OLP Creative/Lee Hopkins A painting by members of the Street Theory Collective is on view at the Wagner Foundation gallery through Friday.
Despite a cascade of closings in the past few years, creativity is still hanging on in Central Square. In June, a live radio station called Central on Air launched, and Union Comedy is expected to open a club this fall. And through Friday, a large mural-style painting by members of the Street Theory Collective is on view at the Wagner Foundation gallery.
The piece, “From the Page to the Stage,” is installed at the private foundation’s swanky office – which is no Graffiti Alley, and makes a project by a group of artists known for murals and graffiti influences feel a bit out of place. But it was all part of an effort by the Central Square Business Improvement District to welcome Street Theory to its space in the square, which opened this month and is showing an exhibit called “Living Room Gallery” through Jan. 15.
Street Theory artists Michael Talbot, Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs, Ayana Mack and Lee “Soems” Beard painted Central Square into the mural as they see it: full of life and artistic vitality. Though the composition is full of details – from a colorful beam of light to a beaming young girl – what stands out most is a dollar bill labeled “common currency.” To Gibbs, that “currency” means having a baseline value for creative endeavors, regardless of what money they bring in.
“We wanted the artwork to have an intrinsic value,” he said. “And it weighs more than what people do for the dollar. Even though money is a tool that we need to make things happen, it’s also like it puts cooties on the creative part. We want it to be as normal and as natural as possible to have value to the things that we do.”
Moses Mitchell A Street Theory Gallery is open in Central Square, Cambridge.
It’s heartening to see such value placed on artistic work. As I write my last “Behold” column for Cambridge Day for the time being, that question of value feels especially urgent. In spite of the tough budget decisions being made across the board these days, we can’t afford to forget what the arts give us: not just color and vitality, but a spirit of experimentation – a willingness to try something together, fail a little and see what works. That’s the “common currency” worth preserving.
“From the Page to the Stage” through Dec. 5 at Wagner Gallery, on the second floor at 485 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge, from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursdays. Free.
“The Living Room Gallery Exhibition” through Jan. 15 at Street Theory Gallery & Collective, 541 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment and from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Free.
