The affectionately dubbed “Brickyard Boxes” are a set of large shipping containers that sit in a mostly empty lot in the Bywater, New Orleans and run up against the parking lot of the newly developed Ricemill Condos. Friend and nationally renowned artist Skylar Fein coordinated the painting of the boxes by local graffiti and mural artists. Personally, I was surprised and excited that the property owner was interested in such a paint job, being that the Ricemill is a high-end and undoubtedly expensive condo building. It turns out that before the building was developed, it was a well-known squat and was full of high-end graffiti. Developer Sean Cummings recognized the value of the art and allowed some of it to remain visible in the development. At any rate, graffiti has been a part of the buildings history, so Cummings and Fein decided to organize a group to continue this element of its heritage. A swamp themed mural was painted over the course of a few days on the side of the boxes facing the condo building. Reactions from residents were expectedly mixed, though not really negative. Many glanced over at us clearly confused about what was going on as they climbed into their cars… Some were visibly excited, and came out to take photos and talk to us. The opposite side of the boxes, facing the empty lot is to be painted with a throw-up style collage from a number of local and national writers. Here is an image of how it stands now…
Eventually they will be completely covered in a cacophonous composition of color and shape. Please enjoy the gallery below, I will be updating as the wall becomes more and more complete. As it stands, it is the biggest legal graffiti wall in new orleans. The Times-Picayune did a small story about the wall, here is the video.
Participating artists include: * EVAK * MURK * MRSA * PAWS * TARD * MAKER * ERNER * TRASE * ISHU * PHE * YOVOY (Portland) * BURN * SOEM * SAKO *