Peeta: Urban Mirage – e-flux Agenda

Venice-born graffiti artist and sculptor Peeta (Manuel Di Rita) has completed a 2,000 square foot illusionary mural, Urban Mirage, on the exterior of the historic Akron Civic Theatre. The theater is located in downtown Akron, Ohio, in the United States. It joins Peeta’s other recent commission in the US, in Boston, Massachusetts; as well as others in Europe in Ingolstadt and Hamburg, Germany; Le Locle, Switzerland; and another soon to be completed in Rome, Italy. The project was funded by entrepreneur and art collector Richard S. Rogers who, along with his wife Alita, has supported several ambitious public art programs in the US Great Lakes region including The Ohio & Erie Canal Coalition, Akron, Ohio; Curated Storefront’s Contemporary Arts District, Akron, Ohio; the FRONT Triennial for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio; and The Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio. “We are excited to bring an artist of Peeta’s skill and reputation to Akron. It is only fitting that the Akron Civic Theatre be the location of this grand mural,” said Rogers. The commission was managed by the nonprofit organization Rogers founded in 2016, Curated Storefront, which focuses on public art as an economic driver to help rustbelt cities transform their downtown districts....