Learn More About Friends

The FriendsWithYou artist collective of Arturo Sandoval III and Samuel Borkson are renowned for sculpture work that reaches beyond the contemporary into popular culture. Their giant “Little Cloud” led the Macy’s Parade, and the Rainbow City installation has delighted crowds in Hong Kong, Toronto, Miami, New York, and now Shreveport. Academy Award-winning animation artist William Joyce curates the first retrospective exhibition of 17 years of FriendsWithYou at artspace in Shreveport.

“FriendsWithYou has a huge international following and is on the vanguard of pop culture, rock and roll, and high art," Joyce says. "They are truly a multicultural and multimedia phenomenon.”

Brilliant colors and geometric patterns transform artspace into a magical place where the line blurs between imagination and reality.  Bold, colorful stripes fill walls and air-filled sculptures surprise you amidst a gallery of FriendsWithYou art, bronze sculptures, digital designs, and films.  The exhibition is a great way to introduce children to transformative art, and a few blocks down the street the family can bounce and play in the Rainbow City installation in Shreveport’s newest urban greenspace, the Common Park.

“We are excited to bring the first FriendsWithYou Retrospective Exhibition to Shreveport and to bring Rainbow City to the new Common Park, say Borkson and Sandoval. "Our goal is always to share the hope of personal, physical and community transformation through art. We want the entire city to be a part of this experience."

The FriendsWithYou Retrospective Exhibition at artspace is open Friday, October 25 to Saturday, December 21 at 708 Texas St.  Rainbow City, an outdoor experience of 40 air-filled sculptures, opens Saturday, November 2, in the Common Park at 869 Texas Avenue.  Both are free and open to the public.  Visit www.FriendsWithYouShreveport.com for details.