzle, and each piece is required in order to make the puzzle work,” said Mr. Patton, a first vice president and branch manager at Wells Fargo Advisors.

The Baker project is the capstone in revitalization efforts that Mr. Nix began spearheading several years ago. Without a vibrant downtown, he said, any effort to reopen the Baker was likely to face the same fate as past unsuccessful attempts to bring the hotel back to life.

“All of these years, we in this community have been sitting here waiting for somebody like Laird to come along and build the Baker, thinking it’s going to save this town, and I say it’s not going to happen that way,” Mr. Nix said. “Until this community steps in and does something about itself and starts bringing in tourism, the Baker Hotel will never be a viable project.”

One of Nix’s key undertakings is focused on the Crazy Water Hotel, which opened in 1912, burned to the ground and then reopened in 1927, two years before the Baker. Like other things in Mineral Wells, it bears the nickname of the recuperative waters that supposedly helped cure a woman in serious mental distress.

Mr. Nix, owner of Nix Rental Homes, was among 10 local business leaders who put up $200,000 apiece to form a public benefit corporation to convert the seven-story Crazy Water Hotel into upscale apartments that can also be used for short-term rentals when tourism begins to take off. He said the project exemplified the community’s renewed commitment to revitalizing Mineral Wells, saying he expects 150 investors to be on board when the hotel fully reopens in December 2020.

Restaurants and night life have also returned to the once-moribund city center, along with murals that brighten aging storefronts. Another Nix family project is the downtown Market at 76067, named for the ZIP code, where more than 100 vendors across two stories offer an array of items, from antiques to contemporary cuisine. An urban park is also part of the city master plan.

The goal is to transform Mineral Wells into a leading tourist destination in picturesque North Texas hill country, which will help draw more diverse industries and businesses to expand the city’s economic base. Mr. Nix said tourism was a natural for the region, pointing out the city’s proximity to the popular Possum Kingdom Lake, state parks and a 100-mile stretch of the Brazos River.

As part of that vision, the Baker’s developers espouse the brand “Palo Pinto chic” in describing plans to cater to a diverse clientele, including business conferences, school proms, reunions and weekend travelers looking for a small-town getaway. A major goal, Mr. Fairchild said, is to convert the Baker and Mineral Wells into “the wedding capital of North Texas,” if not the entire state.

Mineral Wells still has abundant supplies of “crazy water,” which will enable the Baker to reopen a second-floor spa as part of a larger fitness and wellness center. A private elevator will ferry patrons to an outdoor, Olympic-size pool downstairs. Workers will also reshape the interior into 157 spacious rooms instead of the current 450.

During a tour of the hotel this summer, Mr. Fairchild pointed out tarnished features from the hotel’s glamour days, and with a little imagination, it wasn’t hard to picture a ’30s-era celebrity being escorted through the lobby or lounging poolside, surrounded by autograph seekers.

Brass chandeliers, badly in need of polish and refurbishing, hung in the lobby. An acoustical dome in the ceiling once amplified the voices of guests so they could be heard by anyone in the room.

Mr. Fairchild’s favorite part of the hotel, he said, is the spacious Cloud Room on the top floor, which, as it did in the past, will host special events such as weddings and reunions. Now, however, its floors are destroyed, and the walls are marred with graffiti. A young oak tree has somehow taken root on the ledge outside, 14 stories above the sidewalk.

Planners are confident that the vast majority of residents eagerly await the Baker’s re-emergence.

“When I was growing up here, there wasn’t anything going on, and there was no reason for it to,” said Perri Leavelle, a co-owner of the Brazos Market and Bistro downtown.

Now, “it’s better than it’s ever been in my lifetime,” she added. “It’s exciting that Mineral Wells is right here on the forefront of people coming back to downtowns all over the nation.”

Get in touch with the professional mobile app development company and get best concierge app for boosting the profit of your business.

[biofunmy]

A Dying Town, a Crumbling Hotel and the Water That Could Restore Both

MINERAL WELLS, Tex. — Equipped with a flashlight, Laird Fairchild unlocks a side door of the Baker Hotel and begins a darkened 14-story ascent to the top.

Along the way, each floor reveals a grim tableau from decades of neglect. Graffiti and vandalism. Crumbling plaster. Shards of glass. Stripped walls. Broken, uprooted boards that once collectively served as brilliantly polished dance floors.

For much of the early and mid-20th century, the Baker and its North Texas city shared a vibrant economy. Lithium-laced healing waters gave Mineral Wells its name and turned it into an internationally famous spa and tourist destination. T.B. Baker, a Texas hotel magnate, opened the hotel bearing his name in 1929.

A towering Spanish Colonial Revival hotel in the heart of Mineral Wells, the Baker closed in 1972 and has stood as an inescapable reminder of the city’s economic misfortunes over the past 47 years.

Now, however, energized business leaders are rallying behind a planned $65 million renovation to reopen the Baker in 2022 and cement a downtown revitalization that has been underway for several years.

“This is not a renovation of a building,” said Mr. Fairchild, a co-founder of Hunter Chase Capital Partners, a real estate developer in Southlake, more than an hour’s drive northeast of Mineral Wells. “This is a renovation of a town.”

For decades, the Baker embodied elegance, with a guest list that included Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, the Three Stooges and, according to local legend, Bonnie and Clyde. But advances in medical science eroded Mineral Wells’ appeal as a health resort, and the city’s economy plummeted after the shutdown of Fort Wolters, a military base where helicopter pilots were trained during the Vietnam War.

As businesses closed and jobs vanished, some disgruntled residents began calling their city “Miserable Wells.”

Mineral Wells, with a population of just over 15,300, had a poverty rate of 23.5 percent in 2017, according to census data, compared with a state average of 14.7 percent. Median household income was $39,292, lower than the statewide median of $59,206.

Nevertheless, a surge of optimism has begun taking root throughout Mineral Wells as Mr. Fairchild works with Randy Nix, a local developer, and other community leaders on what they hope will become a 21st-century update of the city’s glory days. The efforts have given rise to yet another nickname: “Miracle Wells.”

At the center of the redevelopment is the Baker, which has what Mr. Fairchild called a “cultlike following” across the globe, with thousands of followers on Facebook. City officials say they are repeatedly asked about the hotel during out-of-town trips. The Chamber of Commerce receives about 100 requests a year to hold weddings there.

“There’s something about that hotel,” said Mike Allen, who was on the City Council for 22 years and served as mayor for 10 years before retiring in 2018. “If you pay too much attention, she will put her claws into you.”

Mr. Fairchild said he had become enamored of the imposing building more than a decade ago. Working with a longtime friend and business associate, Chad Patton, he successfully negotiated with the hotel’s owner, Times Industrial Limited Partnership of Mesa, Ariz.

They declined to reveal the purchase price, but they offered broad outlines of a complicated financing package heavily dependent on state, federal and local tax incentives.

“It’s kind of like putting together a complicated puzzle, and each piece is required in order to make the puzzle work,” said Mr. Patton, a first vice president and branch manager at Wells Fargo Advisors.

The Baker project is the capstone in revitalization efforts that Mr. Nix began spearheading several years ago. Without a vibrant downtown, he said, any effort to reopen the Baker was likely to face the same fate as past unsuccessful attempts to bring the hotel back to life.

“All of these years, we in this community have been sitting here waiting for somebody like Laird to come along and build the Baker, thinking it’s going to save this town, and I say it’s not going to happen that way,” Mr. Nix said. “Until this community steps in and does something about itself and starts bringing in tourism, the Baker Hotel will never be a viable project.”

One of Nix’s key undertakings is focused on the Crazy Water Hotel, which opened in 1912, burned to the ground and then reopened in 1927, two years before the Baker. Like other things in Mineral Wells, it bears the nickname of the recuperative waters that supposedly helped cure a woman in serious mental distress.

Mr. Nix, owner of Nix Rental Homes, was among 10 local business leaders who put up $200,000 apiece to form a public benefit corporation to convert the seven-story Crazy Water Hotel into upscale apartments that can also be used for short-term rentals when tourism begins to take off. He said the project exemplified the community’s renewed commitment to revitalizing Mineral Wells, saying he expects 150 investors to be on board when the hotel fully reopens in December 2020.

Restaurants and night life have also returned to the once-moribund city center, along with murals that brighten aging storefronts. Another Nix family project is the downtown Market at 76067, named for the ZIP code, where more than 100 vendors across two stories offer an array of items, from antiques to contemporary cuisine. An urban park is also part of the city master plan.

The goal is to transform Mineral Wells into a leading tourist destination in picturesque North Texas hill country, which will help draw more diverse industries and businesses to expand the city’s economic base. Mr. Nix said tourism was a natural for the region, pointing out the city’s proximity to the popular Possum Kingdom Lake, state parks and a 100-mile stretch of the Brazos River.

As part of that vision, the Baker’s developers espouse the brand “Palo Pinto chic” in describing plans to cater to a diverse clientele, including business conferences, school proms, reunions and weekend travelers looking for a small-town getaway. A major goal, Mr. Fairchild said, is to convert the Baker and Mineral Wells into “the wedding capital of North Texas,” if not the entire state.

Mineral Wells still has abundant supplies of “crazy water,” which will enable the Baker to reopen a second-floor spa as part of a larger fitness and wellness center. A private elevator will ferry patrons to an outdoor, Olympic-size pool downstairs. Workers will also reshape the interior into 157 spacious rooms instead of the current 450.

During a tour of the hotel this summer, Mr. Fairchild pointed out tarnished features from the hotel’s glamour days, and with a little imagination, it wasn’t hard to picture a ’30s-era celebrity being escorted through the lobby or lounging poolside, surrounded by autograph seekers.

Brass chandeliers, badly in need of polish and refurbishing, hung in the lobby. An acoustical dome in the ceiling once amplified the voices of guests so they could be heard by anyone in the room.

Mr. Fairchild’s favorite part of the hotel, he said, is the spacious Cloud Room on the top floor, which, as it did in the past, will host special events such as weddings and reunions. Now, however, its floors are destroyed, and the walls are marred with graffiti. A young oak tree has somehow taken root on the ledge outside, 14 stories above the sidewalk.

Planners are confident that the vast majority of residents eagerly await the Baker’s re-emergence.

“When I was growing up here, there wasn’t anything going on, and there was no reason for it to,” said Perri Leavelle, a co-owner of the Brazos Market and Bistro downtown.

Now, “it’s better than it’s ever been in my lifetime,” she added. “It’s exciting that Mineral Wells is right here on the forefront of people coming back to downtowns all over the nation.”

Sahred From Source link Real Estate

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[prestonbct]

Devonport Skatepark - A Mini Case Study

A few weeks ago I sat down with good friend Tessa Carey to discuss the current situation surrounding artwork in Devonport Skatepark. Having grown up in Devonport, the local skatepark has been a facility used by all ages of devonport residents for the past 2 decades, myself included. Tessa has been painting the walls of the park, testing the waters in both council and public response.

A bit of background on the skatepark: The skatepark is positioned in the middle Ngataringa Reserve, just off the western side of Lake Rd as you enter Devonport. The land itself is an old filled in landfill which realistically isn’t stable enough to build anything substantial on. As a result of the state of the land, the skatepark is slowly sinking into the ground. This causes cracks and drainage problems making the park un useable through most of winter. Countless requests have been submitted for the council to repair, upgrade, or literally do ANYTHING to maintain the functionality and safety of the council owned facility, with little to no response. Local skaters have responded with artwork to attempt to give the park some appeal.

“as skaters this place isn’t valued, so we want to value it ourselves. the only thing we could really think of at the time was art.”

Main themes discussed: A huge part of considering art within a public space is context. Where is the art? Who’s creating it? Who is it directed to? In the case of this particular public facility, the context is the context is skateboarding culture. While skateboarding has a beneficial effect on the lives of most youth, the culture doesn't exactly have the greatest track record when interaction with authorities. There seems to be a huge stereotyped blanket lying over the councils perception of how skateboarding fits into modern society. Art associated with skateboarding in turn falls into the general stereotype of conflict and non-conformity, leading to an increased resistance to non-commissioned art within the skatepark.

We talked a lot about the definitions and public perception between the therms “street art” and “graffiti”. We’ve all seen the “War on Graffiti” headlines pop up periodically in the media, but what actually separates a piece of artwork from vandalism? The way Tessa sees it is a contrast in intent from the artist/tagger.

Street Art Street art has a varying amount of time, thought, and effort contributing to a piece. The work will have a concept behind it and will often be produced by an established artist. The aesthetic and context is considered to contribute to a specific environment in a unique way. The environment and demographic is considered meaning the work is inherently targeted and viewed by an audience.

Graffiti Graffiti on the other hand is a selfish act. Majority of graffiti is repeated tags which is attached to the persona of a tagger. While this could subjectively be viewed as an art form in itself, the bulk of tags are illegible or mean nothing to the general audience which view them. The audience isn’t considered, meaning it not something we “want” to look at, more something we “have” to look at. This leads to many tags being viewed as aggressive or threatening. It’s quite territorial behaviour when you think about it. Physically indicating that this section of public visual real estate belongs to you. I suppose that’s why the council continues to paint over works. It’s effectively reclaiming the visual ownership over public property.

Within the skatepark, Tessa has done a total of 3 separate pieces, two of which still remain today. Her very first piece within the park (pictured above) was painted over within days of going up. For a long time there has been a very strict system of covering up any form of “mark making” whether it’s art or vandalism hasn’t seemed to matter. Putting this first piece up was a provocative move, so it came as no surprise that it was swiftly painted over. Tessa was always aware of the unavoidable reality that her work will never last long, but she mentioned she didn’t quite expect a response that fast

“You do a piece and you spend hours on it, and you never know if its gonna last. you’re piece could last a day it could last a year it could last 2 years, but you know that with street art it’s never gonna be forever”

Its funny how the council refuses to even consider maintaining park in a functional sense, but as soon as anything that can be viewed remotely as “unlawful” they can’t get there quick enough. I suppose painting over art and justifying it as “maintenance” is a lot cheaper than repairing the fundamental structural integrity of the skatepark.

I asked Tess how she felt when her first piece was covered up. Aside from the obvious disappointment for having a piece of work destroyed, she’s happy about the outcome. It got the attention of the council and started a proper dialogue, forcing the council to listen. Social media played a large part in publicising the situation. Multiple discussions sparked up involving both members of the community and local politicians. It highlighted the imbalance in council priorities around maintaining old facilities. After the controversial discussion surrounding her first work, Tess continued painting more pieces in the park. These next pieces did not get taken down, and remain on the walls of the skatepark today. Something has obviously changed within authorities, slightly shifting priorities in favour of social creativity.

An interesting lesser talked about occurrence amongst this debate over ownership and art, Is the addition of another form of paint. A few other local skaters recognised the derelict and boring grey nature of the park and the continual cover up of attempts to bring art to the space. They approached bringing colour to the space in an intriguing way. Instead of painting murals which contain objects/any subject matter at all, they painted blocks of colour around the park (seen in photo below). This all looked not unlike the blocks of grey paint placed there by council, just with a bit more colour. This interestingly didn’t get painted over. The colours and paint used was almost identical to many of the previous covered up artworks. In a material sense, there is really no difference to a mural vs blocks of colour. The council defines any form of unauthorised “mark-making” as vandalism, so how is blocks of colour any different. This small local social occurrence is exactly what I’ve been trying to put into words for the bulk of this project. The dialogue and contributions between artist/vandal/painter and council provide a third unique outcome and aesthetic. An agreed upon visual equilibrium. An accidental collaboration.

We talked for a while about a few more things relating to the skatepark and the wider street art community. Follow this link for the entire conversation: https://soundcloud.com/prestonbct/convo-with-tes-street-art/s-qsd2T