A review of the ActivistArtistA's Art Walk at the Boynton Beach Arts District, AKA the District in Boynton Beach.
Last summer, the warehouses off Industrial Avenue in Boynton Beach were full of machine parts, but now, they're full of art.
To get to them, head to the street called Industrial Avenue off the I-95 ramp. If you're heading from any exit south of Boynton Beach, you keep going west. But just one light.
Although a couple of high-end galleries have been there since the mid-'80s, the ActivistArtistA's Art Walk is in its infancy. You can tell already that this baby is going to be real special.
First off, there is the Bay Gates Project: An artist will paint each gate, and then after a year, a new artist will get that movable barrier. Here's the beautiful work of Chan Shepard:
The spirit has changed since Rolando Chang Barrero moved up from South
Beach and turned his studio there into a gallery. He shortened the Boynton Beach Arts District title to "the District," and a crew was born: Beside him, the KeroWACKED Crew is Lea Vendetta, Andrew Ackerman,
Alexia Hemingway, and Chan Shepard.
Here, in what he charmingly referred to as an art enclave,
he enjoys the freedom of not having to deal with galleries. Unlike galleries, all artists who
come to him do not have to pay a submission fee.
"To get juried," he said when talking about how artists have to pay to land
wall space. "When have you ever heard that happening to a musician or
anyone in the other arts?"
Upon entering the yard in front of Neighborhood Gallery & Fine Art
Appraisers, large paintings are propped on forklifts. And artists all the
way from Wynwood came up to show their work. Actually, many artists now with
studios located in Miami have planned to make the move up. Because as one artist who lives in Delray Beach but has a studio in Miami said: "Now, I got something
in my backyard?" Shiiiit. About 500 people rolled through since 5:30
p.m.
Joining Neighborhood Gallery and Denny Reed Art Works are the warehouses
in the middle, the Bay Gates. In between the Bay Gates, there is a
large concreted ground, where we expect plenty of dancing to take place
on February 26. That's a 12-hour minifestival of nine bands, poetry
readings, and art -- all dedicated to Jack Kerouac. The word sweet doesn't suffice.
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