South Los Angeles' Maya Angelou Community High School is getting a new look — courtesy of nearly 30 respected street artists, including Obey founder Shepard Fairey. The partnership between L.A. Unified School District and Branded Arts officially kicked off Monday with a week-long festival that includes a performance this Saturday by Grammy award-winning singer Miguel.
As a way to inspire students at the high school, L.A.-based talents like the all-female collective Ni Santas as well as Brushwork, Enk One, Rob Hill, Raul Gonzalez, Victoria Cassinova, and others have teamed with Fairey as well as South African artist Faith47, Huge, David Torres (a.k.a. Rabi) of the two-man street art collective Cyrcle, and many other renowned street artists to paint murals throughout the campus. In addition to the large-scale works (which are being painted this week), the school's gym will showcase pieces from over 50 artists alongside work from students.
The school will also host an art-based academic symposium for students during after-school hours that includes programming and workshops led by NASA, LACMA, Self-Help Graphics, Artsy, Eddie Huang, Run-DMC's Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, and many more (There'll even be a Nipsey Hussle-inspired course teaching students the late rapper's interests in tech and finance.)
The festivities culminate this Saturday, May 18 with a public grand reception at Dr. Maya Angelou Community High School. From 4 to 9 p.m., there'll be a gallery reception, art presentations, a group meditation, and a discussion on the impact of art and meditation on mental health with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Miguel, who'll close out the event with a live performance.
That's not all: There's also an official after-party at The Mayfair Hotel (1256 West 7th St., L.A., 90017) Saturday from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Hosted by participating artists Rabi of Cyrcle and Franisco Rodrigues (a.k.a. Nunca), the late-night soirée promises live performances and DJ sets by No Vacancy Inn, Wedidit DJ Team, Freejsboosie, and others.
See the Maya Angelou Mural Festival's full schedule right here and more deets on that after-party here, and peep a few shots from the works-in-progress below. — Additional reporting by Danielle Directo-Meston
Maya Angelou Mural Festival at Dr. Maya Angelou Community High School, 300 East 53rd St, L.A., 90011
