Pawn Works Street Art

It seems that every few days there is a new mural being painted by street artists from around the world in the Waterloo Arts District. This is in large part due to the efforts of Chicago based street art curators and facilitators Nick Marzullo and Seth Mooney who co-founded the group Pawn Works. The pair is helping find and bring the artists who paint the murals of the Zoetic Walls Project to the neighborhood.

Marzullo and Mooney, who are reaching out to all branches of the street art world, actually stem from local roots. Marzullo was born in Collinwood but grew up in Bainbridge Township. The partnership started with a gallery space and evolved overtime into the full time curation of outdoor street art. Pawn Works now works with street artists to find walls, build hype for their shows, and help promote the art. They chose specific artist for specific spaces and are very conscious of what and whose at goes where. Street art has been incredibly popular in Europe in recent years and that popularity is now coming to the United States. Pawn Works is playing a big role in making American street art happen. The group came to Collinwood when they were contacted by Amy Callahan at Arts Collinwood with her idea for the Zoetic Walls Project. Nick explained that he was “excited to be back working in Cleveland.” He also talked about how “this project is all about bringing beauty to a neighborhood, letting people know this is an artistic and creative place.” Pawn Works has been the irreplaceable middle man in this project bringing urban artists from around the world to paint within the Waterloo Arts District. In the weeks to come, they will bring even more artists to the neighborhood and growing its creative vibrancy.