Few months ago we decided to re-launch the idea of expanding the arts outside Manhattan, so we started in Barcelona.

The chosen event was bARTcelona, an organized by a totally reconverted shopping mall in the city that has become a new cultural, technological and artistic meeting point in Barcelona.

Their idea for the event was to take New York to Barcelona (we all know it’s not easy…), but they are trying with new openings of Apple Store, Hollister CO, Guess, Starbucks…

Following with the Roger Smith commitment to arts, we found this event too exciting that we had to participate somehow.

The idea was to combine an open contest for worldwide artists for a showcase exhibition and art battles to put face-to-face street artists from Barcelona and New York.

For the first part of the event, more than 200 pieces of work applied, but only the 20 selected were showed in the shopping mall.

For the second, 4 selected artists from Barcelona and 4 selected artists from New York City were creating live their art, from a plane canvas to a completely deep painting.

It’s been really exciting having the opportunity of taking a close view of the artist’s evolution on the 3 weekends of the event that took place on late October 2010. The artists exchanged their experiences and even coming from very different art scenes, they both did an outstanding job and people loved their performances.

The winner of the Barcelona art battles group is going to enjoy a complimentary stay in one of the Deluxe Suites at the Roger Smith Hotel, as well as the winner of the raffle on the VIP night where many famous designers, like Javier Mariscal or Desigual, shared the stage with Spanish hip hop singers and dancers like Rafael Amargo.

We just can’t wait for the 2011 edition!!

Album with my photo selection

Video of the VIP soirée

Video of the 1^st art battle held on the street before they started on the shopping mall

Link for winners and showcased works

Vicenç Alcalde
Business Development
Archingbridge ˆ team roger smith

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The owner of Pulpo Paul would not sell his golden goose but would the clairvoyant Octopus to a Spanish citizen with the understanding that his transportation costs would be covered and that they would not prepare “A la plancha”.

Talk about an Xtreem Fan

What is the strangest Sports tradition that you know of? While in Spain, I purchased Spain World Cup Soccer limited edition Tshirts that I will present to the first five people who share their story in the comments section of this blog.

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Be sure to Share, Comment, and Engage!

Looking forward to hearing your stories.

Panman

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@highville on twitter, Marc is a Roger Smith Super Star. The quote below was recently posted to his tumblr.com account and provides a bit of insight into his sensibilities.

“Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.”

—

If You Can Raed Tihs, You Msut Be Raelly Smrat

(via bcnnyc)

You should follow Marc and engage with him online. By participate in the growing culture that is Roger Smith you are contributing to its global buzz. Post a comment and share with a friend. Thanks for engaging.

John Knowles

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We are here to share our experiences, our thoughts, and our friendship.  Sky is the limit.  If any of you are coming to New York City, please come and say hello to me at the Roger Smith Hotel.  My door is always open and I will always have time for my friends.

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Roger Smith to Spain

1969 to 2010 and Still Building

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