Baltimore-based prominent street art muralist Gaia was recently invited by Iryna Kanishcheva and Daniel Pimentel to paint in virtual reality for Changeville: Gainesville’s Social Change Festival where he also was offered the opportunity to create another wall for the Grove Street Neighbourhood project.
Named “Poetics”, the mural features the portraits of Jack Kerouac, renowned beat poet and provocateur Wilhelmina Johnson, prominent educator in Gainesville. These two seemingly unrelated figures are connected by the desire of the Grove Street Community Garden to celebrate both literary and African American history.
In addition to the mural, Gaia used a HTC VIVE system to digitally recreate the wall, letting the audience watch the piece unfold in real-time through projectors. Furthermore, People were also given the ability to “replay” each stroke of Gaia’s work with a personal head-mounted display (HMD).
The event brought together art enthusiasts and creators from various backgrounds to create virtual pieces that inspire positive social change in a new and exciting way.
Photo credit Iryna Kanishcheva