LOWER MANHATTAN — Street art will take center stage at a new festival launching in Lower Manhattan next week.
The first-ever LoMan Arts Festival will bring large-scale works by muralists Ron English, Beau Stanton, TATS Cru, and others to several neighborhoods between 23rd Street and the South Street Seaport, according to the L.I.S.A. Project, a not-for-profit that has commissioned 20 murals in Little Italy and other downtown neighborhoods.
Festival highlights include a “live street art battle” on Aug. 8 between two teams led by artists Crash and BIO, which will have 90 minutes to cover 25-foot walls with black and white images. The winner will be decided by audience applause.
Other attractions include an outdoor screening of the European cut of the documentary “Banksy Does New York;" performances by rapper and street artist TT the Artist and Corey Glover from Living Colour; and a sculpture garden at 114 Mulberry St. that will feature a bust of Edward Snowden that debuted in Fort Greene Park earlier this year. Works by English, Leon Reid IV, Art is Trash, Nicolas Holiber and others will also be on display.
“Following the success of the L.I.S.A. Project, we wanted to create a larger pubic arts district and community of support worthy of the city’s thriving art scene,” said festival organizer and L.I.S.A. Project founder Wayne Rada.
“Though the events of the festival will only last a few days, the resulting artwork will leave a permanent, and extremely positive, mark on downtown Manhattan’s neighborhoods.”
The LoMan Arts Festival will take place Aug. 5 to 9 in multiple locations downtown. Visit its website for more information.
