Tuesday morning. My corner. The mural of the weekend has become performance art. A lesson, like Tibetan sand paintings, in the truth of life — change. And also like the ephemeral art of Tibetan llamas, we can remember it was primarily done to heal and bless the environment and all living beings. The young person I buy coffee from next door sympathizes and guesses that the owner of the building had it painted out. “Maybe it was too Oakland for them,” he offers.

I am sad to lose the artwork of Saturday, yet immensely grateful to those who have been nurturing a healthy and life-affirming street-art culture. A recent festival with a competition for these artists was held at Defremery Park in Oakland.  It was the 3rd Annual Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle at “Life Is Living,” curated by Marc Bamuthi Joseph. The theme for the competing artists, who came from far and wide, including Honolulu, Harlem and Chicago, was GROW.

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Corner of 42nd Street and Telegraph. Here’s the completed mural in the morning light.
Protect Our Kidz – Stop the Arms Trade is the Culture Warriors’ message.

This central character appears to be the hero. A hiphop artist weilding a spray can in one hand and swinging a microphone on a cord in the other. These are his weapons of mass expression! (more…)

Wow, here’s my friend Desi, a street artist and youth worker, with a crew of young spray-can muralists creating a major work right on my block in the Temescal District of Oakland! This wall on the corner of 42nd and Telegraph has been tagged and painted out a hundred times or more — a spot waiting for just this kind of full-scale expression. The sidewalk is jumping today with hip hop and people watching and taking photos. Cars slow down to enjoy the scene, too. Desi explains the meaning of this particular mural and community rejuvenation. It’s my first spontaneous attempt to use the movie mode on my camera!