Public Art - Table of
Contents
Westside Value
Laundromat
417
Massachusetts Avenue at 18th Street, Buffalo, NY
The Wash Project - Official Website (online October 2014)
Wheatpasted photos by Max Collins
Painted mural by Nick Miller
| About Westside Value Laundromat: An arts, literacy & resources based mini community center that functions out of a vibrant, Burmese refugee owned laundromat on Buffalo's West Side. Mission: The WASH Project @ Westside Value Laundromat establishes a place to create and engage in art, music, culture and literacy, while doing your laundry. The WASH Project has become a safe, small, yet dynamic center of local community life, a place that people of all ages & walks of life come to; a place, that by the way it is designed & the way it is operated, strengthens its neighborhood by investing in the arts and community, while providing a model for future WASH Project efforts in neighborhood laundromats throughout the city. - The Wash Project - Official Website (online September 2014) |
| Enter the WASH Project (Westside
Art Strategy Happenings) at Westside Value Laundromat – funded by
grants from the Belle Center and Buffalo Americorps, along with
community-driven help by Houghton College. The laundromat is now a
place where people can come to play music, practice art, read books,
learn languages, mingle with people from other cultures, and learn
about a wide range of community services and cultural opportunities. Oh
yeah, and wash clothing, which makes it sustainable. In essence, The
WASH Project is a cultural hub for the neighborhood, and guess what
else? This is the first project of this sort to pop up in the city, but
the plan is to replicate this idea in the future. Brilliant! It just so happens that the figureheads behind the operation are Zaw Win and Barrett Gordon. Zaw is Burmese and is the owner of the laundromat. Barrett is a librarian who is also an artist, organizer and promotes information literacy and visual literacy. Launched: 2012 - "The Wash Project," on Buffalo Rising, Feb 12, 2013 (online September 2014) |
 Standing in front of the laundromat is owner Zaw Win  Burmese immigrants by Max Collins  Burmese immigrant by Max Collins  Burmese immigrant by Max Collins |
 Fighting Peacock mural in remembrance of 8888 Uprising "The mural was painted by artist Nick Miller,
who was given permission by the owner of the building to create a
remembrance of the the Burmese repression of August 8-12, 1988
(8-8-88). Also known as the 8888 Uprising, the fighting peacock
became the insignia of the All-Burma Students Union, which helped to
organize nationwide demonstrations.
"The uprising is celebrated by Burmese expatriates... The artwork was completed thanks to help from activists behind The Ferry Street Corridor Project." - By Queenseyes on Buffalo Rising, July 28, 2015  |
