The Miami, Florida based Museum of Graffiti brought its popular “Sneaker Stories” exhibit to Union Market Friday, June 14. Alan Ket and Allison Friedin, co-owners of the Museum of Graffiti, sat down in Legacy Sessions Studio with Wild Side Magazine’s Founder and CEO Monica Alford to talk about their creative vision behind Sneaker Stories and how it ended up in Washington, D.C.
Ket and Friedin always knew they wanted to bring the stories behind some of the most iconic sneakers and Graffiti art across America. Starting in their home state of Miami, they have since snaked their way up the east coast. Now, having stopped in Washington, D.C.’s Union Market District to share their project with D.C. residents.
Ket, a former graffiti artist, grew up seeing street art everywhere, he said.
“My introduction to the world of graffiti happened in New York, in Brooklyn, in my neighborhood, looking at the trains on my way to school, walking around the neighborhood,” Ket said. “By the mid ‘80s, (I was) doing it myself, going into the late 80s, and you know, sort of made my name on the trains the way you’re supposed to.”
After making a name for himself in the graffiti world, Ket broke into the fashion industry, leading him to his work with Frieidin and the founding of the graffiti museum and the traveling “Sneaker Stories” exhibit.
“The story of this mainstreaming of graffiti parallels my own life and how I went from underground outlaw to then sort of an accepted member within these different industries, teaching about street culture, teaching about our art, culture, and then helping to bring it into different industries,” Ket said.
Listen to their full conversation with Alford here.
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