A Viral Bushwick Artist Is Performing For Preschoolers

You don’t have to live in Bushwick to know that many highly visible denizens of the neighborhood are often characterized as oblivious, privileged walking eye-roll fodder. Sometimes this kind of assessment is fair; other times, the generalization is just an exercise in kind of pointless stereotype confirmation.

A prime example is recent media attention received by Bushwick artist Ventiko. She’s lived and worked in Bushwick for nearly a decade, and she also happens to own a pet peacock named Dexter. Images of Dexter and Ventiko, unattributed and usually accompanied by a snarky comment about Bushwick, make their way into my inbox sent by friends who thought of me when they saw the neighborhood. They want us to share a laugh, perhaps.