This past week, Write of Passage, a global educational platform for the discussion of graffiti culture painted a vintage New York City subway at an event titled “Piece Out”. Considered the “holy grail” for graffiti writers, no one has ever had the opportunity to paint a NYC subway car legally and Write of Passage was granted the opportunity.

Set in Kingston, NY, at The Trolley Museum of New York, “Piece Out” served to honor the origins of subway graffiti with a day of live work from artists EWOK, SP.One, REAS, SYE TC 5, WANE COD, CHINO and KEO.

Curated by writer/folklorist Sacha Jenkins, “Piece Out“ was presented by Write of Passage  to explore the history and impact of American graffiti on global culture. The event served as a preview toward a more expansive program coming in October at the Red Bull Studios New York.

We commend the Trolley Museum of New York for hosting such a groundbreaking event,” says Sacha Jenkins. “Thirty-plus years later, Subway graffiti is a global phenomenon–a language with many regional dialects. The fact that the Trolley Museum is one of the first American institutions to recognize the powerful language that was born on our soil, says a lot about how the culture has evolved.”

Photo Credit- Alexander Richter