Oly Reads discussion
Oly Talk
>
Spring Artswalk
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Agathafrye
(new)
Apr 25, 2010 11:11AM
Mod
reply
|
flag
the edition of the crafts booths on Washington between State and 4th was cool: these were not the usual tents that show up on Percival Landing for other events, they were all interesting and unique! I got a kick out of Stephanie Holttum at Mixx 96.1 KXXO (recycled art sculpture with an Housewife theme!); AND it turns out someone gave Dave one of my plastic bag babies as a gift, and so now he and his wife know who the artist is! j. otto seibold at room 30 is cool, too.
and of course, I LOVE Matter Gallery (and even though she did not do a "special" arts walk display, the art displayed in there is always changing --- stuff sells and walks out the door --- and on ArtsWalk, many of the gallery artists, like me, were making appearances, as well as Jason and Richard's poetry performance)
mostly, I was in a Dayquil-haze and wandered the streets, people watching. I liked the crepe stand in front of the Capitol Theater (mmm, Nutella and whipped cream)
I took a few pics of ArtsWalk and posted them on flickr: http://tinyurl.com/25kysjl
as far as the parade goes, it was impressive how many people participated, especially since the weather was so on-and-off. SambaOlywa always is impressive, with the music, dance and colorful costuming (my gf, who works at Macy's, commented "so THAT'S where all those gold legging went! I was wondering who was buying these!!). and when the "elephant" came lumbering thru, we both exclaimed, at the same time: "Snuffaluffagus!" There was one group who had some sort of Aztec (?) outfits on that made us go "WTF?!" Cultural appropriation, anyone?
But what really struck me was how, after all these years, the parade never really progresses ... unlike the Fremont Solstice Parade, which I have seen since ITS beginning (I was pregnant with my first son, who is now 20, and living on the Fremont/Wallingford). The Fremont parade started out small and grew, not just in size but in spectacle: the people-powered floats, the artistic and political themes, the music, the street theater, all amaze and inspire me! and I still see folks I know who participate in it, it is still very community-oriented (more info: http://tinyurl.com/2bw8h6k)
The Oly parade just seems to get longer, but otherwise doesn't really have a WOW factor. It is charming in a counter-culture Americana kind of way, an antidote to LakeFair. Of course, people get upset if one critiques the event, but if it can't be evaluated through a critique, then it is therapy or artistic masturbation or something else, but not really ART (which is one of the professed tenets of PotS). The Luminary Parade was beautiful!
Mod
