United Streets of America
A Street Art Block Party — Family friendly interactive art, live performances, street art, and more in the heart of Hollywood!
The event
On Sunday, May 22, 2023, Arts Bridging the Gap—in collaboration with our amazing partners —shut down Hollywood Boulevard for an afternoon of interactive art, live performances, music, and more! Generously supported by Forever 21, United Streets of America enlivened Hollywood with creativity and joy.
The backstory
In Summer 2020, the collective awareness of America's systemic, racial injustice had reached a breaking point. Businesses in Hollywood boarded up their storefronts to ward off looting and vandalism. Arts Bridging the Gap collaborated with its Hollywood partners, local artists, and young people from the community to paint these boards in an effort to bring color, creativity, and hope to the national dialogue. Hundreds of citizens participated in this public art experience, and it so happened that the day the group was scheduled to paint was the same day 50,000+ people came—to the exact same intersection—to participate in the largest peaceful protest that summer.
The boards became exquisite pieces of public art. They sparked essential, timely conversations and fostered cultural understanding, empathy, and reflection. Collectively, these works enlivened Hollywood with a sense of hope for a brighter, more unified future. Together, we proved that we can advance social justice and create change with paintbrushes rather than weapons. Overwhelmed with inspiration to build a more peaceful world, collectively we declared: We will not forget this moment in history, nor will we allow its message to be forgotten by the generations to come.
