Tysons Street Artist able6 Embarks on Banksy-esque Campaign to Raise Funds for Ukraine
I follow the twitter account of Tysons street artist able6 religiously, so when this tweet by able6art dropped yesterday I knew I had to get in touch.
If you’re not familiar with able6 check out our first story on him where we delve into some cityscapes he did of Tysons. To quickly catch you up, able6 is a former businessman in Tysons who turned to art later in life to spread his message of peace and joy. He makes tote bags, art prints, and greeting cards. Check out https://linktr.ee/able6 for his stuff.
Anyhow, I digress. So I saw the tweet and was told to wait for a DM and low and behold I got one.
It was a set of GPS coordinates with a message that said “Go here. I will tell you more later.”
And so I did, and that’s where I found the below.
A simple image of a dove offering a flower in white that was perfectly positioned so that the sunlight breaking through the trees illuminated it. The blue background made the image pop. I took the picture above and DMed it to able6 with the text “Nice!”. He replied “Meet me where we met last in 59 minutes.” So I walked over to the Wegmans in Tysons.
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, this is kinda how able6 operates. A few short instructions. Though, he IS verbose when we meet up in person. As I walked down to the Wegmans I began thinking of what questions I should ask him. Before I could get a pen and paper out I was there and so was able6, in his typical mask concealing his ID.
I started off with a real fanboy type phrase which I now regret. “So I really like your new peace doves!” “Thanks man” able6 replied. He bought me a coffee as usual and we walked and talked for the next couple of hours as I went into full on interviewer mode.
So what are your new peace dove pieces all about?
The peace dove is an iconic symbol. Anyone who sees it knows what it is about. It’s a peace offering and I want to make that offering to the people of Ukraine through my art, through the awareness it raises, and through pieces I will put online where all profits will go directly to support the people of Ukraine.
Russia’s war on Ukraine has been going on for quite sometime now and people are getting a bit mentally fatigued I think. We turn on the news and hear about the bombings and then think “Oh, is that still going on.” I don’t want to hear about that sh*t, so let’s just flip off CNN to something else.
Our politicians are getting fatigued as well, so I think Ukraine is going to loose a lot of support over the coming months. I wanted to raise awareness the only way I know how, through my art.
Do you have any personal connection to Ukraine?
Yes, I do in fact. I have artist friends in Ukraine and they keep me posted on what it is like.
When you get a DM that says “I am hiding in the train station now, and I don’t know if this will be my savior or my coffin.”
And it is like 3 am here in the States. It puts your whole existence into perspective.
We are all humans, we all bleed, we all die, but for a fortune of birth I could have been in Ukraine right now, so could you. So we have to feel. We have to help.
If you don’t like my art I don’t expect you to buy it, but you should consider donating to UNICEF the UN and other organizations doing good in Ukraine.
Do you have a goal in mind?
Yes, of course. I come from a business background and I so I’m kind of a nerd like that and believe things need to be measured. My goal is to get $7,500 in sales of the peace dove via art prints, tote bags, and greeting cards that I have created. I want to buy essential supplies (canned goods, diapers, toiletries) and get that over to my artist friend in Ukraine as well as other families in need in Kiev.
Where can people learn more about what you are doing?
As you know I’m pretty active on twitter, I am less active on Insta, but I do post there at least once a week. I would like to keep folks posted on where I’m putting up the art and inform them of my journey.
I think we all have a purpose in life and once we find that purpose life gets both easy and hard. Easy in the sense that you have so much joy in what you are doing. And hard, because you realize that there is so much left to do.
I get up at 3 am everyday to create my art. I sometimes walk for miles before I find a perfect spot.
This is just the beginning. My message is to spread love, peace, and joy. So I will have other fun stuff coming up, hopefully with more public engagement.
Able6 and I had walked and talked for over three hours and the time went by really quickly. I thanked him for the coffee and we parted ways.
You can learn more about street artist able6 by following him on twitter, and IG. His linktree https://linktr.ee/able6
Find his art prints, tote bags, and greeting cards at one of his two etsy shops. https://www.etsy.com/shop/able6 and https://www.etsy.com/shop/able6shop.
