this project sparked the moment when i questioned why communities were not making a collective effort to do something about the dozens of eye sores in Atlanta, Georgia's zones 1 - 4. seriously considering ways to change that perspective and get others involved, i was determined to use art as a solution. while searching options for my thesis, i received a link to an article about a community art project in South America. this led to the discovery of street/environmental/public art collective, Boa Mistura - the perfect source of inspiration - which fostered ideas that made me challenge myself as an installation artist. i fell in love with street art just knowing that i could use my passion for community rebuilding to create an awesome body of work for my thesis.

   HA! while the idea was cool, it just didn't work out. so, project buildings became my canvases. i decorated (painted) them with colorful lyrics from music produced by local Atlanta artist, creating giant site specific installations. once i started to photograph my "canvases"  for crit, a professor introduced me to the Widelux and ooohhhhh shit got real! no seriously. that changed the game - thanks Sandy - because this granted my wish to create compelling images that no one could or would. using good ole' wheatpaste, i installed seven - eight foot panoramic film images (yes roughly the size of a door) on various mediums (woods, metals, concrete, rubber and glass) found at these sites. roughly 12 sites were deemed as my personal public exhibition space but only two or three made the news. 

   the initial goal was to bring awareness to the communities most effected by gentrification. the second was to have one or more of these buildings donated to a local non-profit org and renovated as an educational art resource center. surely this would serve the community better than set of trash filled, rat infested, half burned, rotting bricks. if they were projects, shouldn't they have already be completed?  well unfortunately that statement didn't work too well when i gained the attention of city officials, who weren't very happy with my decorating tactics. thankfully they understood my message and decided not to send me on an involuntary vacation for "vandalism" - as if i actually could've made worse than what it was. on a brighter note, council members and residents of these communities encouraged my work. many were motivated by the messages to see a change in the community. several groups began efforts to have the city remove these eye sores.

   while this building and nearly eight others that i decorated have been either completely demolished leaving an empty lot or renovated into high-priced-housing, sadly, neither, has in any way, served these communities nor the people who once occupied those properties. so now that the gentrification process in Atlanta is in full swing, even i, a mere bystander at the parade, find myself steaming at the ears every time i see another luxury housing construction in an area formerly considered 'the hood' or the 'the trap'. as i know that the people who formerly occupied those buildings have been permanently displaced (or disburse) outside of the city and are living in other rural neighborhoods with the same 'hood' and 'trap' mentality that fosters degradation. although exhausting, anger always fuels passion and creativity, in a positive way. this work led to the founding of ReBUILDMe.org Inc., a non-profit organization focused on restoring arts & science educational resources to urban areas affected by gentrification and a life long commitment to community activism.