When the late Tony Goldman first led the development charge through Wynwood's formerly industrial corridor, one of his defining ideas was the sponsoring of legal, large-scale street art. The original handful of murals he commissioned, by marquee names like Shepard Fairey, now stands preserved in a specific attraction that's practically an outdoor museum, the Wynwood Walls on NW Second Avenue and NW 25th Street.
Anyone who's been through the neighborhood in the past, oh, two years at least, though, knows that the phenomenon has long ago exploded past set walls and marquee names. These days, there isn't a single wall on or around the carnival-esque main drag of NW 2nd Avenue that isn't covered by a painting or pattern -- so now, apparently, we're going to move on to the streets themselves.
Hat tip to Sean McCaughan at Curbed for this post, yesterday, revealing that after covering every boutique, warehouse, and coffee shop, artists are now coming for Wynwood's crosswalks. It's a series dubbed Wynwood Ways, and the first creation is slated for the intersection NW 2nd Ave. and NW 25th St., a trippy yellow-and-orange op art design painted by Carlos Cruz-Diez. In a move that closes a history loop that is, yes, right across from the entrance to Wynwood Walls.
An interesting snippet McCaughan includes, additionally, is that the project is sponsored by Miami Biennale. Well, who's that? The name sounds like a fancy curated art fair, which the organization did make happen around Art Basel 2010. Since then, though, the organization has moved on to more flexible projects. These have included smaller-scale exhibitions by artists like sometimes Miami-based sculptor Michele Oka Doner, at the organization's space on North Miami Avenue and NW 27th Street.
While the exhibition space is open to the public and tours, it appears the Wynwood Ways crosswalks will be the Biennale's first full-on, populist project that moves the organization towards its purported mission of creating "interactive platforms." It doesn't get much more interactive than a crosswalk, right?
Click here to read more about the Miami Biennale, whose organizers are so far keeping further details about the crosswalks under wraps.
