More Than Likes is a series about social media personalities who are trying to do positive things for their communities.
Conrad Benner’s phone camera was fixed on Nile Livingston, an artist who stood in front of a blank wall. Mx. Livingston would soon paint a massive mural, and the “canvas” would be the side of an apartment building overlooking a parking lot in the Gayborhood area of Philadelphia. But Mx. Livingston was having a hard time finding the right words for a promotional TikTok.
“We can do a thousand takes,” Mr. Benner said, warmth in his voice. He had chosen both the location and the artist.
Mr. Benner, 38, runs Streets Dept, a photo blog and social media presence dedicated to spotlighting street artists. In addition to interviewing artists on video and photographing their work, Mr. Benner selects artists for Mural Arts Philadelphia, which says it is the nation’s largest public art program. In a city known for the richness of both its cultural institutions and its public art scene, Mr. Benner wants to “serve the artists in all ways.”
Alexei Mansour and his team worked on installing a small mural as part of a street festival.HoJun Yu for The New York Times
“He’s a bridge in the public art community,” Mx. Livingston said. “He stops and slows down and observes the things around him, and he really cares about the city of Philadelphia.”
Before meeting up with Mx. Livingston, Mr. Benner’s camera was locked on another artist, Alexei Mansour, whom Mr. Brenner had selected to paint a mural in real time as part of a street festival. It was almost 90 degrees, and huge speakers drowned out Mr. Mansour, a self-described “mumbler” not keen on public speaking. There were people everywhere and Mr. Mansour, too, struggled, his face turning bright red. (“I blacked out,” Mr. Mansour said later of the moment.)
Mr. Benner took control: He instructed Mr. Mansour to wave his hands in front of his face to cool himself down. He switched locations, first trying to record Mr. Mansour in an adjacent building (also too loud) before settling on a corner away from the commotion.
“One, two, three,” Mr. Benner said patiently, and Mr. Mansour began to describe his work.
Symone Salib, another artist selected by Mr. Benner, applied one of her pieces, titled “There Is No Point In Our Lives Where We Ever Need to Stop Growing.”HoJun Yu for The New York Times
Mr. Mansour, whose work focuses on queer identity, and his team worked on a mural of the Greek god Dionysus, whom some consider an early nonbinary figure.
Mr. Benner, who grew up in the Fishtown neighborhood and typically wears a flat-brimmed cap and a mustache, eschews attention when documenting art, directing people’s eyes toward the artists he supports.
“My interest was always at pointing the camera outwards,” Mr. Benner said. “I find deep joy and interest in learning about the world around me through public art and the artists who make it.”
Mr. Benner first published Streets Dept in 2011. A novice to the street art world — Mr. Benner is not a trained artist, and he had long planned to go into architecture — his early posts took on what he called a “fanboy blog” tone.
Shaun Durbin, an artist, worked on a mural on South Street. “Almost every neighborhood in Philly has an abandoned building that’s a former warehouse, or abandoned homes,” Mr. Benner said.HoJun Yu for The New York Times
The blog went mainstream in June 2011 when Time magazine reprinted a post about an artist who had “yarn-bombed” a city train, wrapping seats in multicolored knit fibers. The attention landed Mr. Benner a full-time marketing job, which he quit in 2015 after he surpassed 100,000 Instagram followers (he now has more than 150,000 followers and another 34,600 on TikTok) and devoted all of his focus to Streets Dept. He later started a subscription service through Patreon, a membership platform for content creators.
In 2020, Mr. Benner began selecting artists and locations for Mural Arts, which he said now provides the bulk of Street Dept’s funding, after nearly a decade of independent curatorial work, which he still does on the side.
At the heart of all that work is a love for a city that he believes is particularly suited to a thriving street arts community.
“Most of the street artists who work right now are putting up on either abandoned buildings or construction materials,” Mr. Benner said. “Almost every neighborhood in Philly has an abandoned building that’s a former warehouse, or abandoned homes.”
Nile Livingston, left, and Mr. Benner discussed plans for a mural by Mx. Livingston that would eventually appear on the wall behind them.HoJun Yu for The New York Times
“There was this idea that, OK, industry and maybe some people left this city, so now it’s our playground,” he said of street artists (the city’s population declined from about two million in the 1960s to about 1.5 million in 2021). “If you leave a building abandoned, it’s going to get filled with art.”
Hours after filming with Mx. Livingston and Mr. Mansour, Mr. Benner popped by a free wall space for artists on a busy street corner, where a man was painting a woman’s face. Mr. Benner had seen the artist’s work for months but had never met him. He was Shaun Durbin, an up-and-coming local artist who had tried to get Mr. Benner’s attention earlier at the live painting. He agreed to let Mr. Benner feature his work.
Mr. Benner pulled out his camera. “This is so kismet,” he said. His favorite part of his work is meeting new artists and sharing their work with the masses. “Why else are we in this world if not to just look around and be excited by what’s around us?”
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
