On Saturday, May 28th [WILL FREE] a collective artist series headed up by Brandon Everett brings the "Before I Die..." wall to Grooveground in Collingswood, NJ.
"Before I die..." is a concept originally put forth by urban developer and public installation artist Candy Chang. The original wall, erected in New Orleans in late February 2011, challenges the fundamental idea of mural art needing to be a static or passive process. Her project sought to revitalize the cities neglected neighborhoods, while simulataneously engaging the community. In just three short months the wall has garnished nationwide attention, with various organizations seeking to install the wall in cities across the country. Grooveground will host this public installation in their Garden Bar along the side of their building May 28th through an undetermined date in early June. Visitors will have the opportunity to share their thoughts by contributing to the mural, by answeing a simple, yet through provoking question: “Before I die I want to _____________.”
The wall's debut at May Fair represents the first public work put forth by the [WILL, FREE] Collective, a coalition of artists operating out of Collingswood, NJ. Members of the Collective worked closely with Chang and her project coordinator Alan Williams in bringing the project to fruition.
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"For us, it was really important that our 'satelite' wall mirror Chang's as closely as possible,” said [WILL, FREE ] Collective’s member Steve Kocher. “Her wall represents a really unique form of exchange and we wanted to capture that." Collective artist Brandon Everett states, “I feel like there is this terrible misconception that art needs to come from artists or can only come from artists. Community art should involve its community not alienate it. Early response to the wall has been overwhelmingly positive. People have actually approached me to tell me that the wall has really made them stop and think—and to me that's huge. That was the idea of the project from the start.”
