My Favorite New York Street Art: Bushwick

When I was looking for an apartment in Brooklyn, I checked out a loft in Bushwick. This place was THE stereotypical hip loft apartment. Warehouse atmosphere, floor-to-ceiling windows brightening the kitchen-living room area, four stacked bedrooms shared by five people – and one bathroom?? I passed.

Part of me regrets passing up the opportunity to live in this blossoming arts neighborhood, but earlier this summer we got a chance to engage with the community there. For the last 8 years Arts in Bushwick has been hosting the Bushwick Open Studios, a weekend event where local artists open up pop-up galleries in apartments, storage spaces, and second hand shops. This year over 600 artist exhibited their work in the glorious neighborhood-wide installation.

Boyfriend had found out about the Open Studios randomly online (like so many great adventures start), so we set out on a lazy Saturday morning to find as many exhibits as possible. We wandered around, keeping a look out for the pink dot signs that signified an artist space. It was like a scavenger hunt – we tried to beat each other at spotting the next one.

The artists were all so welcoming when we popped into their studios, and we were offered drinks everywhere, from wine to shots of Jack. One of my favorite spaces was down a sidewalk cellar door – every New Yorker is a little nervous walking over those access doors so it was an adventure actually going down through them!

We saw a wide variety of art, from ink drawings to photographs to fabric art. Of course, no hip art scene would be complete with performance art. Performance art isn’t usually my thing, but we took a walk down the block, watching as a woman in black silently performed a water ritual around a black blanket, a man with feathers glued to his skin sat curled in the middle of the street, and a woman bathed in a kiddie pool full of glitter water. I wanted to take a dip in the recycled bottle ‘ball’ pen, but I took a picture instead.

One of the things that really struck me wandering through Bushwick was the amount and quality of street art. People say that Williamsburg is a great place for New York street art, but I felt like every time we turned a corner we saw plain walls re-imagined as canvases. There’s a lot of talent in Bushwick.

I love exploring neighborhoods in my city, and Bushwick did not disappoint. Not only am I planning on going back for Bushwick Open Studios 2015, I hope to wander through there again some time this summer to check out more of the vibrant street art. The neighborhood itself is an art installation.

Have you been to Bushwick? What’s your favorite New York neighborhood for street art?

Check out Bushwick Open Studios! Or wander around the neighborhood by yourself on a sunny day.