June DC Street Art Webinar: Recap and Recording

On June 25, 2024, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association hosted the DC Street Art Webinar featuring three panelists from organizations working to advance street art in the District and surrounding area. 

Kimberly Vacca, District Department of Transportation (DDOT)

First, the audience heard from Kimberly Vacca, the Public Space Activation Coordinator in the Neighborhood Planning Branch at the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). Kimberly manages the District’s Streatery program (both temporary and permanent), including developing design guidelines, processing public space permits, and assisting food establishments through District processes. Kimberly also manages the District’s Open Streets program, which temporarily closes roads to cars and opens them to people to walk, bike, scoot, and play safely. She also coordinates public space activation programs and projects, including parklets, PARK(ing) Day, and Arts in the Right-of-Way (AROW).During her presentation, Kimberly discussed the Arts in the Right-of-Way (AROW) program, which started in 2019. The mission is to install art on DC public amenities, including bike racks, traffic control boxes, curb extensions, crosswalks, bike and scooter parking, bridge murals, and other unique art pieces. There are three different ways the AROW program facilitates art: DDOT-initiated budgets, Color the Curb Grant Programming, and privately initiated projects. Each program and amenities have applicant and design requirements. To learn more, check out the DDOT Arts in the Right-Of-Way website. In 2019, the AROW program was formally started when DDOT installed the rainbow intersection banners at 17th St. NW in Dupont Circle, pictured below. For more examples and information about DDOT’s AROW program, watch the recording below or check out the website linked above!

Chelsea Ritter-Soronen, Chalk Riot

Our second presenter was Chelsea Ritter-Soronen, the CEO and Principal Artist of Chalk Riot, an all-women mural production house specializing in artwork on the ground established in 2013. Their team has created work in over a dozen states and five countries and has been featured in Washingtonian Magazine, PBS Newshour, The Washington Post, and more. As a public advocate for the ground as canvas, she has been a featured speaker at TEDx, the Bloomberg CityLab Conference, and the Smithsonian’s Women in Environmental Leadership Conference. She is currently an American delegate to the United States Japan Leadership Program, and most recently has been a Seeds of Peace Artivism Gather Fellow and Resident Teaching Artist at the Kennedy Center’s Moonshot Studio. Chelsea is currently pursuing a Master’s in Sustainable Transportation at the University of Washington so that she may expand the pursuit of public art opportunities that guide us into a safer, healthier, and more creatively connected world.

Although Chalk Riot has been active for the past ten years, it wasn’t until four years ago that they became experts in arts in the right of way. Chalk Riot’s mission is to develop art on the ground to expand people’s perspectives of how they participate in cities. Their work highlights the direct connections to the communities in which the installations exist. Over the years, Chalk Riot has collaborated with many artists, musicians, DJs, break-dancers, fire spinners, you name it! For examples of Chalk Riot’s work over the last ten years, click here!

The history of chalk art is surprisingly radical. Some of the earliest documented chalk art in Western history dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. When cathedrals and basilicas were built, the spaces were exclusive to the upper and wealthiest classes of society. The muralists creating the epic, historical, grandiose murals inside decided to make the art more accessible by creating those images in chalk outside on the ground in public squares.

The tradition continued when people started to create political cartoons on sidewalks. In the suffrage movement, chalk was a way of informing people where and when to attend the underground meetings. Police would wash away the advertisements for the meetings and perhaps arrest the responsible activist. However, by hiding the chalk in their bulky clothing, the activist would pass the chalk off to the next person to recreate the advertisement in chalk again. As a result, chalk art has always been a way to fight patriarchal norms and one of the reasons Chalk Riot is committed to being an all-women and gender-expensive team today.The example below is from downtown Silver Spring. Chalk Riot has repainted this 400 ft by 12 ft installation every year for the past four years. The current pedestrian plaza used to be filled with idling cars. People walking their dogs and strollers would be dodging the cars, and the space was unsafe and congested. Downtown Silver Spring decided to revise the space into a pedestrian-only zone, and as a result, the businesses along the stretch have only benefitted. For more examples of Chalk Riot’s art, watch the recording below or check out Chalk Riot’s website.

Nancee Lyons, DC Department of Public Works (DPW)

Our third and final presenter was Nancee Lyons, who serves as the spokeswoman for the DC Department of Public Works and manages the MuralsDC program. The MuralsDC program is funded by the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) in cooperation with the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and serves as a complement to DPW’s mission to clean and beautify the nation’s capital. Since its pilot in 2007, MuralsDC has painted 165 murals in 72 neighborhoods working with over 66 artists, and impacted over 150,000 residents. While most of the artists are local, the program has worked with artists across the country and around the world, creating some of the most engaging and photographed murals in the region. Since its inception, MuralsDC has worked closely with organizations that have provided a variety of afterschool and summer youth programs and involved more than 200 youth apprentices and volunteers in mural projects.

MuralsDC operates under the principle that art has an impact. They take a holistic approach when working with artists and property owners and when developing the concept and design of the murals. MuralsDC recognizes that not only do murals have a huge impact, but they also help people build relationships with murals. Therefore, they look for highly visible walls, select artists who will make a great impact, and work with the community to make sure that people will be able to embrace the design.Murals have many purposes — highlighting history, paying tribute to significant local figures, defining communities, being playful, and forming community connections. During Nancee’s presentation, she highlighted multiple notable examples of murals that serve various purposes and significance in Washington, DC. One example of a mural that pays tribute to a more recent local hero is the mural “Lee’s Legacy” on U St. al honors the couple who owned Lee’s Card and Flower Shop in the U Street Corridor. Lee’s Card and Flower Shop was one of the first black businesses on the U St Corridor and is one of the oldest black businesses in Washington, DC. The establishment is still thriving and family-owned! To see more examples of the murals, check out the MuralsDC website or watch the recording below!

Check out the webinar recording below or on WABA’s YouTube Channel!