Press Releases 2

Washington City Paper

Anatomy of a Mural

By Jonathan L. Fischer  | February 17, 2012

Mural by muralist Cita Sadeli CHELOVEdissected.  View More


WTOP

Ben’s Chili Bowl mural grand unveiling [photos]

WTOP Staff | September 13, 2012

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, Councilmember Jim Graham and officials from MuralsDC unveiled a new mural outside of Ben’s Chili Bowl.
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Scout Mob

Getting Giffy With it: Meet Cita Sadeli A.K.A. CHELOVE

August 10, 2012

If you know Adams Morgan well, there’s a good chance you know Cita Sadeli, or at least the art she does under the moniker Chelove. She’s the DC artist behind the phenomenal mural located at Kalorama and Champlain St., NW. (That’s just off the main drag of 18th St., NW, in case you want to check it out.) Completed as part of the MuralsDC program, she gave Washington City Paper the full rundown of everything it’s meant to portray.
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Washington Examiner

THE 3-MINUTE INTERVIEW: Nancee Lyons

By Scott McCabe | March 22, 2012

It started in 2007 and was the idea of Councilmember Jim Graham. Wherever we put a mural, it tended to keep the graffiti down. Of the 36 original murals we’ve done so far, maybe four of those walls have been vandalized, and those were minor.

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GW Hatchet

Famous faces brighten U Street landmark

By Julie Alderman | September 17, 2012

Against a vibrant yellow background and amid bands of green, red and blue, the faces of President Barack Obama, comedian Bill Cosby and rocker Chuck Brown are splashed across U Street-landmark Ben’s Chili Bowl. The work is part of MuralsDC, an organization funded by the D.C. Department of Public Works and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to create public art around the District. The organization has painted murals across walls in parks, schools and other public spaces. The U Street mural is the organization’s seventh and final work of the summer. Aniekan Udofia, the mural’s artist, worked closely with the Ali family – owners of Ben’s Chili Bowl since its founding in 1958 – to come up with the perfect subject matter to display on the wall of Ben Ali Way, Virginia Ali said.
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Pod Robnosti

MPs want to introduce high penalties for illegal graffiti

By May 18, 2012
(Ukrainian article reference MuralsDC at 2:37 mark)

Graffiti is illegal. The deputies of the Verkhovna Rada propose to prohibit the application of any drawings on the walls of houses and introduce high penalties for street art. Now there is a separate article in adminkodekse about graffiti on the facades. Street artists are accused of disorderly conduct or of violating the rules of improvement. And often they are simply released. Will the new measures are effective and whether they are afraid of themselves lovers of graffiti – knows – Kirill Evseev.
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WAMU 88.5

Local Artist Paints Mural At Ben’s Chili Bowl

By Ashley Dejean | August 25, 2012

Artist Aniekan Udofia and his apprentices spent the weekend painting a mural on a wall at Ben’s Chili Bowl. It depicts some of restaurant’s most famous patrons: Bill Cosby, Barack Obama, Donnie Simpson, and Chuck Brown.

“Because Bill Cosby is the only finished portrait right now, people have been commenting on that,” he says. “They are like ‘wow, it looks like he’s about to start talking. Looks like he’s jumping out the wall…'”
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The Kojo Nnamdi Show

At Ben’s Chili Bowl, a side of art: The new graffiti-inspired mural

By Clinton Yates August 31, 2012
Some see tags scrawled across walls and storefront gates as a public nuisance. Others see art and an outlet for local graffiti artists and creative youths. A few years ago, the District decided it would encourage the latter, launching a public mural program that co-opts local artists to create neighborhood murals. We look at official — and unofficial — art on the walls, buildings and overpasses around our region.
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Washington Post

At Ben’s Chili Bowl, a side of art: The new graffiti-inspired mural

By Clinton Yates August 31, 2012

Portraits of Chuck Brown, Bill Cosby, President Obama and Donnie Simpson now serve as greeters if you find yourself in one of the lines that often snake around the building. The mural is on the east side of the alley that separates the restaurant from the Lincoln Theater, and although it might seem like an obvious fit for Ben’s, the idea was nearly a year in the making.
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NBC4 Washington

D.C. Unveils Ben’s Chili Bowl Mural

September 13, 2012

The late Godfather of Go-Go Chuck Brown is being honored on a special mural at one of D.C.’s famous eateries.
City leaders officially dedicated the painting on the wall of Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street. It’s one of several throughout the city sponsored by Murals DC, which installs the murals to deter vandalism and graffiti.

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NBC4 Washington

D.C. Unveils Ben’s Chili Bowl Mural

September 13, 2012

The late Godfather of Go-Go Chuck Brown is being honored on a special mural at one of D.C.’s famous eateries.
City leaders officially dedicated the painting on the wall of Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street. It’s one of several throughout the city sponsored by Murals DC, which installs the murals to deter vandalism and graffiti.

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WJLA

Graffiti reports on the rise in D.C. Mural of famous faces unveiled on wall of Ben’s Chili Bowl

By Sam Ford | September 13, 2012

A landmark in the District is getting a facelift. A new mural on the side wall of Ben’s Chili Bowl was unveiled – and it has some famous faces in the art work. In the alley next to the restaurant, you can now see President Barack Obama, the late Godfather of Go Go Chuck Brown, and D.C. disk jockey Donnie Simpson who helped with his unveiling.
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WUSA9

Graffiti reports on the rise in D.C.

By Jackie Diaz | August 29, 2012

WASHINGTON (WUSA) — The iconic eatery Ben’s Chili Bowl in northwest D.C. is getting an artistic flare. Aniekan Udofia, the lead artist, and other artists from Murals DC, a project that aims to replace illegal graffiti with artistic works, wrapped up Tuesday evening after working on the mural for six days.
The vibrant colors used on the side of the restaurant depict the faces of famous diners like President Obama, Donnie Simpson, Chuck Brown and Bill Cosby, who has been grabbing a bite to eat at the establishment since he was a student at Howard University.
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WUSA 9

MuralsDC to Hold Art Exhibit Featuring Mural Works Tues., Sept. 6

By Simon Landau | September 5th, 2011

MuralsDC will conclude its 2011 program with a unique art exhibit featuring replicas of each of the, mostly “graffiti-style”, murals installed during the program and other works by MuralsDC artists Tuesday, Sept. 6, 6:00-9:00pm, at 1300 “H” Street, NE (the former R.L. Christian Library). The free event will also feature live art by a local sculptor.

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Washington Post

Graffiti reports on the rise in D.C.

By Lori Aratani | July 29, 2011

The District is one of the few large urban areas seeing an apparent increase in graffiti, and officials are uncertain about the causes. The city is on track to spend twice as much to remove graffiti from public and private buildings this year compared with 2010.
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Washington City Paper

Tagging Rights: Have the Nonprofits, Art Galleries, and Party Planners Who Fete D.C.’s Graffiti Scene Also Tamed It?

By Jonna McKone | September 9, 2011

On an August evening in Edgewood, five young artists congregate near a freshly painted white wall. There’s Pacer, a skateboarder and self-taught tattoo artist, and Chewy, who also goes by Rep and works during the summer at a suburban country club. Dennis, or Calm, has braces. Collin, aka Quewser, is straddling a fixie; he studies fine art. Jeremy clutches a video camera. And hanging from a ladder is Fame, a quiet guy wearing a turban that holds his skinny dreads.

Someone forgot the spray paint. The evening risks becoming a bit of a mess.

This is far from an instance of young taggers illegally hitting a piece of public property. They have two adults on hand—Cory Stowers, the team’s organizer, and Drew Liverman, the mural’s designer. The project is underwritten by the District government as part of its MuralsDC program, which is designed to redirect graffiti artists’ energy toward legal ends. View More


All City Street Art

MuralsDC to Hold Art Exhibit Featuring Mural Works

Sept. 4, 2011

(Washington, DC) – MuralsDC will conclude its 2011 program with an art exhibit featuring replicas of each of the murals installed during the program and other works by the program’s artists Tuesday, Sept. 6, 6:00-9:00pm, at 1300 “H” Street, NE (former R.L. Christian Library). The free event will also feature live art. View More


All Life Is Local

MuralsDC Show of Graffiti-Style Murals, Plus Live Art Sculpture

Sept. 4, 2011

Toward the end of July we reported on an unusual project underway by MuralsDC to attempt to discourage graffiti by means of encouraging and underwriting public murals on graffiti-prone walls of private and public buildings. What made the project controversial was the idea of paying artists, mainly with tax dollars, to create art in the same graffiti-like style that used to be would otherwise be painted (for free) with actual graffiti. View More


Easy City Art

Murals DC Concludes its 2011 Program with a Gallery Style Exhibition at the Former Temporium

Sept. 2, 2011

MuralsDC will conclude its 2011 program with a unique art exhibit featuring replicas of each of the “street-art” style murals installed during the program as well as other works by MuralsDC artists.

This event will not only have art on display but will also have live music, live art creation by a local sculptor, a BBQ and a chance to meet with the Lead Artists, their Student Apprentices and the film makers from The Red Line DC Project. Also meet the staff of the DC Commission and the Department of Public Works who make this on-going program possible as well as the property owners who so donated their walls and ideas for the mural designs. View More


Art202

MuralsDC Art Exhibit to Feature Murals and Other Works

Sept. 2, 2011

MuralsDC will conclude its 2011 program with a unique art exhibit featuring replicas of each of the, mostly “graffiti-style”, murals installed during the program and other works by MuralsDC artists Tuesday, Sept. 6, 6:00-9:00pm, at 1300 “H” Street, NE (the former R.L. Christian Library). The free event will also feature live art by a local sculptor. View More


Borderstan

The Art of Vandalism and the Launch of MuralsDC

By Tom Hay | July 28, 2011

The Langston Room at Busboys & Poets was filled to capacity for Tuesday night’s panel discussion: “The Art of Vandalism: A Close Up Look at Graffiti in DC.” The event brought together graffiti artists, art advocates and government representatives in charge of cleaning up graffiti. The purpose of the forum was to better understand graffiti art and find solutions to unwanted graffiti. View More


The Washington Post

Graffiti in D.C. Increasing. So Are the Causes.

By Lori Aratani | July 29, 2011

The District is one of the few large urban areas seeing an apparent increase in graffiti, and officials are uncertain about the causes.

The city is on track to spend twice as much to remove graffiti from public and private buildings this year compared with 2010.

In the previous fiscal year, the Department of Public Works removed 1,780 instances of graffiti. But in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, DPW workers have removed more than double that: 3,946. View More


MuralsDC to Kick Off 5th Year with “The Art of Vandalism”

A Discussion with City Agencies & Graffiti Artists to Explore Lasting Solutions

Nancee Lyons, DPW  | Deirdre Ehlen, DCCAH | Tuesday July 26, 2011

(Washington, DC) – MuralsDC will kick off its 2011 program with a panel discussion to explore the root of, and solutions for, graffiti Tuesday, July 26, 6:00pm-8:00pm, at Busboys & Poets (14 and V St., NW). The panel will feature former graffiti taggers, current artists and representatives of DC government agencies who abate graffiti and fund public art. The event will also feature a preview of the upcoming documentary film “The Red Line Project,” which explores the proliferation of graffiti that runs along Metrorail’s Red Line.


WUSA9

MuralsDC to Kick Off 5th Year with “The Art of Vandalism”

By Nancee Lyons | July 20, 2011

(Washington, DC) – MuralsDC will kick off its 2011 program with a panel discussion to explore the root of, and solutions for, graffiti Tuesday, July 26, from 6pm-8pm at Busboys & Poets (14 and V St., NW). The panel will feature former graffiti taggers, current artists and representatives of DC government agencies who abate graffiti and fund public art. The event will also feature a preview of the upcoming documentary film “The Red Line Project,” which explores the proliferation of graffiti that runs along Metrorail’s Red Line. View More


WAMU 88.5 FM American University Radio

The Writing on the Wall: Inside D.C.’s Graffiti Subculture

Friday, June 24, 2011

We move from the messages Metro is trying to send to the sorts of messages you might see as you’re riding Metro, whizzing past those high concrete walls between Silver Spring and Rhode Island Avenue on the Red Line. In other words: graffiti. It’s a common, and controversial, method of communication for young people in the District. Reporter Jonna McKone heads out with one young graffiti artist, to investigate this secret subculture. View More


Washington Informer

D.C. to Announce Seven New Public Art Murals

By DCCAH | October 23, 2010

Thanks to a unique partnership, seven communities in the District are a little more colorful. Councilmember Jim Graham, the DC Commission on the Arts and the Humanities (DCCAH), and the Department of Public Works (DPW) will announce seven new murals as part of the MuralsDC program Tuesday, October 26, 2010, at 10:00 am.
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DCist

MuralsDC Unveils Seven New Public Artworks

By Heather Goss | October 26, 2010

The MuralsDC program was developed in 2007 as a city-wide effort to combat illegal tagging graffiti; since then, 27 murals have been painted across Washington. This morning, Councilmember Jim Graham, who commissioned the program, along with representatives from the Department of Public Works and the Commission on Arts and Humanities gathered at the former Bruce Monroe School to dedicate seven new works of public art created over the summer.
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Washington Post

Legal graffiti artists create murals around Washington, D.C. as past of MuralsDC

By Ann Cameron Siegal | January 15, 2010

Art lovers, meet the city’s legal graffiti initiative, a program responsible for the creation of 20 of Washington’s most vibrant, thought-provoking and contemporary outdoor works.
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Monkey See

DC Murals Paint The City’s Past

By Norma Porter | December 27, 2009

DC’s unique neighborhoods show off their history and pride with vibrant murals. Scattered all over the historic city, residents enjoy a colorful blast to the past.

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Washington Informer

Murals Bring Graffiti Artists and Youth Together

By Norma Porter | December 27, 2009

The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) and the Department of Public Works (DPW) have teamed up to battle illegal graffiti by putting youth side-by-side professional graffiti artists to paint murals in District neighborhoods.
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Martin Ricard

D.C. mural jam aims to create positive venue for graffiti art

By Martin| September 1, 2009

As the 20-year-old graffiti artist stood in broad daylight Saturday morning and aimed his spray paint at a concrete retaining wall behind the Rhode Island Avenue Shopping Center, the pleasant greeting of a passerby startled him. He nervously put down the paint can and looked over his shoulder. For the past couple of weeks, he had been tagging his alias, AERA, throughout the area at night, with no one around to catch him in the act or disrupt his creative flow.
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Washington Post

Homes, Businesses May Qualify for Mural Project

July 30, 2009

Some District residents might qualify to have a mural painted on their homes or businesses. This summer, the D.C. Department of Public Works launched the second year of MuralsDC, a program designed to control the spread of graffiti with tasteful artwork in approved spaces.
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BBC

Washington DC street murals paint the town

By Philippa Thomas| April 22, 2009

There has always been great art in Washington, DC, most of it in museums behind granite walls. Now, there is a rash of new open air murals in some of the city’s many distressed neighbourhoods. They are painted by teenagers, not with a brush but with an aerosol can.
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DCist

Murals DC Celebrates Community Empowering Art

By Heather Goss | July 11, 2008

As illegal graffiti continues to appear on D.C.’s streets, the D.C. Council sought a way to do more than paint over it and send the taggers to jail, only to repeat the process again and again. Council member Jim Graham’s office contacted The Midnight Forum, a non-profit with a mission to empower youth through hip-hop, through both the entertainment side as well as teaching business and life skills.
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