• May 27, 2009
  • Posted by Marc

‘Post No Bills, Post Pretty ART’: An Urban Regeneration Project In Downtown Edmonton, AB

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As the impact of the current downturn in the global economy worsens, and more and more storefronts are being abandoned and boarded up, we expect to see more street art urban regeneration projects like ‘Post No Bills, Post Pretty ART’ in in downtown Edmonton, AB.

A group of local artists in Edmonton are encouraging other artists (local or international) to put up their work throughout the Summer.  The project is being done without any grants, sponsorship or permission. The organizers explain -

“We feel the creation of the artwork free from these constraints allows a more honest and organic artistic expression. We decided to focus on this building as it’s on a busy intersection of downtown and it seemed absolutely appalling from a pedestrian and urban experience point of view to simply leave this building boarded up—essentially it is unused space that people scurry around to avoid like the plague.  Thus, we put up some of our work and it was really nice to actually see people slow down and examine some of the pieces (the paint chip one really throws people in a bender!)—we think there’s a real appreciation for street art and what it can do for urban experience, it’s simply not vocalized as coherently due to its inherent lack of organization (which we think is a good thing!).  People were coming up to us saying that it was about time this happened—and it was strange that, on an institutional level, no public art program had been implemented to address urban abandonment in our city.  So, we think from a street art perspective, the speed at which we were able to address this issue and to act upon this need is what makes street art an incredible possibility and potent tool for guerilla urban regeneration.”

If you’d like more info. click here or here.