Pow! Wow! Worcester Expected to Draw 10,000+ People Ahead of Labor Day Weekend
(Worcester, Massachusetts, March 17, 2016) – Action! Worcester announced today that POW! WOW! Worcester, a celebration of art and culture, will take place August 26 – September 4, 2016. The event is expected to draw more than 10,000 people in the week leading up to Labor Day.
POW! WOW! Worldwide, a producer of international mural festivals, will make Worcester its first ever East Coast festival. The week-long festival known as POW! WOW! Worcester will appeal to a diverse audience with multiple styles of murals, providing local and international artists with a wide array of local building facades to design. Ancillary events will take place throughout the city and include an artist talk, art fundraiser, musical performances and an outdoor celebration with a centralized hub in downtown Worcester.
As part of the objective to activate underused spaces throughout the City of Worcester, between 8 and 12 walls have been selected and approved to be curated and painted by different artists from around the globe. In search for those artists, POW! WOW! Worldwide became a larger part of the dialogue. ”POW! WOW! is a global network of artists who organize international festivals that celebrate art, music, culture and creativity,” said Che Anderson, Project Manager for the City of Worcester. “We confirmed their commitment to our mural festival during a trip to POW! WOW! Hawaii in February and with their help we will establish POW! WOW! Worcester as a marquee event in the region, having significant economic impact and cultural tourism.”
“While Action! Worcester will serve as the operator of this non-profit event, the local organizing committee is comprised of passionate members of the local business, creative and collegiate community,” said Kyla Pacheco, Director of Operations at Action! Worcester. She continued, “POW! WOW! brings an international reputation and talented artists from around the world while the local working group will manage all operations of local efforts from preparation through execution, including marketing, sponsorship and community collaboration.”
Jasper Wong, founder and creator of POW! WOW! Worldwide offered, “It’s one of our goals at POW! WOW! to help beautify cities with murals throughout the world. We’ve been in Hawaii, Long Beach, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. Worcester is another great addition and we’re excited to put up amazing murals around the city.”
With firm commitments in place such as a grant from the Worcester Arts Council for the Palladium wall, POW! WOW! Worcester will raise the city’s artistic profile and further establish the city as a cultural destination. Public art has a profound effect on a community as proven by similar events hosted in major cities across the U.S. The City of Worcester has become a vibrant hub of cultural celebrations over the years, hosting a variety of festivals and daylong events to honor different communities, such as the annual stART on the Street. POW! WOW! Worcester seeks to continue that success.
For more information about POW! WOW! Worcester, the murals and events taking place the week of the festival, please visit www.powwowworcester.com
ABOUT ACTION! WORCESTER
Action! Worcester is a non-profit organization focused on building a vibrant social community and engaging a professional ecosystem in Worcester through collaborating with students, business owners, organization, and residents.
ABOUT POW! WOW!
POW! – It’s the impact that art has on a person. WOW! – It’s reaction that art has on a viewer. Together they form POW! WOW!, which is a term that describes a gathering. Centered around a week-long event that includes gallery shows, lecture series, schools for art and music, mural projects, concerts, and live art installations, Pow! Wow! brings over a hundred international and local artist together to create murals and other forms of art. The festival has visited cities and destinations such as Taiwan, Long Beach, Hawaii and now Worcester, MA.
