Now in its fourth year, the live-painting mural project and gallery exhibition event Forward Warrior is going to be bigger than ever. This Friday, June 6, ABV Gallery will be hosting an exhibition with work from participating artists from the past three years. On Saturday, June 7, 20 artists are landing on Wylie Street at 11 a.m. to create large-scale murals throughout the day. With Sam Flax as a sponsor and plenty of wall space in Cabbagetown, the Peter Ferrari-helmed event is bringing in more artists than ever before. Among its talented roster are Ashley Anderson, Brandon Sadler, Lucha Rodriguez, Molly Rose Freeman, Nick Benson, Paper Frank, Sam Parker and many more.
Here are five reasons why you should grab your lawn chair and hit it up.
1. Get inspired: The theme for the ABV Gallery exhibition is “Forward Warrior”—a forward warrior is one who has perseverance in the face of adversity and courage to think outside the box. The artists, all with different backgrounds, have based their works on this theme. If that doesn’t inspire you, we don’t know what will.
2. Support local artists: Post up along Wylie Street, where the artists will be live painting the bare walls. It’s a rare chance to see these talented folks interact with each other and create one-of-a-kind murals that will make our city brighter.
3. Dance party: Painting will go well into the night, and DJs Genesis and Dusty Bottoms will be there spinning tunes to keep you entertained as you watch the magic, I mean, art, happen while you dance the night away.
4. You won’t go hungry: 97 Estoria is nearby, so you can grab some grub and libations before heading up to see the mural progress. Catlanta has a piece in the ABV exhibition, so maybe you’ll even get lucky and go home with a new kitten.
5. It’s free: Aside from having to RSVP to Friday’s ABV Gallery exhibition (You can do it here), the event is $free.99 and open to everyone. Save some money and support local artists doing great things for our city!
For more information on the event, visit the event page and grab your free tickets for the ABV Gallery show here.
