Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | August 22, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 11 Aer five festivals and 200 murals, the formerly named POW! WOW! Worcester won't hold an event this summer, as it seeks funding to maintain what it's built A street art revolution, paused BY SADIE LEITE WBJ Editorial Intern S ince 2016, POW! WOW! Worcester has put up murals around the city for the public to interact with. Aer five August festivals, including a 2021 return aer a 2020 break with the coronavirus pandemic, the community organization is looking to its longevity. A new name and a shied platform are at the forefront of the future plan. e newly named Worcester Walls intends to use 2022 to figure out how to maintain its 200 murals, including finding the funding necessary for the less glitzy aspect of public art. ere will be no summer festival as in past years. "We've done five festivals and almost 200 murals, and that's a lot," said co- director Jessica Walsh, who owns the Worcester Wares retail stores. Its committee volunteers for the 10- day festival each summer, and to Walsh, during the year, participation is akin to a full-time job. "I want to see paint everywhere," said Walsh. "But people got married, moved away, had babies, endured divorces, had family die or get sick with COVID." The future of Worcester Walls ough some members shied, Worcester Walls is seizing the awkwardness tied to change and asking questions. "is was a good year to take a step back and figure out, 'How do we want to change?'" said Walsh. More specific propositions include how to adapt to the booming business of art festivals. When POW! WOW! came into being six years ago, mural festivals were not a common outing. Now, they are, said Walsh. A thriving art industry is exciting, but naturally it ignites competition. Worcester Walls must innovate, she said. Worcester Walls could organize small events, with new artists and fun entertainment such as food trucks to energize the city for stints scattered through the year. Mark Borenstein, an attorney with Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewet, joined the POW! WOW! committee in 2017 because the organization needed help with legal affairs. For future years, Borenstein said more discrete projects are the way to go. Worcester Walls shouldn't simply continue with an annual, large festival simply because it always has. Smaller, targeted art events could have a greater impact for specific communities and are easier to achieve in a post-COVID world. "Worcester is morphing before our very eyes, so it's nice to have Worcester Walls as a tool to activate unutilized areas in the city," said Borenstein. The difficulties of maintenance A harder question is, does Worcester Walls want to start covering up murals one by one? Borenstein framed it in a sense of reorganizing past POW! WOW! assets. Worcester only allows murals if they are owned by the city, producing jurisdictional issues related to nuances within property ownership. "Folks don't realize how much back of the house stuff goes along with POW! WOW!" said Borenstein. us, it's extremely difficult to determine whether it's the responsibility of businesses tied to murals or of Worcester Walls to reassess the past POW! WOW! mural footprint. "It's cause and effect," said Walsh. "You get money, a mural goes up. But fundraising for maintenance isn't sexy." POW! WOW! used to rely on other nonprofits for fundraising, but Borenstein helped POW! WOW! form its own nonprofit organization. e Worcester Historical Museum serves as a fiscal sponsor. "When Worcester knows we're operating in the confines of the law, we get more latitude," said Borenstein. Artist Omar Garcia was set to join the 2017 POW! WOW! festival to (Top) A mural from artist Evaristo Angurria during the 2019 POW! WOW! Worcester festival. (Above) Artist Kaplan Bunce paints a mural at the Lincoln Street School. Continued on page 12 PHOTOS | COURTESY OF WORCESTER WALLS

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