• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

Dig This: Back Against the Wall Initiative’s Community Graffiti Gathering

Written by DIG STAFF Posted May 9, 2023 Filed Under: A+E, Visual Arts

“Three years ago the empty parking lot at the corner opposite the Grove Hall Library beckoned for color. In the spirit of graffiti, Sobek invited his friends to paint …”


There are countless mural projects in Boston, most of them quite awesome. But the Back Against the Wall (BATW) initiative by artist Jeremy Sobek, which is “focused on creating legal graffiti/street art walls to uplift underserved neighborhoods of Boston,” is especially unique.

Here’s how the curators and organizers describe the undertaking:

Three years ago the empty parking lot at the corner opposite the Grove Hall Library beckoned for color. In the spirit of graffiti, Sobek invited his friends to paint this…. sized wall alongside him. The residents in the neighborhood, in appreciation, allowed the gathering to continue into its second year with Sobek and his crew Flava Unit accepting the initiative.

Sobek’s view on life is expressed in the art he has created. In its first iteration of Graffiti at Grove Hall, 2021, Sobek offered the at-risk community in Dorchester a space to grieve the losses experienced through gun violence, poor healthcare, continued systemic racism that the pandemic had magnified. His past work with at-risk youth influenced Sobek’s next steps in forming his own group of young aerosol artists, Flava Unit. Sobek’s vision is to educate future generations in the history and legacy of Graffiti to encourage an inspired future that serves the larger Boston community.

This year Graffiti at Grove Hall continues to serve as a community gathering to celebrate the art of graffiti and the artists who serve the legacy. The core of creativity is in moving from a place of joy. A shared human experience that artists attempt to capture consistently. As in his daily life, and in its current iteration, Sobek’s vision of Graffiti at Grove Hall is focused on igniting a spark of this creative joy within all who come upon it.

On May 13, the BATW crew invites “family and friends for an afternoon of food, music, and community arts.” “DJ Kitz is returning to set the vibe alongside local vendors,” while a “large community canvas will be created for the BATW initiative” along with “smaller canvases and various projects for the community to receive.”

More info on the event here.


 

DIG STAFF
+ posts

Dig Staff means this article was a collaborative effort. Teamwork, as we like to call it.

  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    Dig This: The First-Ever Beantown Beanfest
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    Dig This: Embrace Boston’s Second Annual Juneteenth Festival
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    Dig This: Night Shift Partners With Boston Proud For Pride Events
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    The Details: Red Bull Cliff Diving Returns To Boston Seaport

Filed Under: A+E, Visual Arts Tagged With: arts, Dorchester, Grove Hall, murals

WHAT’S NEW

State Wire: Advocates Push For 'Tax Fairness' With Expanded Child Tax Credits

State Wire: Advocates Push For ‘Tax Fairness’ With Expanded Child Tax Credits

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • AG Investigating BPD To Determine If “Gang Unit” Engages In “Unconstitutional Policing”
  • Deep Cuts Brings Sandwiches, Craft Beer, And Live Music To Medford
  • Over Yondr: Are Cell Phone Pouches At Shows Liberating, Dangerous, Or Annoying?
  • Daring Greatly: TikTok Star Alden McWayne (aka Gucci Pineapple) On Scheming And Dreaming
  • Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com