Parking Lot Flowers
April Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Graffiti & Street Art”
Urban artists turn drab walls bright.
From 2015–to 2018, my city teamed up with a variety of artists to create the 352Walls/Gainesville Uran Art Initiative, an urban revitalization project first conceived by artist Iryna Kanishcheva.
In 2019, Captain Argentina and I took the 352Walls walking tour. One of the main attractions is the downtown parking garage, which was transformed into an open-air art museum.
The words in the photo, This was a parking lot; now it’s a peaceful oasis, pay homage to the Talking Heads’ song, (Nothing but) Flowers, which has this verse:
Once there were parking lots Now it’s a peaceful oasis You’ve got it, you’ve got it
You can read all the lyrics here and you can listen to the song here.
Because several artists worked on the parking lot/garage project, each wall or section has a unique message or represents a particular aspect of our city.
A once drab structure for vehicles is now an art museum for people.
© Dennett 2022