I’m pretty excited to join my fellow Fatlace editors in posting highlights from Pow! Wow!. Previous entries had been from Hawaii and as I read them I was always bummed that I never got to see it. Until this weekend.
Pow! Wow! Long Beach 2015 began on June 22. It brought together a collective of artists to engage the community in the process and creation of art. The week long event featured murals, talks, concerts, an opening reception and a Ruck Out gathering. I made it on Saturday. Although it was the last day, I was still in the crux of it. And although I missed the majority of the events, I got to experience this at my own pace and take in the heart of Pow! Wow!: the art.
I started at the HQ, picked up the map and started my trek.
I may or may not have gotten lost. Either way, I started in the middle of the circuit with Benjie Escobar:
Then across the way for Jeff Soto and Low Bros:
Went up the Convention Center stairs for Jeff McMillan:
Then back up for James Jean and Tristan Eaton. Easily my favorite:
Backtracked since I got lost. Went past the HQ and caught these.
Bumblebee:
Fafi:
And Aaron de la Cruz (another favorite):
Then ditched the walking for driving since the next two were far out and off my trusty map.
Hueman and Madsteez:
And finally Push:
Now that I’ve done my recap, I realized that I frickin’ missed Cryptik’s mural… But I’ll be hitting the Vitality and Verve art show at Long Beach Museum of Art pretty soon. Hope it’s still up by then!