TOOFLY NYC » Urban Art Education

ART OF THE STREETS 2011! STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 8.13/14.11

tooflynyc — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:38:56 +0000

Art of the Streets in Stockholm Sweden is back!!! I’ve been invited to participate again this year, alongside graffiti women MAD C, and BLUE. Looking forward to seeing you ladies again it’s been a hot minute. Especially BLUE, who’s character work was refreshing to look back in the days on walls of the lower east side. I want to send a big thank you to organizers, Jacob, Ceylan, and Tobias for the opportunity to be able to visit your beautiful country again. Looking forward to share my work, and rock some graffiti workshops. See you guys soooooooooon! If you missed it last year, check it out Art of the Streets 2010.

WELLING COURT MURAL PROJECT #2

tooflynyc — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:02:48 +0000

Welling Court Mural Project#2 rocked! Lots more walls, lot’s more artists. Big ups to Alison, and Garrison (adhocart.org) for organizing another beautiful event. Sending love to Louie for opening his home, and heart to all the artists again this year. Thank you Welling Court community for supporting us, we hope you enjoy this amazing public art museum for years, and years to come. To my Project Girlz™ summer youth team you guys made me very proud yesterday. I hope you had a blast, get ready for more the summer has just begun! Shout out to all our friends and family who came thru to check out the event. See you at the BBQ’s brunches, picnics, beach trips and much more. Hello Summer!!!!

3-4 hours…

Zam, Toofly, Chorboogie

IN LOVE WE TRUST….

Our youngest little member, Princess Ani…

I live for those smiles:)

You guys ready to rock your first gate?

Shout out to Tanya for hooking my girlz up with extra paint:) Thanks girl!

After a few can control lessons they were ready for their first ever freestyle session…

Project Girlz™ Youth team 2011 baby!

Time for their photo opps…

Little pro, in love with paint…

Cern…lovely as ever…

Cycle, Lady Pink, Free 5….

Street artist process shots…

This lady’s work is amazing!

This too! DOPENESS….

STREET ART is the BEST! Feel right at home in this world…the artists are diverse, kind, and conscious….

Explore…

More gardens, more gardening, more green, more plants, more, earth, more peace, more flowers…

Nature, the true queen of art!

Summer blooms…

Grown with Love, Grow with bugs:) One step closer, we’re getting one step closer….THANK YOU.

For more infromation about the Welling Court Mural Project check out the press release below:

MEDIA ADVISORY – Friday, June 17, 2011

AD HOC ART CONTINUES MAJOR PUBLIC MURAL PROJECT COMPRISING 58+ INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS REPRESENTING OVER 50 YEARS OF STREET ART

– An Art Event Celebrating the Streets, Solidarity, Community, and Culture –

WHAT: The community of Welling Court in Queens, New York first asked Ad Hoc Art to help them spruce up their neighborhood in 2009. Ad Hoc Art was honored to do so and rose to the occasion in May 2010 organizing a project fitting for the diverse, enthusiastic, and energetic inhabitants. Now, a year later, Ad Hoc has assembled another spectacular crew of legendary and groundbreaking artists spanning more than 50 years of activity for the 2^nd Annual Welling Court Mural Project. The project has received remarkable global acclaim since its launch and continues to garner support as more walls, artists, and enthusiasts augment that success.

This second round is not to be missed as we bring ever-more art and eyes to this Queens gem. To celebrate, the community’s annual block party coincides with the project’s opening, featuring cuisine and music from the ethnically diverse and multi-talented hosts. Whereas this tiny neighborhood is providing some major hospitality, it cannot provide for thousands of people, so please:

* think of it as a big social picnic potluck art fun action and bring some of your favorite tasty foods, beverages, or other contribution to share with your fellow revelers.

** if you would like to offer help or assistance to the artists, items always useful are: exterior bucket paint, paint rollers/brushes, spray paint, acrylic paint, exterior primer, etc.

The project transforms several city blocks into a 24/7 street-level gallery, bringing art from around the world directly to the heart of this community. Renowned artists with deep roots in the street movement have created site-specific works for this project and many will showcase various creative sundries for your perusal. This new array of visual experiences provides fresh contexts for how people working, visiting, and living in this diverse cultural gem of Queens think about and interact with their environment.

Artists include: Alice Mizrachi, Ashley Jane Laird, Alison Buxton, Beau Stanton, Bunnie Reiss, Caleb Neelon, Chris Mendoza, Chris Stain, Celso, Cern, Chor Boogie, Cicelia Ross-Gotta, CR, Cycle, Dan Witz, Darkclouds, Dave Loewenstein, Don Leicht, El Kamino, Ellis Gallagher, Ezra Li Eismont, Free5, Fumero, Garrison Buxton, Greg Lamarche, Jesse Jones, JMR, Joe Iurato, John Ahearn, John Fekner, Jordan Seiler, Katie Yamasaki, Lady Pink, Leon Reid, Matt Siren, Mensen, M-City, Michael Alan, Michael De Feo, MIMEO, Mr. Kiji, OverUnder, Pablo Power, Peat Wollaeger, R. Nicholas Kuszyk, Remi Rough, Richard Nugent, ROA, Ron English, Royce Bannon, Sinned, Sofia Maldonado, Stormie Mills, Sweet Toof, TooFly, Tristan Eaton, Veng RWK, Zam, and more.

In addition to the murals and festivities, there are special events and artist’s projects happening throughout the day.

DJ’s A to the K & Painted blend especially sublime block party beats to tickle your eardrums and keep you moving all day long. Bring your dancing shoes and prepare for shaking some body parts.

WHEN: Saturday, June 25^th, 2011 from noon until 9pm.

WHO: Ad Hoc Art + Artists + The Community of Welling Court, Queens + You

WHERE: 11-98 Welling Court {@ 30^th Ave & 12^th Street}, Astoria, Queens 11102

TO GET THERE:

* By Public Transit: Take the N or W train to 30th Ave and then walk or take the Q18 west down 30th Ave to 12th St. You are there!

* By Car: Here is a link to the street locations on google maps: http://tinyurl.com/2e7whgo

YOUR ATTENDANCE AND COVERAGE IS ENCOURAGED & INVITED.

THE LOVE MOVEMENT

tooflynyc — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:13:38 +0000

THE LOVE MOVEMENT by Toofly. Acrylic & Spraypaint on wood. Check out the process shots
The Love Movement paintings are officially installed at Canarsie High School in Brooklyn , NY. Shout out to the Love Movement /NY4NY team for making it happen. All originally paintings were created, and donated to school by the artists.

In Canarsie, Street Art Shows Its Softer Side from sarnecki on Vimeo.

In Canarsie, Street Art Shows Its Softer Side

Brooklyn, New York

To his high school art students, he is “Mr. De Feo,” or sometimes, when they are trying to rile him, “De Fay Fay.”

To urban art enthusiasts, he is “The Flower Guy,” one of the most prolific and recognizable New York based street artists.

Michael De Feo is one of more than a dozen artists, mostly street and former graffiti artists, who donated works to the Canarsie Educational Campus in Brooklyn, New York for a permanent art installation.

The project, coined NY4NY by its organizers, Nathan VanHook and Ty Saunders of The Love Movement art group, includes fifteen original works located on various walls and doors throughout the three floors of the campus. Artists painted on either four-by-six or three-by-five foot plywood panels, which were permanently affixed along the school’s corridors over the last six months.

In terms of civic-minded and charitable endeavors, the perpetrators of street art may not seem the most befitting of partners.

But as the genre has slowly ingratiated itself with the cultural establishment over the last decade, the street art movement has found itself an increasingly welcomed guest in the mainstream, including countless international exhibitions.

And even a high school in Brooklyn.

“A lot of our students here don’t get to go into the city, to go to the great museums,” said Adaleza Michelena, principal of the High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media, one of the four high schools on the Canarsie Educational Campus. “Some of them don’t even know what a gallery is supposed to be, and now it’s in their school.”

The roster of contributors includes the street art duo Thundercut from Beacon, New York, Brooklyn mainstays such as Ad Deville of Skewville, and the graffiti-cum-public artist Leon Reid IV, formerly known as VERBS.

Fixtures of the nineties graffiti scene such as Maria Castillo, known through her tag “Toofly,” also donated original paintings, alongside contemporaries more commonly known for design work, including artists Mike Perry, Morning Breath, Abe Lincoln Jr., and others.

“There’s an energy to the work that really speaks to youth,” said Kalene Rivers, a contributing artist who works under the name Thundercut along with her husband, Daniel Weise. “It’s such an amazing concept to bring that energy into the halls of a school that has some issues,” said Rivers.

“It’s more of an art that they can connect to,” said Tracee Galante, an English Language Arts teacher at the High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media. A sentiment underlined by Mr. De Feo, “Children more than adults recognize street art,” he said, “they were the ones that saw me during the day on the streets. Parents never saw me, but the kids saw me.”

Community-based art and philanthropic work is not unchartered ground for street artists. Last year, in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, the artist Swoon spearheaded a sustainable building project called Konbit Shelter. Even the elusive Bansky donated proceeds from his works to post bail for two imprisoned Russian artists of the Voina collective.

For the NY4NY contributing artists, most admitted they regularly turn down charitable art projects—not because they’re unwilling, but because they receive more requests than they could ever fulfill.

As to whether the work of these artists (many of who have admittedly produced illegal street art) is appropriate in a school, Principal Michelena said, “Everybody who has success in their career is a potential roll model for our students, regardless of their background.”

For that matter, when leading street artists direct academy award nominated films (Banksy, Exit Through The Gift Shop), and design iconic images that embody a president’s candidacy (Shepard Fairey, The Obama “Hope” poster), discouraging students from venerating such individuals is an ill-fated task.

Abe Lincoln Jr., a contributing artist who declined to give more than his street name, painted a piece with green paint streaking down from the phrase “Positive Mental Attitude,” spilling over a sketch of three young children smiling and bearing the symbols of the “straight edge” lifestyle.

“When I was a teenager, the ‘Stay in School,’ ‘Don’t do Drugs’ approach didn’t really resonate with me” said Abe Lincoln Jr., “so I wanted to paint something that speaks to the students on a level that hopefully they could appreciate.”

MHHK “LET’S GET ACTIVE”

tooflynyc — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:01:49 +0000

Momma’s Hip Hop Kitchen Vol:4 was a sweet success! Shout out to the MHHK team, who put on a beautiful event. Turn out was amazing!!! it get’s better and better every year. I’m happy and proud to be part of the collective of folks who stay true to their community no matter what. Much luv to our lovely Momma herself; Lah Tere for the invitation to share my slide show of works on stage alongside some amazing female performers, musicians, and dancers. WOW!!! It was powerful altogether. Loved it! Thank you to all who came through to show your support, it means a lot to all of us who are there share our heart & soul…

Love my B-Girlz gals! Thanks ladies for supporting your biggest fan;) FULL CIRCLE SOUL!!!

New Toofly T-shirt debut! STAYING TRUE for all you ladies out there who live up, and rep what this is really all about…
exclusive and limited will be online soon! www.tooflynyc.com/shop

ahhh…The fave…slick black Love Heart Necklace. Last one, sold out! hot item, hot shot…

Booth buddies! Gotta rep the BAAD ASS WOMEN of 2011 baby!

11th annual Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance Festival! March 7-26 don’t miss it!>>> BAAD

Was happy JUNKPRINTS got down this year! Yeah guuuuuuuurl you know how “we” do….

Walked around the booths, and ran into some designs I had done back in the days for the Pro-Choice Education Project. Memories…

Mother and son, Love this picture! Hope you like your little Toofly and Mr Pickle’s drawings in your black book Jack;)

Shout out to Karen for helping me take flicks, it got hella busy but we squeezed in for a few shots of some beautiful folks out there who do amazing work!!! You guys ROCK.

Slide show backdrop by TOOFLY! Fly….

Thank you everybody!!! ((( COMMUNITY LOVE )))

ROOFTOP LEGENDS 2010

tooflynyc — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:16:06 +0000

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to the opening of ROOFTOP LEGENDS but happy there’s plenty of flicks online to share including some behind the scene shots I took while I was painting check em…

I progress 2 weeks before event. iPhoto by Tony Peralta

Love these structures everywhere…Great photo light when sun is setting, too many shadows in the early afternoon…

It was dope to run into SKUF after all these years. Good to see you man! 90′s CLASSIC! Love it.

Also ran into our boy WANE who’s mad sweet. Good energy here folks! wasup? LOL

WANE COD

Ben was rock’n out with the brushes piece looks fresh…

Trixer and Bounce were also getting busy…I love process shots they’re some of my favorites

Cern’s work is beau-ti-ful! Even though it’s in the works it still looked so fresh unfinished…

Erin Yoshi, and Cece rocked out this little house structure great location!

Sharing some flicks from 99Sense FLICKR Account…See the rest here

TATS CRU always looking mad official, and professional….

Great turn out. Glad folks came through to support this amazing place. It’s so big you can fit 500+ people up here…

DJ ENUFF on the 1 & 2′s with Jesse Pais on the left the man behind ROOFTOP LEGENDS:)

Shout to Anthony Vigo for taking some fly shots of the peeps up there having a chillax time…Miss you guys see ya soon!

Camera Action…

Dope event! See all the pieces and in progress shots at ROOFTOP LEGENDS BLOG

ROOFTOP LEGENDS IS COMING! 5.8.2010

tooflynyc — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:21:21 +0000

The busy bee season is kicking in! I hope I make it, specially now that I have like no time:( This past weekend I had an opportunity to rock a little 5min video with the FRIENDS WE LOVE youth team attending the New Design H.S aka Seward Park H.S. They did so great! The weather was sweet, the kids rocked the interview, and I got a chance to do paint a little something something. It’s days like this that make me confident the next generation will be alright. Especially with folks who take the time to give back to their communities. Love you guys! THANK YOU:)

When we were all done, I got a chance to walk around and scope out this place. WOW. This rooftop is an artist heaven…

The size of this place is crazy!!! I couldn’t wait to come back and spend an entire day re-doing my quick little throwie…

Voila! Not done yet but it’s getting there. Spent a whole afternoon completely zoned out on this piece and it felt great! I haven’t painted in solo mode in years. It was bliss, and definitely something I need to do more often. Yay! painting season has officially begun folks. Shout out to everyone who’s doing a killer job up there; WANE, BOUNCE, TRIXER, CERN, CECE, ERIN YOSHI, and MARTHALICIA. It was so good to see you guys. Last but not least the man behind this dope place; Jessie Pais, your the man! It’s people like you who make a huge difference in all our lives. Thank you for helping to carve out a little piece of this city for all of us to enjoy. As you can see I’m really excited about this whole thing, and even more so now that their third annual event is coming up. Mark your calendars! Saturday May 8th ROOFTOP LEGENDS opens it’s doors to the public. You don’t want to miss it. Info below…

Rooftop Legends is a graffiti event presented by the New Design High School. Located in the Lower East side of NYC the event takes place on the schools open rooftop and will be happening May 8th, 2010. Featuring crews such as: FC, TC5, COD, AOK, FBA, TFP, TPA, TDS, TATS CRU and more.

The event started back in 2007 and has been growing every year. DJ ENUFF of the Heavy Hitters will be DJ’ing and with the backdrop of the NYC skyline it has become something that cannot be replicated.

Keep up with the shows progress, artists interviews with Enue, Cycle and more on the Rooftop Legends blog at:
rooftoplegends2010.blogspot.com

TOOFLY GRAFFITI WORKSHOP

tooflynyc — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:10:18 +0000

Back from a fantastic 3 day graffiti urban arts workshop in Brooklyn with the Young Women’s Leadership School. The girls did an amazing job this week. They got a rare opportunity to learn the art and design of doing letters, and characters. There’s nothing more fun than learning about line, shape, and color when your rocking out your name in bubble or straight letter style. Many kids in our community live around graffiti and street art. This was a great opportunity to teach them something from their own block they can relate to! With a few markers, brushes, and paint the kids not only pieced their names they also collaborated on a large canvas mural that will be installed in their school. The message of choice to represent their winter camp: “ENERGY UP!” A conscious daily choice to get their health in check, and help fight teenage obesity 1 day at a time. Shout out to Big City Walls for teaming me up with Young Womens Leadership, and the Energyup.org program this year;) THANK YOU!!! Till next time…

Pilot marker outlines all by themselves! I was proud:)

Great job ladies! Keeping it fun, clean, and graphic…

These ladies were a bit shy, but cute!

Fun, Fabulous, and Fierce! Perfect team for the name tagz canvas…

the fruit and veggie character crew:)

The pink apple lady with gold earrings lol! It’s all in the attitude…

How dope would it be if I had my very own classroom! The art and design projects I can do with these kids would be awesome…

Thinking hard on design elements so they can make me proud!

Good Job!

Little pineapple character with Mohawk hair almost complete…

Last step TAG UP!

TOOFLY & HIGH VOLTAGE rock’n for 2010!

Thank you for the THANK YOU CARDS!!!:)

Energy Up! is the health and wellness program started by lifestyle guru Kathie Dolgin, aka High Voltage, to get America’s girls moving, healthy and energized. Or, as she puts it: “Fit, Fabulous and Fierce!”

EUVA’s (Energy Up Voltage Approved) mission is to fight teenage obesity and prevent type 2 diabetes and other diseases associated with poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle. EUVA focuses on the belief that wholesome lifestyle habits acquired as a teenager provide a lifetime of benefits in the form of weight control, reduced health risks, and greater self-esteem. EUVA’s Energy Up! Program educates and motivates teenagers to make healthier food and lifestyle choices by forging a strong emotional connection in a manner that is fun, exciting and energetic to promote positive physical, mental, emotional and social development.

EUVA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that runs its unique Energy Up! program in schools in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Want to see more workshop photos?

TOOFLY WORKSHOPS

YOUNG WOMENS LEADERSHIP SCHOOL – Graffiti Workshop 2009

GRAFFITI 101

tooflynyc — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:35:30 +0000

Graff video FROM TOY TO KING to share from kreisone….

From Toy to King from kreisone on Vimeo.

B-GIRL BE BLOCK PARTY! 9.19.09 MINNIAPOLIS MN

tooflynyc — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:17:03 +0000

Heading to paint in Minniapolis! See ya’ll there…

INTERMEDIA ARTS MORE INFORMATION BELOW>>>

Also check out my Female Sneaker Fiend hommies Lori Lobenstein, and Amanda Lopez doing a photoshoot for GIRLS GOT KICKS at the festival!

THE YOUNG WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SCHOOL

tooflynyc — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:50:12 +0000

WOW lot’s to catch up on. NYC is just crazy in the summer lot’s of stuff going on….okay so we’ll set it off with my kids mural workshop that went down this past week…

BIG CITY WALLS – Younity + Toofly Street Art Mural Project with The Women’s Leadership school was a huge success! The workshop kicked off at our favorite summer spot THE SECRET GARDEN in Bushwick. Weather was loving us! For the past 3 days a group of 30+ young women got a chance to experience the stages of producing a collaborative aerosol mural project with a NATURE theme reflective of what we created at the Secret Garden. It was one of my first official street art mural projects with a large youth group and it went smooooooooth as pie. WHEW! I can def get the hang of this every summer, kids rock!!!

Day 1 – Introduction, Project Details, Concept, Sketches, and a walk through the Secret Garden for some inspiration. SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS BELOW >>>

Letter pieces, graphics, and design elements…

GATES AVENUE train station up above…

Nothing like sitting in the shade with mother nature, drawing, and hanging with your friends…

We’re ready for tomorrow!

Once their sketches were done we got the secret key from Joseph and took a stroll through a hidden treasure…

THE SECRET GARDEN tucked away in the very back a large landscape with an array of homegrown vegetables, and fruits. Sustainable living at it’s best! GROW YOUR OWN FOOD!

Ready for the wall on thursday!

DAY 2
Wall Sketch – Ran into some problems with the owners for a quick minute, but once I whipped out the photos and dropped the science they calmed down. When folks see spray cans they don’t know how to react. Is it graffiti? Is it art? Is it legal? your getting a free wall dude! Chill out…

DAY 3
Full on teacher organizer mode that day. Kids and spray cans can be a hand full if you don’t know how to manage. Especially when you got a large group of 30+ teens with a lot lot of energy. Once they were in their teams, and got their daily dose of direction, technique instruction, and guidance they were free as a bird. I enjoyed watching them make their own decisions at one point. That made me very very proud;)

Can control technique in full effect…

Lot’s of spraying going on…

A 60 foot wall was complete in 4 hours! AMAZING. Good job ladies!!!

Crew 5 – BUTTERFLY

Crew 4 – TREE LOVE

Crew 3 – FUNKY FLOWS

Crew 2 – FLY HIGH

CREW 1 – FLOWER POWER

Shout out to the councelor crew! Summer Camp is just one stop away from caring folks like these in the community;)

The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria!
” MAKE IT A BETTER PLACE FOR YOU AND FOR ME” R.I.P. MJ!

Thanks for the THANK YOU CARDS!!!:) { Cheeze Smile }