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A Look At The Man Who Brought Art To Bushwick's Changing Streetscape
By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 12, 2016
Modified Sep 12, 2016
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 12, 2016
Modified Sep 12, 2016
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A new documentary, "No Free Walls," takes a closer look at the physical walls in Bushwick and how they've changed over the decades, from tagged up brick, to painted ads from Colossal aimed at the area's new demographic. Your protagonist is "neighborhood kid" Joe Ficalora, the founder of the Bushwick Collective, which showcases street art around on Troutman Street and the areas surrounding the Jefferson L stop. (Ficalora also goes beyond murals, hosting a big block party for the community every summer.)
Ficalora grew up in Bushwick "when the area was ravaged by drugs, neglect and violence. At the age of 10, Joe's father was stabbed to death in an act of random violence, then later lost his mother to cancer as an adult. Instead of plunging into depression, Joe decided to honor his parents by contacting muralists from all over the world to beautify the neighborhood and paint the old warehouses that line the blocks of Bushwick." This became known as The Bushwick Collective, and now that wall space is being encroached upon by advertisers as the neighborhood further gentrifies. Here's the trailer for the documentary, which will be premiering on Complex's channel (it was created for the outlet by filmmaker Rafael Moses) on Wednesday, September 14th.
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bushwick
bushwick collective
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joe Ficalora
no free walls
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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