Piece takes a moment to remember those who have fallen victim to the 9/11 attacks ten years ago, R.I.P. We would also like to thank and honor all the heroes who stepped in to save so many lives that day.

Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle (Los Angeles)

"Estria is a non-profit organization working to create social change through the creation of art." Check out more about them at http://www.estria.org/

Estria has been putting on graffiti battles since 2007. There are four locations where the battles take place; New York, Los Angeles, Hawaii and the finals are in Oakland,Ca.These events take place to bring awareness to the community about social justice issues and also allows the community to visualize how art can be a positive way to express themselves. Each city is given a positive word to write out in the battle, along with an 8'x10' canvas and equal amount of  Montana cans.
Los Angeles was given the word "Rise".

Taking place at Crewest Gallery on Aug.13,2011, Piece was able to attend the 5th annual event. We were excited to see the people of the community come together to check out and support these local graff. artists. While the battle was taking place outside, there was a black book battle happening inside the Crewest Gallery. Artists as young as 12 years-old were able to get down and show their stuff. They also had a separate category for all women who wanted to represent!

Woier's dove rising out of a hand took him to "rise' above the rest and put him in first place for the Los Angeles division.

 

The finals in Oakland are kicked off with Estria's Graffiti Arts Festival. This year the festival is scheduled for October 4-8, with the battle finals scheduled for the last day of the festival. You can check out more about the finals in Oakland and the Graffiti Arts Festival where the real battle begins at http://estriabattle.com/

check out these videos to learn more about the Estria Graffiti Battle: http://youtu.be/EsTMVeQyV9k

http://vimeo.com/estriabattle/2010

This whole sculpture was made out of cans...GENIUS!



Sand representing for the ladies!