You guys! Friday's kickoff party was a blast, thank you so much for coming out. Extra big thanks to J Chew and Sarah for bringing everything together in a beautiful way <3 J took lots of nice pictures too, check it out:
Ya'll bought a whole bunch of t-shirts and prints, which is going to translate to a LOT of paint and gas and food for the trip! ヽ(´▽｀)/ Your support means so much - not only is it making this adventure possible, it's showing me that I'm doing something that resonates with you. That's amazing - it blows my mind to make up this whole thing that feels very imaginary, and then present it and have you say 'yes. good. of course! I agree.' So thank you.
We have been very fortunate to have several SPONSORS back this trip as well, which blows my mind on a whole other level. They are:
Campfire & Co. - Four ladies branding Richmond's new businesses one by one. If you've recently noticed a particularly put-together storefront or alluring logo around town, there's a dang good chance Campfire is responsible.
Worse for Wear - High-quality motorcycle gear for women who ride. Basically a super badass boss babe and her partner making super badass goods for other boss babes.
Chesapeake Bank - A community bank that just opened its first Richmond location. I've had the opportunity to paint for them, and witnessed some of the sweet stuff they've done in their neighborhood. They're All About Community!
Leading up to this point I've been painting as many mini-murals as possible around town to jump-start this project and build some momentum for take-off - Yesterday saw the final touches on the final two, at Girls for a Change in Bon Air. You can now see all of them on the Girls! Girls! Girls! page on the website all neatly listed with locations. Have a look there, or just flip through below:
This has been a real confidence-builder for me to venture out beyond RVA and set up more of these walls - now I have a good little portfolio of examples, and a little more comfort of painting something bold and fast. Plus, once I get back, I actually have several more walls waiting in line for a GGG mural! Heck yes.
I'd love to see these become ubiquitous like the fish statues - can you spot them all? In the same way I'd also love for it to be a collaborative painting project with different artists around the city - it'd be so cool to see this format through other stylistic lenses.
Now it's PREP TIME for real - packing, a few last touchups on the truck, and we roll out on Saturday! I'll be updating instagram and this blog as much as possible - stay tuned!