Reportage Speciale: Gibbs Ammira l'Arte di Strada

The second in a three-part series on our man of few words, Gibbs.  In this special report we will learn what kind of art Gibbs has been appreciating in Bologna.

A little over a month ago on my last day of teaching at Liceo Copernico, I came home to find Gibbs waiting for me.  He told me we had important homework for class: to document some street art in Bologna.  And then he asked, "If you had to pick three things to photograph and share, what would they be?"  I replied, "I'm not sure, but I'd definitely add Don't happy, be worry."  He said that had been his first thought, too.  This piece caught our attention very early on in our stay.  It's across the street and we see it whenever we walk home from one of our favorite grocery stores.

We took off on our homework mission.  Gibbs wanted to share the gist of the article they read with Annalisa in class while I was teaching.  He also wanted me to see that he had discovered some interesting graffiti and other pieces by the Don't happy, be worry artist (learn more about them here)

We proceeded to snake our way through the streets of Bologna, run into a colleague from Coperinco, and snap more than three photos each to share in class.  Here are a few of them.

When I asked Gibbs what he would like you all to know about street art in Bologna, he shared these three gems:

1. If you slow down and pay attention, there is some pretty interesting stuff happening (running themes, cultural references, artists with a body of work to share, history, social critique...)
2. Some of what is one the walls of Bologna is just tagging or bathroom wall scribbles
3. The murals that some shop owners commission for their roll-down security shutters are pretty cool, and they appear to work well to discourage vandalism