This is part 3 in Daniel “Halopigg” Weintraub‘s series of posts from Rochester’s Wall\Therapy mural festival. You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.
I woke up on Day 3 feeling good, I had just been published in my two favorite blogs, I got a good night’s sleep, and I was preparing for a day of driving around the city of Rochester!
My first stop was to check on the progress of the Dal wall. Daleast had certainly progressed but he still had much work to do. I hung for a little but figured I would come back when he is done so I can get some good shots for the people.
My next spot was the Rochester Public Market, which serves as the headquarters for Wall\Therapy. Here I was able to capture some really sweet Instagram videos of Dal and Faith’s walls from past Wall\Therapies. Both of their old walls are easily 100 feet long and could only be captured by stop motion video.
From there it was on to the abandoned subway tunnel in downtown Rochester, which of course is within walking distance of my hotel! I had already figured out that Rochester is a pretty special place, but if there is one significantly more amazing spot in town it has to be the abandoned subway tunnel. The first thing I noticed when entering the space was that getting in was easy as all hell. You often hear about cool spots that require a bit of ninja skills or at least some huevos to get in to, however, this entrance was a downward sloping inclined plane, my favorite!
The first Wall\Therapy piece I noticed was from the artist Freedom, a large piece of Bazooka bubble gum. The entire area is covered in burners, tags, rollers, and pieces, but the cartoonish yet realistic approach to the fake advertisement of gum really made the piece stand out. After entering the tunnel you are greeted by graffiti as far as the eyes can see, it is truly an amazing sight.
The reason I was traveling into the tunnel was because I was told that Roa was in there doing a semi-legal piece, turns out I was a bit wrong, he was indeed there but he had permission to paint in the tunnel. The rest of my afternoon consisted of watching Roa paint his North American Squirrel as well as seeing him execute the highest roller piece I have ever seen. The piece is not done yet, Roa plans on adding some “funk” coming out of the skunk’s rear end today, should be pretty sweet. Also, thanks for the signed can dude!
After the sun went down it was off to the Yard’s building for another artists’ dinner. Again everything was great! Dancing on the fire escape with LNY, Roa, Labrona, and Martha Cooper may be a memory I’ll never forget.
Before bed I took one last ride over to Chris Stain’s wall, which since last night had been painted and painted over by the artist. Chris said he got half way through the first mural, posted yesterday, and realized he didn’t like it. I think I have to agree with Chris and say that I prefer the new wall as well. Here is a shot of it in progress, a final shot should be easy to get since @LeeHalfPenny had to leave in the morning. More from the Roc tomorrow!
Photos by Daniel “Halopigg” Weintraub
