Art That Only Appears When it Rains

Peregrine Church

When it rains in Seattle, the local artists make the best of the lousy weather and turn it into cool street art. Artist Peregrine Church—with the help of Xack Fischer and Forest Tresside—uses stencils and waterproof spray to create secret artwork on sidewalks; all it takes is some rain for the images to appear.

As Tanvi Misra wrote in CityLab, Church wanted to make something that would brighten pedestrians' days despite the gloomy weather. "It’s going to rain anyway," Church said on his website. "Why not do something fun with it?"

The spray he uses is non-toxic and biodegradable so the works are environmentally safe and not slippery. Because the art is not commercial and only temporary, it is considered perfectly legal. “We are really doing things that entice people to enjoy our public spaces differently, so this is very much in line with the kind of things we’d like to see,” Jennifer Wieland, the manager for Seattle's public space, told Quirksee.

Peregrine Church

If you want to check out the artwork firsthand, there's a handy map you can check before hitting the sidewalk. Otherwise, you can check out this video to see the work in action.