That’s a wrap!
Celebrate new mural with a free burrito this Saturday
The Lincoln City Cultural Center has been spray-painted! Famed Northwest street artist “Gats” has transformed the downstairs hallway with one of his signature mask designs. All are invited to celebrate and welcome the new mural this Saturday, April 30, where 100 free burritos will be on offer starting at noon.
Gats, or Graffiti Against the System, is a mysterious street artist whose West Coast murals have won him worldwide acclaim as a graffiti icon.
Gats values anonymity, as he explained in a 2017 interview with Portland’s weekly street newspaper, Street Roots.
“The majority of my work is done outside without permission or pay,” he told the newspaper. “I prioritize making the artwork accessible. I view it like donating a book to the library. When it’s in the streets, everyone owns it and no one owns it. Everyone can enjoy it.”
Most of his work is on the streets, under bridges, in abandoned buildings, on trains, in public restrooms, on dumpsters and now in the cultural center’s basement.
The mural project is organized by the Portland Street Art Alliance, a non-profit organization that provides access to resources, networking and professional development opportunities for Pacific Northwest street artists.
In his Street Roots interview, Gats said he believes that political graffiti still plays an important role even though some argue that the internet meme has replaced the political poster.
“Street art establishes a presence in real life,” he said. “You feel comfortable or uncomfortable in a space depending on what the graffiti says on the wall. It shows who controls the streets, and the streets are real. With social media algorithms showing you only your own opinion, graffiti is a way to pop that bubble. Art will happen if we have to smash the pavement up and stack rocks. There are no limits to our creativity and our hunger for genuine experience. What is revolution if not the product of human creativity?
Gats also spoke to Street Roots about his decision to mark a previous art exhibition by giving away 100 free burritos.
“Sometimes art and graffiti get overly serious, and you forget to have fun,” he said. “For some reason, it just popped into my head that a newsstand full of burritos would make everyone very happy. Something about an everyday object that already says, ‘Free – Take One,’ but then is full of something unexpected that you love just plastered a grin on my face. Can you imagine a world where everything operated like that?”
At the time, Gats had $100 to his name.
“I walked into the taqueria and asked, ‘How many burritos can I get for $100,’” he said. “It was the best moment of my life. I felt like I was carrying a newborn child home. I didn’t have a dollar for food, housing or gas to get home, but I had faith that if I bought everyone a burrito, things would somehow work out.”
The cultural center will be following Gats’ example this Saturday, April 30, giving out 100 free burritos at a welcome celebration for the new mural, starting at noon.
The Lincoln City Cultural Center is located at 540 NE Hwy. 101, open from 10 am to 4 pm, Thursday through Sunday.
For more information, call 541-994-9994 or go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org.
For details on Portland Street Art Alliance, go to www.PDXstreetart.org.