Thanksgiving #7 is for Luna Juice Catering, Brotherwell Brewing, and Balcones Distillery who sponsored the wrap party with awesome food and drink. Thanksgiving #6 is for Rebekah Hagman and her team at Cultivate 7Twelve who hosted artist talks, parties, meetings, meals and tirelessly worked on all the stuff that doesn’t get noticed unless someone doesn’t do it! Thanksgiving #5 is for all the businesses that bravely said “yes” to investing in a work of art on their wall without knowing what it would be! Thank you Brett and Lauren Jameson and partners at Dichotomy Coffee & Spirits and Apex Coffee Roasters, Shane Turner, Jonathan Garza, and their partners at Turner Behringer, Sam Brown, Jacob Martinka, David Stoneking, and the team at Brotherwell Brewing, Claire Sexton and the Board of Art Center of Waco, and the Hagmans at Cultivate 7Twelve. Thanksgiving #4 is for our Board and staff at Creative Waco (who by now are veterans of making the “leap of yes”) for taking on the project management. Thanksgiving #3 is for Terry and Elaine Stevens and Liz Fraley, who helped sponsor this project the moment they first heard about it. Thanksgiving #2 is for the Art Center of Waco staff and board, who provided the most exquisitely designed apartment in downtown Waco for hosting the visiting celebrity artists (kudos to architect Grant Dudley and architectural artist Bryant Stanton). When Brian mentioned that Parisian street art suberstar Blek le Rat (also featured in the “Saving Banksy” movie) was coming to the USA in a few weeks’ time, and asked if we would consider having him paint some walls in Waco, we were ready for another “leap of yes.” Only this time, money and logistics were required within an eyewatering timeline, and a whole new cast of people needed to be ready with a “leap of yes” Not only did the resulting exhibition, “Writing on the Wall,” generate the largest audience in recent memory for a Waco art exhibition, it kindled friendship with street art guru Brian Greif, his love for Waco, and his desire to do more here. Thanksgiving #1 is for Summer Shine and every single person in this chain that made the “leap of yes.” In hindsight, all this sounds easy, but at every step, a “no” would have killed the project. And Texas Commission on the Arts said “yes” to making a matching grant. The evaluators of Creative Waco’s new Arts Match Program said “yes” to a grant for something that had never before been tried in Waco (actually, this was the first time Banksy’s street art had been exhibited in Texas!). Rebekah Hagman of Cultivate 7Twelve said “yes” to hosting an exhibition of street art to include the Banksy piece with outstanding work by local artists. Our thanksgiving story begins a year ago, when Summer Shine of Luna Juice Bar, saw the movie “ Saving Banksy.” Being Summer Shine, she promptly tracked down Brian Greif, the star of that movie, to tell him that “ Haight Street Rat,” the artwork saved in the story, needed to be brought to Waco. His technique became the “go to” method for a generation of iconic street artists, including the infamous (and still technically anonymous) British artist, “ Ba nksy” (of aucti on-shredding renown). “Blek,” born as Xavier Prou, pioneered the use of layered stencil spray-paint techniques to achieve speed, stealth, and artistic vibrancy. We’d like to take a moment to appreciate just what it took to get to this point. This was a wonderful, culturally defining moment for our city, no matter how you look at it but this particular project is testament to the vision and “leap of yes” of so many people. Last week, “ Blek le Rat,” world-famous Parisian street artist left his mark on Waco by painting six walls in the downtown Cultural District. This year, for Creative Waco and our partners, it comes in a can (several, actually) of spraypaint. Blek le Rat and supporters stand next to one of his street art piece’s in Waco, Texas.įor some, Thanksgiving may come in a can of cranberry sauce.Blek le Rat talks to a crowd of viewers while painting.Blek le Rat uses spray paint and stencils to create his world-famous street art.Blek le Rat creates a tribute to Kurt Kaiser at Apex Coffee Roasters at 324 South 6th Street.
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