In Miami, Florida, there is a run down area of town where the Wynwood Walls stand. While the area is known for it's beautiful graffiti'd walls, very few artists make it into the elite fenced off section where all of the tourists go to gawk and take selfies between 10:30am and 11:30pm. For whatever reason, rather than looking at this art as graffiti, the people in Miami have come to think of it as art and as a tourist attraction; they look at the pieces through "rose colored glasses"; though, who could blame them? In my opinion, many of the walls both outside and inside the fence are beautiful and worthy of a stop, gawk, and selfie or two. But I'd love to know what this area was like before it became known for it's walls. Did anyone come to admire the work of the street artists? Was it more of a personal experience without hours to limit you, cops guarding the work, and restaurants that sell too -expensive food waiting to take advantage of tourists? Were the people of the Wynwood area uprooted from their homes to make way for the tourist attraction?
I guess I'll never know.
Does it make your heart happy or sad to hear about gentrification? Have you ever spotted any gorgeous wall art (or graffiti) in your town?
* I'm participating in Susannah Conway's August Break.
