Event

WALL\THERAPY Fundraiser at The Spirit Room! Last week of our Fundraiser!

wall therapy fundraiser at the Spirit Room Rochester

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We are entering the last stretch for our 2018 fundraiser, and we’re going to end it in style with the amazing folks at The Spirit Room!

WALL\THERAPY Fundraiser at The Spirit Room!

Thursday July 12, 2018 from 7-10pm.
139 State Street Rochester, NY 14614

Join us as for our last fundraising push for 2018 with the amazing crew at the Spirit Room!

Caitlin Yarksy (WALL\THERAPY 2014) will be live painting during the event, with the paintings raffled off at the end of the night.

Learn about this year’s event in July with the WALL\THERAPY crew!

We hope to see you there!

RSVP to the event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/159570084915496/

Check out our Fundraiser for more great perks: http://fnd.us/wt18fundraiser

http://www.wall-therapy.com
http://www.thespiritroomrochester.com

WALL\THERAPY Fundraiser at Fifth Frame Brewing – Tuesday June 12 from 6-9pm

WALL\THERAPY Fundraiser at Fifth Frame Brewing – Tuesday June 12 from 6-9pm

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WALL\THERAPY Fundraiser at Fifth Frame Brewing Co!

Tuesday June 12, 2018 from 6-9pm
155 St Paul St Rochester, NY 14604

Join us as we launch the first in a series of collaborations with our friends at Fifth Frame Brewing Co during Rochester Beer Week!

We are excited to kick off a series of seasonal, artist-themed beers with Mr. Prvrt’s UP OWL NIGHT brew! With this series, a portion of the proceeds from every beer goes to support the WALL\THERAPY project!

On the 12th, a donation of $20 gets you a custom UP OWL NIGHT 16oz glass can cooler* with first pour included, live painting, raffles, videos, and more!

Mr. Prvrt will be live painting during the event, with the paintings raffled off at the end of the night.

DJ CHREATH will be bringing the tunes all night!

Learn about this year’s event in July with the WALL\THERAPY crew!

We hope to see you there!

Minors must be accompanied by an adult. Non-alcoholic beverages will be available as a substitute for your first pour.

http://www.wall-therapy.com
http://fifthframe.co

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The 2018 WALL\THERAPY Fundraiser is now live!

The 2018 WALL\THERAPY Fundraiser is now live!
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2018 WALL\THERAPY fundraiser is live!

We need your help to continue to bring inspiration to Rochester, NY.

3500+ cans of spray paint and 350 gallons of paint later, over 86 of the most talented and recognized artists from the region, the nation, and the world have shared their talents to create over 125 murals throughout the city of Rochester since this “Visual Intervention” project began in 2011.

These murals have transformed walls, buildings, and neighborhoods. This transformation has sparked inspiration in individuals and communities alike.

The murals have become part of the local conversation, the local identity, and the fabric of the city. Local art classes and schools tour the murals as part of the curriculum. Local professionals change their route to the murals part of their drive home. Local artists, young and old, find inspiration in the works. In 2017, we increased our direct youth outreach to provide tours and art experiences to over 200 youth. We also launched our inaugural Arts & Activism conference, which will see a new iteration this year.

Why does WALL\THERAPY need your help?

Making all of this happen year after year takes a lot. With a core team of 13 members, the 50+ member expanded team that makes this project happen are all volunteer, but the materials, equipment, and artists to make it all happen require financial support. You donations go towards the paint for many large-scale walls, renting construction lifts to safely access and paint those same large scale walls, and the travel expenses, hospitality and a very modest honorarium for the professional artists that will share their talent with the project this Summer.

Now in it’s 7th official year,, WALL\THERAPY was created thanks entirely to financial and volunteer donations from its many supporters. We are asking again for assistance to continuing this forward momentum, to continue to bring unique artists to our city to help inspire and to heal.

Your continued support will allow us to support the local and international artists as they produce visually compelling murals in the Rochester cityscape, in turn improving and strengthening our thriving community.

We just launched our 2018 Fundraiser using a new platform which allows us to more easily offer perks and manage our campaign.

https://fundrazr.com/WT18fundraiser

We are also adding new perks as they come in from our generous donors and previous muralists, so check back often!

One last note: Due to increased shipping costs, we have to add a shipping fee for our perks this year. However, if you want to claim a perk and pick it up locally, please select “CHRISTMAS ISLAND” from the first dropdown asking for Your Shipping Location. This will add a single dollar to the cost, and we can arrange a pickup in town from there!

Thank you for your understanding!

With all the best and lots of love,

Ian, Erich, and all of the WALL\THERAPY family!
Stay Awesome, and keep fighting the good fight!

Pictured: The 2017 Roc Paint Division crew at work, Photo by Lisa Barker.

2017 Arts & Activism Conference Videos

2017 Arts & Activism Conference Videos

Arts and Activism, the inaugural WALL\THERAPY conference, explores the intersection of social change, community activism, and creative practice, initiating a critical dialogue between participating artists, organizers, scholars, and the local community of Rochester.

Held at the historic Little Theatre in Rochester, NY on July 29, 2017.

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Dr. Jessica Pabón-Colón – Painting ‘Like A Grrl” – WALL\THERAPY 2017 Arts & Activism Conference from WALLTHERAPY on Vimeo.

About the Keynote Speaker
Dr. Jessica N. Pabón-Colón is an Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at SUNY New Paltz. Widely recognized as a preeminent scholar of women and graffiti subculture, she has multiple publications on the topic in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. Her book, Graffiti Grrlz: Performing Feminism in the Hip Hop Diaspora, is the first scholarly account of transnational graffiti subculture that centers on women (New York University Press 2018). You can find more information on her website www.jessicapabon.com and she tweets from @justjess_PhD.

Sarah C. Rutherford – Her Voice Carries – WALL\THERAPY 2017 Arts & Activism Conference from WALLTHERAPY on Vimeo.

ART AND SOCIAL CHANGE AT TIMES OF CRISIS – PANEL – WALL\THERAPY 2017 Arts & Activism Conference from WALLTHERAPY on Vimeo.

Joe Concra – O+ Festival – WALL\THERAPY 2017 Arts & Activism Conference from WALLTHERAPY on Vimeo.

Education & Empowerment: Enabling the Voice of the Next Generation – Panel – WALL\THERAPY 2017 Arts & Activism Conference from WALLTHERAPY on Vimeo.

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About the Conference Coordinator
Julia Tulke is a PhD student in Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester. Her work focuses on street art and graffiti as mediums of expression and dissent in cities undergoing social and political crises. In this context she has been conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Athens since 2013. aestheticsofcrisis.org

Many thanks to our sponsors for the event:

WXXI
The Little Theatre
Harts Local Grocers
Ugly Duck Coffee

WALL\THERAPY 2017 Final Murals

WALL\THERAPY 2017 Final Murals

This year’s muralists brought strong messages and added powerful imagery to our already rich visual landscape. We are honored to add these murals to Rochester and are thankful that these artists have joined the WALL\THEARAPY Family.

 

IAN KUALI’I
40 Greenleaf St.
https://goo.gl/maps/6JrRo3AS9yF2

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Photo by Mark Deff

 

SEAN 9 LUGO

Various Locations in the Rochester Public Market and 1112 E. Main St.
https://goo.gl/maps/ejQ8JEzo4VR2

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WT17_Final_MD_Sean9Lugo_04Final mural in collaboration with John Magnus Champlain
All Photos by Mark Deff

 

LA MORENA
1112 E. Main St.
https://goo.gl/maps/ejQ8JEzo4VR2

LaMorena

Photo by Jason Wilder

 

AUBREY ROEMER
936 Exchange St.
https://goo.gl/maps/zWXe85jQJiR2

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Photo by Mark Deff


SARAH C. RUTHERFORD

548 West Main Street
https://goo.gl/maps/PKP4kCWZgoE2

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Photo by Mark Deff

 

JESS X SNOW
936 Exchange St.
https://goo.gl/maps/zWXe85jQJiR2

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Photo by Mark Deff

 

TODD STAHL
59 Pennsylvania Ave.
https://goo.gl/maps/P2CsRQa2Xio

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Photo by Mark Deff

 

ROC PAINT DIVISION
Flying Squirrel
285 Clarissa St.
https://goo.gl/maps/pmi1sBF3HAF2

 

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Photo by Lisa Barker
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Use the location map to come check out our 2017 murals!

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WALL\THERAPY 2017 in Full Swing

WALL\THERAPY 2017 in Full Swing

Despite some unpredictable Rochester weather this week, the 2017 WALL\THERAPY artists have been creating murals throughout the city, all with a theme of arts and activism. As in past years, our summer festival brings frenzied activity, companionable group dinners, floodlighted night painting sessions, and many laughs, but our focus is always the important work of inspiring our community. This year’s local and visiting artists are keenly focused on completing murals that highlight causes close to heart and honor human beacons that shed an inspiring light on our world’s current complexities.

Locally born but Brooklyn-based artist Aubrey Roemer is working toward completion of a three-story, mixed-media mural. With a vibrant green base, its focus is a woman holding a child with multiple figures looking over her, surrounded by painted, paper, and found-object flora. It serves as an examination of family and environmentalism.

936 Exchange Street – Photo by Mark Deff

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Rochester-based artist Sarah C. Rutherford joins WALL\THERAPY for the second time with a mural honoring Trelawney McCoy, an adoptive, foster, and biological mother to nine children. The mural is part of her series, “Her Voice Carries,” a mural project capturing the unique stories of five women who live and work in various communities in Rochester. Upon completion, this will be the second outdoor mural in the series.

548 West Main Street – Photo by Mark Deff

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For the first time, WALL\THERAPY is partnering with Roc Paint Division, the city of Rochester’s youth mural program. At age 17, Etana Brown, Nzinga Muhammed, and Kaori-Mei Stephens are the youngest ever WALL\THERAPY artists. Their mural features self portraits atop an azure blue background, alongside protest signs that underscore the work’s exploration of racial diversity within the Black community, asserting that all Black Lives Matter.

285 Clarissa Street – Photo by Lisa Barker

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Visiting artist Jess X Snow is creating a portrait of transgender poet Chrysanthemum Tran at the Kaleidoscope Collective next to Aubrey Roemer’s wall. In the artist’s own words, the poet is featured as the Earth in a queer cosmos of her own gender and naming.

936 Exchange Street – Photo by Josh Saunders

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Lucinda Yrene (La Morena)’s work-in-progress is a portrait of her daughter holding a burning sage smudge stick, with hopes for a cleansing, healing effect on the world, on a bright purple background. On the far right of the mural, a flying white owl is taking shape.

1112 East Main Street – Photo by Mark Deff

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Todd Stahl is a teacher at Webster Thomas High School in Rochester and has some of his students assisting him. His mural is inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis, and features a portrait of a Syrian girl surrounded by symbolic representations of her life left behind and the road ahead. Todd worked with Syrian documentary photographer Manar Bilal, who gave him permission to source his images for the mural.

59 Pennsylvania Avenue – Photo by Mark Deff

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Ian Kuali’i brings his unique, detailed technique of handcutting paper while adhered to the wall’s surface to WALL\THERAPY 2017. His work features spiritual, empowering images, and we excitedly await his mural’s unveiling, cut by cut.

40 Greenleaf Street – Photo by Jason Wilder

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Finally, Sean 9 Lugo hit town mid-week and began to lay down a series of wheatpaste murals weaving throughout the city that tell a story of Olivia, a raccoon, and a turtle, and their quest to heal the world around them. More to come as we watch the story unfold.

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EVENTS THIS WEEK!

Also coming this week are two special events that align with this year’s goal of deepening our engagement within Rochester’s communities.

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Arts & Activism, the Inaugural WALL\THERAPY Conference

The Little Theatre, 240 East Avenue
July 29, 2017, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Arts and Activism, the inaugural WALL\THERAPY conference, will explore the intersection of social change, community activism, and creative practice, initiating a critical dialogue between participating artists, organizers, scholars, and the local community of Rochester.

The keynote talk will be delivered by Dr. Jessica Pabón-Colón, Assistant Professor for Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at SUNY New Paltz. Based on the framework of her upcoming book “Graffiti Grrlz: Performing Feminism in the Hip Hop Diaspora” she will examine how contemporary street and graffiti art movements have responded critically to the demands of the creative neoliberal city, offering examples to provoke thought on the relationship between aesthetics and politics.

Featuring:
+ Spotlight: Her Voice Carries

+ Panel Discussion: Art and Social Change at Times of Crisis

+ Spotlight: O+ Festival

+ Panel Discussion: Education and Empowerment: Enabling the Voice of the next Generation

+ Project room featuring representatives from WALL\THERAPY, O+ Festival, WXXI, The Ghandi Institute, the New York Civil Liberties Union, Refugees Helping Refugees, Flying Squirrel Community Space, and the Visual Studies Workshop.

The event is free for all to attend; we hope you will join us for a day of discussion!

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WALL\THERAPY Block Party
Kaleidoscope Collective, 936 Exchange Street
July 29, 2017, 6:30 – 10 p.m.

Come celebrate art, music and community! WALL\THERAPY and Kaleidoscope Collective will host a summertime celebration for WALL\THERAPY supporters featuring Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People! We’ll also be officially revealing murals by Aubrey Roemer and Jess X Snow. We will have an open air artist market, food trucks, live art, and music to make you groove.

ARTIST MARKET LINEUP
1. FUA Crew
2. Kasim Wallace Creations
3. Bless the Messy
4. The Exchange Art Space featuring artists: Lizz DeSimone, Rachel Farley, Allie Push, Haley Wehner and Reb Lomoto
5. Aubrey Roemer
6. Shawnee Hill
7. Custom Crown Craftworks
8. Heather Swenson
9. Wholistic Herbals
10. JDB-R Art

Admission is simply donate what you can. No one turned away for lack of funds. Donations go directly to support WALL\THERAPY.

Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People will be going on around 8:30pm.

PLEASE NOTE!!!
There is a small parking lot behind the building and very limited on-street parking, so we HIGHLY recommend carpooling or biking!

No one under 16 can be permitted without a parent or guardian

Please be respectful of the neighborhood, we want to be great guests!

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Mural by Brittany Williams, 2015.
Danielle Ponder photo by Jocelyn Mesiti.