Lost in Transition - Street Art of DC

Update 7/16/2013: Photographs and associated content

So the builders are starting the demo and construction, for a new apartment building/retail on the corner of 9th Street & N Street NW. 1250 9th Street an old apartment building from the 1920's garnered a reputation among residents as a gathering place for Skateboarders, Goths, loud music and alcohol, know as Fight Club. On a recent visit (my first) I got to see the interior, and more importantly, got to take a few shots of the famous City Scape (stencil) that covers the complete rear wall of the structure. It will be gone soon, but saved here in our "gallery" of lost street art. (directly below)

City Scape (stencil) spans the entire rear wall of 1250 9th Street NW

Demolition of the building has already begun and the mural will soon be lost for ever

As walls are demolished, unseen street art appears in the light of day - only to be lost as the work continues (8/19/2013)

UPDATE 5/3/2013: Content
The approval for the renovation/remodel of the "Gang of Three" has been approved. This artwork is now, effectively, gone. I will keep this posting/with pictures up, as an example how wonderful and vibrant DC Street Art is.

Street Art by its definition is fleeting. As neighborhoods transition the amount of street art diminishes and eventually disappears, except for an occasional  paint spray. In my mind it represents a streets-eye-view of the time it was painted in, and with its loss we lose a little social history that can never be regained.



In September 2011 Nuit Blanche DC put on "Art All Night", an all-night exploration and celebration of contemporary art.Vacant buildings were transformed into galleries of street art and music, interior walls painted by graffiti artists.The streets came alive with music, dance and art, 7th Street, 9th Street, in Logan/Shaw and Penn Quarter filled with people roving from venue to venue. All good stuff, but then what?
Most of the art was painted in situ, in buildings that would see remodeling and renovation. A prime example is at 7th and NY Ave (now Living Social offices) a vacant building that during Art All Night became a central meeting point for hundreds of people, decked out with art and graffiti that would put the recent "pump me up" exhibition at the Corcoran to shame - renovated - art gone.

9th Street. September 2011

On 9th Street,the action that night was around #1216 -26, now known as the Gang of Three. These three grand Victorians are now due for a renovation and re-purpose. The Art/Graffiti will soon be gone in dust.
I have been fortunate to be able to go into two of the properties (1226 interior has had a partial collapse) and gets some pictures. The slideshow above just cannot show the vibrant, colorful artwork, or express the feelings I felt on being surrounded by a bright cacophony of color and life, in a building that is at its life's end. My sincere thanks to the work crew and their supervisor for allowing me entrance to capture something that we will lose soon. 

If you wish to view larger prints of the work, I have inserted them below, just click to enlarge.