Winter Holiday Hike at The Infamous Tweed Tunnels

I had no idea 🤯

For years I'd been hosting group hikes and exploring these abandoned tunnels in the middle of Nyack, NY and not once did I bother to look at what was on the walls. As far as I knew, it was just "graffiti". Look, I grew up hiphop, part of the same generation of writers considered legends today. But apparently I wasn't that hiphop that I respected this form of art.

Today, I got schooled by an NYC graff celebrity: the one, the only @freshpaintnyc

The Curator (that's what I'm going to be calling this person from now on) walked us through almost every single piece on these walls. They explained who the artists (aka writers) are. What they wrote on these walls. And why.

The Curator explained the crews. The colors. Styling. What made some graff good or trash not even worth taking a picture of. The etiquette of writing over other pieces. The beef.

And the Curator explained the community that comes together to write together, with BBQ and coolers for hours to make beautiful art. That's right, fam. Some guys like to go fishing. These guys like to make art together. The reason this kind of "public defacement" is such invaluable art is because it captures community with style. And it's temporary, destined to be removed in a few short months or years.

It represents the feelings of the times, the seasons and with actual weather reports and the stories of individuals and their families. That makes it so much more important to document these pieces, which is what the Curator came for.

I am forever in their debt for showing me a whole new POV of my local culture, my local genre and combining my passion, outdoor recreation, with art.

Shout out to all the writers. It would be impossible for me to name them all or give them all proper credit on this blog; forgive an ignorant tourist in your art gallery.

And shout out to the fam who joined us on this trip  🙏 We will return.

GALLERY

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