September 2009: New Britain Mural Slam

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of catching up with Mike Alewitz and his mural-painting class down in New Britain. We wandered the New Britain Museum of American Art and critiqued the work. Then, we sat down to chat about the Mural Slam. I couldn't be more excited, since I'm always looking for CT events that rock my socks. Here's the deal, courtesy of the event's Wordpress:

"The First Annual Mural Slam was held April 2008. It hosted dozens of artists, from experienced crews to young undergrads. Highlights included performance art, free food, awards, and watching CCSU Professor Mike Alewitz get a bucket of garbage dumped on him."
"The Mural Slam is part of a growing international movement which recognizes public art in every form–graffiti, tags, murals, etc.–deserves to be celebrated. In 2008, the Slam started with a mass of artists throwing their tags, stencils, and murals onto the walls of CCSU’s Welte Garage in an all day event. Artists of every type were given eight hours to paint in their section of wall without fear of prosecution or arrest–just friends, food, music, and art."
"This year, the tradition will continue–and everyone is invited. Ten bucks gets you a 4′x12′ slice of wall and 9hrs to do what you want. Any imagery is allowed, but use your judgment–we want to keep this going every year, so don’t paint something that will get us kicked off of campus. And remember: BYOP–bring your own paint."

"To register, e-mail the following to marissablaszko@gmail.com

. name of artist (tag okay)

. working with a crew?

. phone number where we can contact you

. best e-mail to use for contacting you

. age of artist (16+ only!)

. medium you’ll be working with (ie: spray paint, acrylic, etc.)

. whether or not you participated last year (and, if you did, what you painted)

A $10 sign-up fee per space is required to cover basic expenses of the Mural Slam."
Thanks a million, guys! I know I'm definitely going to snap some shots in the afternoon. Word has it that another guy I know might participate (go get it, Ben!). For more shots from last year, check the group's blog (and disregard the September 26 date).