AS seen on 4th
project: #8
location: Reno. 4th Street.
date: 4/23. 2016
type: collaborative painting. 4th Street Block Party
A STREET OF HISTORY VICTORY.
At its earliest of days the street breathed character as thick as the streetcar exhaust that raced its ways. East. West. It stretched wings across the great America.
Victory Way had no mercy for the soft soul. Street lights flickered while the neon motels lit paths for transcontinental passengers. Nothing promised more satisfaction than to witness the honesty of the street. The rough and dirty outer shell just proves how long it’s been around. The inner core is where the stories wait to be told. It’s the stories and the honesty in their words that keep the character alive on 4th.
AND THEN CAME THE RENAISSANCE.
Rebuilding walls of brick and mortar doesn’t bring the beauty back. Actually, it was always there. It’s been there and will be there beyond your and my days.
4th Street leaks its secrets of beauty through the people walking it’s cold grey pavement day in and day out. Those wise enough. Creative enough. Open minded enough to listen to these secrets are those who keep Victory Way as beautiful and true as it began. The Renaissance of Reno is in motion. And Victory Way stands as a playground for those Renaissance Men & Renaissance Women brave, crazy, and inspired enough to honor the truth beneath the gravel and behind the walls.
A PARADE.
A Community gathered in celebration is stronger and more impactful than one gathered in protest and anger. Victory Way was a perfect setting to demonstrate this. It began with a rolling Viking Ship and costumed creatives. The road served as their runway as they waved and smiled towards crowds of morning watchers. The celebration of “Victory” rang out before it even began.
SEEN ON FOURTH.
4th street is mostly familiar to me as one glowing a midnight yellow from street lights and stars. Biking by tracks, buses, and empty alleys I keep a keen eye out for the next 4th Street story to lend itself to me. Victory Way is crawling with characters and the wild untamed jungles have nothing on this street. And, Behind all those heavy warehouse doors…
Bars. Breweries. Pinball junkies. Two-wheel mechanics. And thrifting gems. The road draws me back to wander it’s sidewalks time and time again. There is too much story to be told there, and you have to see it to believe it.
MAKER MADNESS.
Alley Art was designed for a street like 4th. The recycled and worn wooden canvas rested much too comfortably along the blank concrete wall. The paints were scattered, and the action was just as spontaneous. Rules stopped after directions of color palettes, and the Reno community took full advantage of the open-ended creative process. Splatters. Drips. Words. And shapes began to suggest connections to the place. 4th street stories were emerging through the untamed layers of community creativity. Later, a few outlines from the artist, J.Charboneau would complete the madness.
PAVE YOUR PATH.
The creative dusts finally settled with the sun fading behind western mountain walls. The street stood as it was before the attention began, but a new glint of inspiration now lingered.
4th Street. Victory Way. It’s just a road… but roads give direction. They lead. They divide. They withstand more time than we.
They are paved by man, and the man who paves his own path is an innovator. A dreamer. And a creative victor.
Victory Way will be there for you to walk its course, it will offer you it’s stories, it will guide you through doors you may never have opened. Take what it gives you and make Victory Way a path of your own. It may not ‘just’ be a road after all.
artists: J.Charboneau
contributors: Fourth Street Block Party Artists . The Reno community
