This short documentary, Walls of Change, took six years to make. It explores how the work of the world’s most notorious street artists contributed to the urban regeneration of Wynwood, Miami.
In 2009, Cinemart and real estate developer and arts visionary Tony Goldman embarked on a project to reinvent a dilapidated Miami neighbourhood using just street art. Goldman, who passed away in 2012, was instrumental in changing New York’s Soho from a decaying industrial neighbourhood into an arts hub in the 1970s, and he used this same magical touch to transform Wynwood into a bustling art scene.
The project, called Wynwood Walls, was so successful that the neighbourhood saw the fastest neighbourhood turnaround in American history. It’s ironic because street art is considered to be vandalism by property owners but it has turned Wynwood into an international outdoor museum.
“I have seen a lot of big graffiti projects but I would have never believed that street art had become the thing that was supposed to revitalise an area. It’s such a surprise,” said prolific photojournalist Martha Cooper, who has been instrumental in documenting the artistic development of the Wynwood Walls.
Wynwood Walls invites globally acclaimed street artists from Germany, Singapore, France, and Chile to paint large-scale murals and installations in Wynwood. So far, over 300 artists have created works in the area in the past three years and the project has grown to include a programme of free events open to the public.
