What a great surprise to read the New York Post today and see a small mention about the Art Walks in Boynton Beach, Northwood Village and Delray Beach!
Boynton Beach Art District Fosters Vibrant Local Community
"..word spreads through the grass roots of socially conscious South Florida!"
Murals by: Jonathan Fields, Rolando Chang Barrero, Vin Jo, Jennifer Chaparro at Boynton Beach Art District, Courtesy: ActivistArtistA Bay Gates Project®
By Joseph Liberali
The Boynton Beach Art District (BBAD) has been having these Art Walk and Open mic nights, each 4th Thursday of the month, since 2011. It’s grown in popularity as BBAD racks up press and awards for best Art Walk, and also as Rolando Chang Barerro, Artist and Director of BBAD, garners his own success and for his individual artistic work.
Consequently, the numbers of those involved expand as the word spreads through the grass roots of socially conscious South Florida. Local newspapers interested in reporting on the secret gems of Southern Floridian culture have all taken a specific liking to the BBAD, which has been a sort of darling for the local press.
For good reason too, there’s a lot to like and a lot to report on, from articles concerning one of the gallery showings that are often featured there, or perhaps one of the local artists who occupy one of the many studios, or maybe for the massive murals in various artistic stylings that align the rows of walls and garage doors throughout, also vendors and artists who make the trek from all over South Florida to sell and show their individual work, as well as musicians and poets who come out to perform on the open mic, with sizzling food trucks to provide fresh cuisine, and the surrounding local communities consisting of patrons, families, and friends.
From High Profile Collectors to Trinket and Do-Dad Hoarders?
Scenes like these, and what takes place at BBAD, rely and thrive on local folk who are interested in finding that one perfect picture or painting to take over that annoying empty space on their wall. The high profile collector who absolutely needs to stay on top of the newest trendy local painter. The trinket buyers and do-dad hoarders. These are the consumers that help keep this magical, vibrant art world turning while the circus of activity of swirls like a hurricane about them in the mystical local fair ground that is known as the Boynton Beach Art District.
A person cannot fully the grasp the entire breadth of the artistic community in South Florida without making the trip to the Boynton Beach Art District at least once. This Thursday is the perfect opportunity to make that happen.
Artists Rolando Chang Barrero (left) and Richard Beau Lieu sit in the midst of the Boynton Beach Art District on Aug. 30, 2014. Beau Lieu founded the district in the 1980s, and Barrero helped it to blossom beginning about four years ago. (Damon Higgins / The Palm Beach Post)
Artist and appraiser Richard Beau Lieu remembers what it was like in 1986 when he first opened a studio on Industrial Avenue in Boynton Beach.
It was quiet. He was the only artist around. He was a sculptor.
He tried his best to let the public know he was there.
“It wasn’t back then an area known for art,” Beau Lieu said. “Now it is.”
What is now known as the Boynton Beach Art District was once called the Neighborhood Arts Gallery. With the help of artist Rolando Chang Barrero, Industrial Avenue has become a vibrant art scene which in October will celebrate its fourth anniversary.
Around the same time, the district will do its yearly change of the murals that line the outside walls. The artists are taking proposals and have already decided the theme for the murals will be WPA Propaganda posters* (unveiling October 5th, 2014).
The art district has 11 artists who rent studios on Industrial Avenue. The public is invited to walk around the area to view the outside murals or stop in and meet the artists. The district also offers a popular Art Walk. The walk — which also includes food trucks, music and performances — was briefly canceled over the summer because of a permitting issue but came back Aug. 28. The next walk is today.
“It’s good. It’s a good place to be. Art in Public Places is extremely well developed here,” Chang Barrero said. “When I first got here I couldn’t draw two people in here … and they were like ‘Where’s Boynton Beach?’”
Chang Barrero came to the district four years ago and re-branded the area.
Beau Lieu remembers when Chang Barrero asked if he’d be stepping on his feet in trying to market the district.
“I said ‘Hey, listen, I expended all my energy years ago. If you want to go for it, just go for it,’” Beau Lieu said. “He’s brought a lot of attention to the area.”
So Chang Barrero contacted his friends from throughout the county and told them about the district.
Chang Barrero said it was clear how important the place has become to the public when the city canceled the walk.
A mural by Craig McInnis in the Boynton Beach Art District. (Mark Edelson/The Palm Beach Post) -
The art walk had been going on without a permit for a while and when Chang Barrero expressed plans to expand it, the city said something else had to be done. The solution is for Chang Barrero to obtain a $250 yearly permit.
“The whole township rallied behind me and the city, I guess, realized how important it was to really find a quick resolution to it,” Chang Barrero said.
Even before that, it seems the city has always in, a way, been behind the concept of an arts district.
Beau Lieu said back when he first came to the area, he fought to keep a sign up at the entrance of Industrial Avenue announcing an art gallery. Businesses would take it down and he went to city officials for help. The officials ended up siding with Beau Lieu and helped with the signage.
Chang Barrero said Boynton was a perfect fit to develop as an art district.
“Boynton Beach was prime. It was a prime area for the development of the arts,”
After enduring a two-month permitting battle with the City of Boynton Beach, the Boynton Beach Art District's monthly art walk returns this Thursday enlivened and reenergized. With its city ban now lifted, BBAD's Art Walk celebrates its four-year anniversary this week.
