Over the weekend of Allentown Art Festival a group of artists decided to create public art in front of the passing crowds. They worked on the exterior wall of JRVisuals in an effort to create a diverse wallscape filled with whimsical characters produced with paint and wheat pastes. This came one week after Sarah Myers began her triptych just down the way.
Before the project got underway, I spoke to Jose Rodriguez about the wall (seen in the photo) and he told me that there have been constant rogue graffiti additions left behind on a regular basis. That meant that the wall looking pretty jacked up. If you're familiar with Allentown then you might also be aware that most of the wheat pastes tend to stick around for a long time, and along with the murals, are left alone for the most part. Jose felt that if the art community rallied during the Allentown Art Festival, then maybe some respect would be paid to the wall. I'm a big fan of Brezo's artwork (she did the wheat paste). I also like the way the rest of artists incorporated their works into the space.
View image
Before the project got underway, I spoke to Jose Rodriguez about the wall (seen in the photo) and he told me that there have been constant rogue graffiti additions left behind on a regular basis. That meant that the wall looking pretty jacked up. If you're familiar with Allentown then you might also be aware that most of the wheat pastes tend to stick around for a long time, and along with the murals, are left alone for the most part. Jose felt that if the art community rallied during the Allentown Art Festival, then maybe some respect would be paid to the wall. I'm a big fan of Brezo's artwork (she did the wheat paste). I also like the way the rest of artists incorporated their works into the space.
Hooray for more public art in Allentown.
Jose at JRVisuals is a great neighbor to the Allentown Community- in addition to running his business here, and operating a gallery that he opens to host local artists and musicians, he can often be found sweeping, removing trash, and cleaning up his stretch of the community. We're fortunate to have him, his gallery, and his business on this block.