JR Mural Replaces Kenny Scharf's Piece on the Houston St. Tony Goldman Graffiti Wall

Today, Kenny Scharf's mural on the corner of Houston and Bowery in lower Manhattan was replaced by "Lakota, North Dakota," a piece from JR's Inside Out Project, which he created with the $100,000 TED prize he received to carry out his wish to "turn the world inside out" with art. Inside Out builds on the idea behind JR's earlier projects that by exposing people to art, he can change the way they think about the world and make it more collaborative. At the Inside Out Project's website, anyone can upload a black and white photograph and the team will mail the uploader an enormous print to paste in his or her neighborhood. We've got more info after the jump.

Here's the official word on the new mural:

Tony Goldman is pleased to announce the Inside Out Group Action: "Lakota, Dakota Nation" at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall.

This is the sixth project at this historic wall after the Kenny Scharf spray paint mural; it will be presented on June 23, 2011. The Inside Out Group Action: "Lakota, North Dakota" will highlight the Standing Rock and Pineridge Native Reservations -- some of the most important Native American reservations whose impoverished and forgotten communities have suffered unspeakable hardships. The Lakota, Dakota Nation group action is to show that the people in this community are still struggling to hold onto their native way of life.

Community leaders work with their people to teach their traditions, history, and ceremonies - knowledge which is critical to their collective survival. The Inside Out Project "Lakota, Dakota Nation" is intended to shine a light on this rich culture, for which they are fighting daily.

Inside Out is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world.

The INSIDE OUT project is a creation of the artist JR, recipient of the 2011 TED Prize.

[EV Grieve]