CLEVELAND - City Xpressionz Urban Art Festival

[MayDay]

By far, my favorite festival in Cleveland is the City Xpressionz urban/aerosol art festival produced by Cleveland Public Art. Held across from the West Side Market, it's truly a festival that draws everyone of every background - the artists are incredibly talented, the breakdancers are nothing short of amazing; the music is awesome... Anyway, here are 50-some photos I took along with three movies showing some moments of the event:

Breakdancers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaiUFt6Zo9M
iaiUFt6Zo9M

Students from the Progressive Arts Alliance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRuGujtKils
uRuGujtKils

Mona Lisa in aerosol - who'da thunk?
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_1.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_2.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_3.jpg

Scion is a major sponsor; they brought in some customized vehicles this year:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_4.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_5.jpg

Q Nice is the MC - keeping the event going by announcing what's next:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_6.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_7.jpg

Students from the Progressive Arts Alliance performed early in the day:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_8.jpg

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http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_11.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_12.jpg

An artist flips through his sketchbook to get ideas:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_13.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_14.jpg

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http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_16.jpg

The clouds looked pretty threatening, but the rain held off for a few hours:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_17.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_18.jpg

DJ Onit:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_19.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_20.jpg

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http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_28.jpg

The breakdancers offered a sample to get the crowd going:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_29.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_30.jpg


http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_31.jpg


http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_32.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_33.jpg

I absolutely love the gal's style on the right:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_34.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_35.jpg

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http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_38.jpg

This MC was really good:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_39.jpg

One of the artist's jackets:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_40.jpg

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_41.jpg

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If this isn't a candidate for a funny caption contest, I don't know what is! :lol:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_51.jpg

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Unfortunately, the rain came down...
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_56.jpg

And the crowd and dancers tried to hang in there but it eventually poured buckets... and that was the end of my day. Hope you enjoyed!
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/xpressionz07/xpressionz07_57.jpg

[westak]

Thanks for these. I wish I would have known about it.

[ColDayMan]

Bah

[flar]

nice.

[Segun]

Scion is always on that youth shit.

The token Thicke

[wrab]

Fun stuff. Nice set.