Love Murals

In partnership with Beyond Walls, an organization that believes all communities deserve safe, vibrant and active spaces, Cey helped activate Beyond Walls’ Mural Festival. Although unintentional, the festival featured artists painting huge walls close to one another and this created an atmosphere of competition. It brought Adams back to memories of earlier days as a graffiti artist when he was just getting started, competing for space in the rail yard. Through this competition, Cey found inspiration and extemporaneously created a huge LOVE mural which would go on to become a trademark of Adams’ work, creating Love murals across the country. The area around the original LOVE mural is now known as “Love Alley” and a portion of proceeds from the local coffee shop near the LOVE mural go to local nonprofit, The Haven Project, servicing unaccompanied homeless young adults.

One Nation

One Nation was a (Black) American Flag collage piece created by hip hop, graffiti art, and fine art legend Cey Adams on the National Mall in front of thousands of spectators over the course of four days during Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration. The piece was commissioned by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington as part of the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony led by President Barack Obama. Working with a team of curators and volunteers, Adams led the creation of a large-scale mural in front of thousands of spectators, over the course of four days during Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration. This work, inspired by his series of American flag paintings, reveals the rich histories and traditions of the African diaspora in America. “It celebrates the rich history of ALL Americans,” said Adams. “I really hope museum visitors can see themselves in the work. It was created with the intention to spark conversation about who we are as a collective nation.”

National Mural Day

National Mural Day was created around a shared belief that art should be available to everyone and a mission of inspiring America’s doers, change-makers and creatives through art. Partnering with Pabst Blue Ribbon, Cey Adams helped launch this celebration of the world’s oldest and most accessible and public visual art form. The event encouraged artists, landlords and civic institutions to collaborate on creating new murals in their communities.

As part of National Mural Day, Pabst Blue Ribbon created murals in New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit, Nashville, Denver, Charleston, Portland, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, and Atlanta. “Cey Adams has been a cultural force in America’s art and music scene for over three decades,” said Justin Medcraft, Brand Director at Pabst Blue Ribbon. “His work and ability to use art as a catalyst for positive conversation has inspired us and is something we want to amplify across America on National Mural Day.”