This mural by Pose MSK was part of the the 2012 RVA Street Art Festival along the Floodwall and Canal Walk. The Chicago-based graffiti artist Pose created a pop-art-inspired collage with comic-book elements and advertising logos.
Richmond residents can easily recognize the iconic Southern States silos above the Manchester skyline in all of their pale gray glory. After more than a year on hiatus, the RVA Street Art Festival will bring a new aesthetic to the silos and their surrounding structures next spring. The production teams promise that the projects will be bigger and better than ever before.
The festival was originally planned for September, but Richmond City Council member and festival co-organizer Jon Baliles says the possibilities are endless with the new location. “It’s a pretty enormous canvas, so the more we looked at the site, the more ideas we came up with,” he says, adding, "We want to stay true to the festival." With so many options, "we needed more time to raise funds and organize.”
The mural Rust Brue by Mickael Broth at the former GRTC bus depot (photo by Justin Vaughan)
The rough estimate to paint the silos comes in at $50,000, and that's just one of the costs associated with the project. Previous RVA Street Art Festivals were held at the old power plant along the Canal Walk downtown, and at the former GRTC depot on West Cary Street.
“The first two festivals had their own vibe and unique spaces, but this event is so big, we’re literally trying to take it to another level,” Baliles says in a news release announcing the change.
The latest RVA Street Art Festival is part of a yearlong initiative to improve the Manchester district that includes smaller mural projects in collaboration with individual businesses and homeowners' groups. The new festival date will be announced this fall.
