SPECIAL DELIVERY is a large scale mural exhibition featuring a number of prolific street artists from the Oakland / San Francisco Bay Area.

Last year we brought the show to the North West where artists were invited to paint a 5,000 square foot warehouse. It is said to have been the largest graffiti event to ever take place in Portland. The event was featured on the news at least five times and was also acknowledged by most the major Street Art Blogs. Just recently, Endless Canvas released a full color published book telling of the previous year’s exhibit.

THIS YEARS 2012 EVENT:

We’re bringing SPECIAL DELIVERY back to home base and stepping up our game by painting an entire 36,000 square foot, three story abandoned INK FACTORY that was built in the 1920s! The building we have been invited to paint has been vacant for over a decade and has a long history of presence in the local graffiti art scene. It was recently purchased by a Bay Area based firm with plans to refurbish the building into a permanent office facility. The owner of the company happens to be on the board for the OMCA (Oakland Museum of California). As an inspired art enthusiast, he noticed some of the graffiti in the building was done by the very same artists whom are currently exhibiting at the OMCA. Saddened by the destruction of this museum worthy artwork and the cultural history behind it, he asked Endless Canvas to invite the artists back to restore the graffiti in the warehouse.

What has resulted is a three part project:

(1) DOCUMENT: a professional photographer has documented all of the graffiti pieces in the building.
(2) PAINT: we will be hosting the SPECIAL DELIVERY Art Show. For this we have invited over 40 of the Bay Area’s most prolific street artists to paint the interior space of the building, to be exhibited for public view on September 8th, 2012. The new pieces will be documented thoroughly then later removed for necessary renovation of the warehouse.
(3) PAINT AGAIN: It will take about a year to refurbish the building. Once this process is complete, a selection of artists will be invited back to install permanent murals on the interior walls of the building. All three stages will be documented and followed by a published book sharing the project as a whole.

All of the participating artists have spent a significant amount of time creating works of public art in the Bay Area. Some have been featured in museums and documentaries and others are home town heroes in the underground art scene.

SOME OF THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

Swampy, Pemex, Optimist, GATS, Roar CBS, Ras Terms, Del Phresh, Monica Canilao, Anemal AOD, Dead Eyes, Logo, Broke One, Coyote, Feral Child, Kava, UpFuk, Attica, Ernest Doty, Nina STM, Cuss, BVRS, Pobrecito, Old Crow, Drama, Aura, Nart, ATWA, N.O. Bonzo, Safety First, Meck, 7 Seas, Tupac, Odd Fellow, Edith, Devote, Rekn, Enero, Pink Eyes, Somar, Koleo, Cannon Dill, Enor, Grow, Circle Face, Astrotwitch, and more!

Where we are at in the process...

We have secured the building and have been sweeping the floors, scraping and prepping the walls.  Artists have been starting their pieces with what ever paint they can come up with.  A few artists have finished their pieces already because they were only in town for a minute and others are still on there way here.  This building is getting painted no matter what but the funding will decide the quality of work and whether or not we can light it to open it to the public or whether we can publish the book to share the documentation with you.

BUDGET:

Lighting (PRIORITY): There is no electricity in the building and we have to light nine warehouse size rooms.  Our current estimate is $3366 to pull this off.  We set the goal lower because if we don't meet it we receive $0, but we can always receive donations beyond the goal.

Building Preparation (SECOND PRIORITY): We need at least $200 worth of wood to board up the elevator shafts and generally safety proof the building for the public.

The Book: This year's book documenting the exhibit will have more than twice the content as last year and will cost us a minimum of $6,000 for a small 5.3” x 8.3” book.  If we can raise more we would like to make a larger book.

Paint: Between 50 artists, we're going through almost $10,000 worth of paint.

REWARDS:

Here are some of the thank you gifts we have to offer...

Every dollar helps!
THANK YOU!