'Art Prospect', The First Large-Scale Public Art Festival, Kicks Off In St. Petersburg (PHOTOS)

St. Petersburg's First Public Art Festival Kicks Off Today

St. Petersburg is one of the most famous art havens in the world, known for its 200+ museums filled with artists like Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, and Kandinsky. But this week the Russian city is getting a taste of art that can't be contained to the white walls of the Hermitage or the Erarta.

The first ever large-scale festival of public art, titled "Art Prospect," kicks off today in the Venice of the North. The four-day-event is bringing street art installations and performances to the most trafficked avenue in the city's historic center, Liteiny Prospect, giving the Baroque and neoclassical stylings a contemporary facelift. The works -- created by 19 artists from both Russia and the United States -- will fill courtyards, parks and storefronts, encouraging passersby to step away from their predictable paths and explore their new urban landscape.

The city's transformation is courtesy of Art in Odd Places (AiOP) and the international arts organization CEC ArtsLink, which will also be organizing a series of lectures and workshops to accompany the public exhibits. Among the projects to be shown are American artist Swoon's wheat paste collage titled "Miss Bennet" and a number of video projections by Minneapolis-based artist Andrea Steudel. There will also be site-specific installations from Petr Belyi and Tima Radya, performances by Mylo and the theater ensemble Lyogkie Lyudi, and a giant interactive board game by Olga Zhitlina.

Check out a quick preview of Art Prospect below and stay tuned for more images of the installations as the festival kicks into gear!

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"Miss Bennett," Swoon

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"Outside, Inside," Tima Radya

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