Photo Friday: Wynwood Walls

While vacationing in Key Biscayne, we took a number of side trips into Miami. One afternoon, we did a walking tour of Wynwood Walls. Basically, it's a warehouse district that was gentrified by a real estate developer, Tony Goldman, who is also responsible for places like SoHo. Ten years ago, you would not have stepped foot into this sketchy area of Miami, but today it is a vibrant area, full of galleries and restaurants, where graffiti is taken to a new level. Here is just a glimpse of what you will find:

All of the buildings in the district are colorfully painted or have murals on the sides.

Wynwood Garden is a park-like setting where you can sit down and view the art of artists from around the world. One of the most interesting aspects is that every year or two, each piece is painted over, so the art is ever-changing. In this area, all of the art is done on discarded, repurposed shipping containers.

How amazing is this? The artist wanted to represent how a child sees the world as a colorful place (or at least this is what I remember the guide telling us).

This took one day . . .

while this took 8 months to complete. Did I mention that these pieces are all done with spray paint???

You  might recognize this artist, even though you don't know his name. Shepard Fairey, who is best known for his Obama 'Hope' poster. He is depicting people and movements which shaped the world. That's Tony Goldman on the right.

A bit of a negative piece on consumerism, where the artist extended the work onto the ground and rock in front of it. How do you like my own bit of art, with the girl and her huge purse in  front of it?

A beautiful view of women.

My husband and I both concluded that this Japanese piece was our favorite, due to the color and depth. It was gorgeous to see in person.

I debated whether to post any of this, considering what's going on right now, but I figured most would enjoy a break from the news. It's been absolutely insane in this area. We haven't been able to buy toilet paper, hand soap, or any disinfectant cleaners for a week. As of today, grocery store shelves are bare of basic items like bread, potatoes, butter, pasta, and even chicken. I'm unsure if the rest of the country is shutting down like our state, but as of right now, all K-12 and universities are closed until at least mid-April and all gatherings of more than 20 people are strongly discouraged. My church just emailed to let us know that services are cancelled until further notice and I keep getting emails from banks, the library, etc., encouraging the use of online services rather than visits. I went to the library yesterday and took out 5 books in case they suddenly decide to shut down. Please let me know in the comments how you are faring. The bright side is that we've had spring-like weather over the past week and the 10 day forecast looks good, so at least we are free to roam outside.