At fifteen years old, the Bushwick Collective has become a temporary city-state of culture—where hip-hop veterans, international muralists, neighborhood residents, tourists, diplomats, photographers, and food vendors all occupy the same few blocks for a single day. It has a flavor you can only find in Brooklyn: equal parts grit, hustle, creativity, and collision.
For one weekend every year, a few gritty industrial blocks in Bushwick transform into something entirely their own — murals climbing walls, aerosol hanging in the air, music pouring from every corner, food vendors working overtime, photographers darting through crowds, old-school New Yorkers mixing with first-time visitors, artists arriving from around the world, and thousands of people wandering streets where immigrant histories, manufacturing roots, creative ambition, and contemporary city life coalesce in a semi-chaos you adore.
Fifteen years after its founding, the Bushwick Collective has become more than a mural event; it is a sprawling, improvised gathering where hip-hop, graffiti, public art, neighborhood culture, international exchange, and street-level energy all converge in the same place at the same moment.
The 2026 edition arrived with plenty of its trademark bravado — murals unveiled throughout the week, artists painting live, rooftop celebrations, packed sidewalks, chance meetings, artist talks, and a soundtrack that carried across the neighborhood from afternoon into evening. Equal parts exhibition, festival, reunion, and urban spectacle, it remains one of New York City’s most distinctive annual cultural gatherings.
We hosted the first Artist Talk, and we’ll tell you about that next week. For now, here is part 1 of 2 collections of murals from The Bushwick Collective 15th Anniversary.
A scintillating selection of images this week as we travel to a Jersey boardwalk and the erupting Brooklyn scene called Bushwick Collective. The trio of foxes by Bordalo is still rocking after a year, and the small flood of international and local talent has once again transformed walls in the formerly industrial, still gritty Brooklyn neighborhood that has welcomed about 400 artists to paint here since 2011.
We had the great honor of hosting a panel discussion with 5 Taiwanese street artists this Thursday as part of the first Artist Talk ever for Bushwick Collective’s 15th Anniversary. All week, those five plus one other OG from Taipei all painted walls here – ALLO, Vasstar, Candy Kuo, Colasa, Mr. OGay, and BLACK ZAO brought high technical skills and Taiwan flavor to the already international scene here. The long weekend events included roof parties, DJ sets, and a roiling, joyful open stage with hotly spit missives that pose and bear witness to life from some of our best rap and hip-hop artists who know the streets and rightly celebrate them. As usual, it’s so local, and so international here in Brooklyn.
Stylistically, the vertical rappellers have taken over NYC these last three years or so, and overnight Thursday, one of the highest focal points was taken over by a wildly striped crew of current visual kings with aesthetic and cultural currency – taking everyone by surprise with a rapid fire battle of styles side by side – see below.
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Allo, Ashley Hodder, Black Zao, Bordallo II, Chris Haven, Dad Father Son, Dae Law, Degrupo, Dzel, EXR, H Kubed, Mad Vaillan, Mendoza, Nick Sweetman, Optimo, Psylent Mushroom, Robert Vargas, Shane, Smoe, Stuo Backup, Werds, and Zach Curtis.
Welcome to Part I of II of our photo collection from the 14th Annual Bushwick Collective Block Party. This year’s edition, held on May 31, 2025, brought together a powerful fusion of beats, paint, and community spirit—just the kind of vibrant energy we at BSA love to celebrate.
The day’s star performer, hip-hop legend Rakim, set the stage alight with an electrifying set that fused old-school authenticity with Bushwick’s forward-thinking street culture – an intelligent merging of underground and old-school. Sharing the spotlight were dynamic artists Statik Selektah, Gorilla Nems, Termanology, and Evil Dee, among others.
On the mural front, the Block Party again transformed Troutman Street into a living gallery. This year’s visiting muralists included Sef1, Contrabandre, Huetek, Gigstar & Minus One, Tymon de Laat, Ashley Hodder, and Enzo a psychotropic summer stew that again sampled from acrss the graffiti and street art spectrum.
It was a weekend where paint met poetry, beats met brushstrokes, and each corner of Bushwick told a fresh story. We hope these images capture the creative dialogue that unfolded. Stay tuned for Part II, where we continue to explore more of this year’s murals and moments.
Robert Vargas starts us off this week with a compelling trio of faces, or sides of one character. In each case she has been silenced. “Painting my “STOP” mural is a call to action to stop our #Indigenous sisters from going missing and murdered. The red hand over the mouth is the symbol of a growing movement that stands for all missing sisters whose voices are not heard.” The streets are speaking. Will we hear them?
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Royce Bannon, Jason Naylor, Praxis, No Sleep, JPO, Le Crue, Hiss, Slow Boil, SKJ 171, Mike 171, D. Brains, Dan Alavarado, Panic Rodriguez, and Robert Vargas.
Italian graffiti and conceptual artist Elfo, whose cryptic unpainterly interventions often employ language, irony, appropriation, and deliberately rudimentary aesthetics to …Read More »
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
