Street Art Tour

(Story and photos by Dorian Martinez) Artist Lady K-Fever conducted a tour of "Street Art on the Grand Concourse" on September 29th. The event was the first in a series of workshops that are part of the Bronx Museum of the Art's launch of the Bronx Lab.

Over the course of an hour, Fever explained how each painting had a different style, technique and purpose.

The street art tour aims to preserve the hip hop history of the Bronx, specifically the connection between graffiti and neighborhoods.

Thirty people showed up for the inaugural tour, surprising the hosts.

Fever is a Canadian street artist that has been painting murals around New York for years, including three in the tour. Of this mural of the four train, Fever says it was an example of her wild style art.

Fever has been doing street art since 1991, and says she doesn't see herself only seen in one genre of art. "I paint. I go out and do graffiti. I make street art," she says. "I do photography and performance art, but it comes all back to the streets that inspire me.

This mural done by Andre Trenier is on the Bronx Museum wall at Spring Bank/Gerard Avenues and 69 East 167th Street.

"Most street art murals take a day or two, but it really depends on the size and details," says Fever. "I have spent up to three weeks painting a huge wall and a few hours doing some background details on a wall."

"My name Lady K-Fever is two names put together. Lady K is my nickname and Fever was my 'graff' name. Fever is about passion and expression. I put up both names separately for years and then I put the two together, not to confuse people. I also chose fever because it is not gender specific."

Fever has been involved as a museum educator since 2005. "I was a guest artist for a hip hop event and they asked me to develop a curriculum for an after school program they were doing," she says. "They were looking for something that would engage the students and address their needs and interests."

"I have wanted to do a walking public tour for a while, so I may offer them once a month as Lady K-Fever's 'reading the streets' tour. I will keep you posted."

The free admission workshops will take place every last Sunday of the month at the Bronx Museum.

Each workshop is planned somewhat independently, says museum coordinator Marissa Kucheck, since it involves working with a different teaching artist who creates a lesson plan and an art-making activity based on an aspect of public art.

"Street Art on the Grand Concourse" is just a small glimpse into the wide and varied artistic production happening in the Bronx right now, says Kucheck.

"I think the murals on the Grand Concourse demonstrate how the Museum reaches audiences beyond its walls and that it's committed to engaging the community through art," Kucheck says.

"In New York people are always rushing from place to place," says Kucheck. "I hope that the tour will encourage people to pause and look at their surroundings more and think about the wealth of artistic talent in the area contributes to the urban landscape."

Kucheck was pleased with the great turn out. "There were people of all ages and from all over," she said. "One woman said she lived across the street and another said she was visiting from Australia!"

Kucheck says the Bronx Lab workshops aim to create a space where the community can feel free to view, read about and make art. "Personally, I hope that these workshops will broaden participants' concept of what public art is or can be, and will inspire them to continue to make art," she says.