The public is invited to watch as two graffiti artists paint a mural behind the Arts Council of Princeton’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts.
Will “Kasso” Condry and James “Luv 1” Kelewae of Trenton’s Stylez Advancing Graffiti’s Evolution Coalition are set to work on the mural beginning at 12 p.m. Sept. 14. Musicians and DJs are set to provide a live soundtrack during the event and break dancers are rumored to make an appearance.
The mural, which will span two small brick walls, is inspired by the Underground Railroad and the tradition of quilt-making.
The project was conceived by local curator, writer, teacher and photographer Ricardo Barros.
Ricardo Barros, a resident of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood and ACP Exhibition Committee member, said of the project, “The mural will present a stylized, interpretive take on the Underground Railroad, reflecting the S.A.G.E. Coalition’s urban roots. The mural will not be visible from the street, but those viewers who choose to wander in and explore the “hidden” wall will experience the clandestine nature of the Underground Railroad as well as that of contemporary urban art.”
With the S.A.G.E. Coalition, Condry and Kelewae have created a series of public art projects in Trenton, including a depiction of Mahatma Gandhi, the Dali Lama, and Barack Obama. The Gandhi mural in particular generated a surprisingly strong, positive, public response, which led to the transformation of a derelict, abandoned lot into a public urban garden, known as Gandhi’s Garden.
In keeping with S.A.G.E.’s public spirit, their project at the Paul Robeson Center will pay homage to the Underground Railroad, a web of routes covering thousands of miles, several of which ran through New Jersey. Sections were known as “stations,” and Station A ran through Princeton’s Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood. Members of the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, at 124 Witherspoon Street, spoke out against slavery as early as the 1840’s and assisted escaping slaves in their passage north. The father of the namesake of the ACP’s home, Paul Robeson, was a slave who escaped a Southern plantation and eventually settled in Princeton’s Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, where Paul Robeson was born.
This event coincides with the ACP’s Free Fall Open House scheduled for 12 to 3 p.m. and Members’ Show set for 3 to 5 p.m.
Paul Robeson Center for the Arts is located at 102 Witherspoon St., Princeton.
More information is online at artscouncilofprinceton.org.
A commissioned mural by the S.A.G.E. Coalition in Hopewell.,
