Street Art Fun on 14th Street

These stickers were two of many I’ve found along the 14th street corridor lately. I know the one is by Shepard Fairey, but am unfamiliar with the second.

Fun Trompe-l’œil at 14th and P, NW

This Trompe-l’œil transforming a transformer into a mini apartment building is located at the southwest corner of 14th and P Streets, NW. I’m not sure who the artist is, but I think its very fun.

Architectural Details on Mitchell Gold Building

I’ve commented on the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams building before, located at 1520 14th Street. But I wanted to point out some details that I really like.

The first is the Egyptian inspired decoration on the exterior, which I find interesting for a former automobile dealership. This would definitely date the building to sometime after 1922 when the discovery by Howard Carter of Tutankhamun’s tomb received worldwide press coverage and sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt.

The other detail I really like is the poured concrete ceiling on the interior.

There is a lot of nice detail there … so next time you’re in the area or happen to go in you might want to enjoy the building as well as the furniture.l

Andre the Giant Has A Posse

Last weekend I saw this Shepard Fairey Sticker all over the place on 14th street between the blocks of P anc U Streets.

Fairey’s Mr. Spray

While walking down 14th Street yesterday from P to U Streets, I noticed a lot of Shepard Fairey has recently popped up. Mostly stickers on the back of signs.

I’ll share them over the next couple of days. Here is Mr. Spray (click here for larger, cleaner version).

I thought it was particularly interesting that I noticed so much of Fairey’s ‘art’ was recently added to 14th Street considering that he recently plead guilty to graffiti in Boston. You can read Tina Kells article about that here.

As you can see from the image below, these stickers are fairly small. Many of them are a bit high too, so if you aren’t paying attention you’ll likely miss them.

Then and Now: 14th & P Streets, NW

Then: The Trew Motor Co ca. 1920, located on the northeast corner of 14th and P Streets, NW.

Now: The Studio Theatre.

Shepard Fairey: Toxicity Inspector

I found this Fairey deep in an alley off of P Street near 14th Street.

Columbia Heights Public Realm Project Taking Shape

The fountain focal point of the Columbia Heights Public Realm Project has a lot of the plumbing installed. Lets hope this means that they’ll be able to get the plaza at 14th Street and Park Rd. back in order soon. While I like the idea of a fountain, I already miss the trees they removed after a few short years.

Work to Begin on 14th Street Bridge

Following up on the April 30th announcement that DDOT was planning to start construction on the 14th Street bridge is the release below that work will commence this coming Wednesday.

It was reported that Virginia is up in arms because they feel that they were not given adequate notice of the planned renovation. To that, I say two things:

1) This bridge is entirely withing the District. It is the District’s responsibility to repair, and the District has to pay for it. When Virginia coughs up some cash, then we can talk; and,

2) I suspect that stimulus money may be involved. If so, that would explain why the 14th Street Bridge, the 9th Street Bridge, and Chain Bridge are all happening at the same time. Also, if this is the case, the District notified Virginia as soon as they knew work would begin.

The announcement is after the jump.

Shepard Fairey Assemblage

I’ve shown the Obama and Peace Fingers before. This is the assemblage that they came from.