Streetwise
“Streetwise” is a characteristic once primarily associated with city life. More generally, it describes someone who navigates their immediate environment, but also the broader world, with a certain knowledge and resourcefulness that comes from “on the ground” experience. Someone who is streetwise has a keen understanding of their surroundings. They make sound decisions under pressure, adapting and improvising as necessary to find a solution to a challenge.
The Festival’s Streetwise activities and presentations showcase the creativity with which young people, past and present, express their connections to the public spaces they inhabit. Whether living in urban, suburban, or rural communities, they claim these sites through a range of creative practices—mapping routes and communities and reshaping their surroundings in the process. In real life, and out on the street for all to see, they transform everyday spaces into hubs of display, interaction, and community. As artists and athletes, their activities often emerge in unofficial, irreverent, and unexpected ways.
Here we highlight four forms of expressions:
(Click a category to jump down and read more)
Participants will present skating demonstrations, live paint skate decks and murals, and demonstrate the arts and techniques involved in customizing cars and bikes. Visitors can sign up for skateboarding lessons, participate in family activities, and learn about the traditions, communities, and skills embodied in these creative practices. Live DJ sets provide daily changing soundscapes that highlight different music subcultures.
