StART on the Street and the Urge to Create

 Sellers' tents on Worcester's Park Avenue, seen from Elm Park

Last Sunday, another perfect fall day, I went to take a look at “StART on the Street” along with nearly 50,000 shoppers eager to see the art and handicrafts produced by some 300 artists who were all displaying their wares on Park Avenue in Worcester, MA.  StART on the Street, which began with a handful of local artists and crafts people ten years ago, has grown into the largest Arts festival in Central Massachusetts… and maybe the country?

Looking at the dizzying variety of things for sale, all created by the person who was selling them, started me thinking about the nearly universal drive to create art, which seems to blossom in people once they have  taken care of basic needs like food and shelter.  This creative urge finds outlets in so many ways.  Lots of my women friends, once their kids leave the nest, have re-discovered their longing to paint, or sew, design jewelry, write a book or take piano lessons... things you don’t have time to do when you’re in charge of children and a home and maybe an office job as well.  Men have the same creative urge, but may express it in different ways, like woodcarving or designing fishing flies or a model railroad (and of course painting, music and photography.)

Last week I posted about walking along another Park Avenue—on the east side of Manhattan --and photographing art by world-famous artists, but at StART on the Street on Worcester’s Park Avenue, I was moved by the energy and dedication of these local artists who create in so many different ways, devoting their nights and weekends, because nearly all of them, unless they’re retired, have a “real job” as well.

I saw dozens of artists selling their paintings or photographs or pottery or weaving, but here are some of the non-traditional artists who caught my eye.

This young man makes things out of hemp coffee bags, and also turns out “super ukuleles made from repurposed cigar boxes and broken skateboard decks.” He’s at www.birdmen.etsy.com.

 Jen Niles does lovely folk-arty paintings of cat and dogs and will make a personalized memorial painting of your deceased pet..  www.JenNilesArt.com

The busiest booth I saw was KD Wind Spirals, where a couple, originally from New Zealand, had nearly sold out of their creations, which ranged from $35 to $64.  The aluminum- tubing spirals turn in the wind and the glass balls appear to move up and down but never fall off.  www.etsy.com/shop/KDWindSpirals.

 This man creates weather-proof birdfeeders from teacups, saucers and spoons—they attach to a rod to stand in the garden.

 The Gravestone Girls make art by rubbing the Colonial slate gravestones they find in New England cemeteries and selling the rubbings to hang.

 I saw several blacksmiths and people who created art out of iron, and quite a few of them were women.

 I bought these soft baby shoes for my granddaughter from Meghan Bergstrom who makes clothes and shoes “for hip kids.”  www.etsy.com/shop/edieandfin.

 There were hooked rugs and knitted creations galore.

 Painted silk scarves

 Carved wood goblets and bowls

 Vintage clothing

 Participatory wall murals

 And loads of food trucks with every kind of New England culinary delight.

Art isn’t just what you make with your hands.  There were physical arts on display:

 Dueling

 Dancing

And a variety of bands and singers all day long

 Play areas and crafts for children

 And pumpkins to take home.

Worcester, once a bustling metropolis during the height of the industrial revolution, has now been given a number of ironic nicknames like “Wormtown” and “The Paris of the Eighties”,  but every year, when  it comes alive with art and music and the excitement of “StART on the Street” it’s clear that the city is an important center for art and culture that becomes more exciting every year.

New York City Street Art – Kids’ Stuff or Serious Business?

I spent last weekend (May 13 – 15) visiting Manhattan, doing chores and  seeing people. I fully intended to go to the Metropolitan Museum to take in some interesting new exhibits, but I never got there.  But while running around Park, Madison and Fifth Avenues,  I got a major dose of art which was just sitting around on the street. 

All of it was delightful and  the people drawn out by the fine spring weather were enjoying it as much as I was.  But when I got home and looked it up, I learned that a lot of the whimsical street art on display is serious business to the artists and the galleries and would  cost a major fortune to buy. 

I have no desire to spend ten million dollars to acquire a 23-foot-tall, battered, stuffed teddy bear (plus desk lamp), but I’m happy to enjoy it on the street for free. This big bear looks soft but he’s made of bronze and weighs 20 tons. Christie’s auction house had to get six city permits and reinforce the courtyard of the Seagram Building in order to install him in place.

You are not allowed to touch the bear, but a pleasant young man was happy to explain that the person who created it is Swiss Artist Urs Fischer.  He has also carved nudes out of wax and put candles on their heads, so they would melt if you lit the candles.  This would be a major disappointment if you bought one of those nudes at Sotheby’s for $1 million.

The Teddy Bear work of art is called  “Untitled (Lamp/Bear)” and if the artist knows what it means, he’s not telling.  Christie’s went to all the trouble of installing it in front of the Seagram’s Building, because they hoped to sell it at auction on May 11 for ten million dollars.  To their disappointment, it only reached  $6.8 million (they did not disclose the name of the buyer) but that was a new record for the artist.  They’re leaving the bear in place until September, so you can still go see it for free.  (Just don’t try to touch it.)

 A few blocks away, on Madison and 51st,  in the courtyard of the  New York Palace,  I ran across this  colorful dog standing defiantly in his coat of many colors.  Visiting tourists were loving him and were sitting at the tables in the courtyard where you can order a specially created cocktail called “Hair of the Dog.”

  

There was no mystery about the artist or the name of this piece, because a plaque at the dog’s feet read:  “Doggy John XXL, Julien Marinetti, 2011.”  A fancy reception was held on May 10 to honor the French artist, who has made a lot of  “Doggy Johns.”  When asked at the opening party what his art means, he remained as vague as the creator of the teddy bear.

According to a social commentary site called “Panache Privée”, Marinetti replied to the guests at the opening who asked “Why a dog?”-- “It could be a dog, a duck, a skull – the shapes are experiments and a surface for my painting.” The writer for Panache Privée then opined,  “For the viewer, association to Marinettti’s painted expressions makes the Doggy Johns immediately intimate, they tease and what appears as a physical manifestation of our secret psyche is a springboard for universal connection.”

(Both quotes in the paragraph above are perfect examples of the kind of arty double-talk that makes me want to tear out my hair. It sounds profound but it means nothing and you encounter it everywhere.)

Thinking about Doggy John and the Teddy Bear reminded me of two other famous works of art that I have seen in Manhattan in past years—Jeff Koons’ “Balloon Dog” and “Puppy”, which was covered in flowers when I saw it  presiding over Rockefeller Center. (The one below is at Bilbao.)  All these contemporary works of art cost a gazillion dollars, they all evoke toys and pets from childhood, and they all are taken very seriously in the art world.  Are contemporary artists hung up on  their childhood?  Are they just promulgating a gigantic scam reminiscent of the “Emperor’s New Clothes?” Please discuss.

The good news about Doggy John is that you will be able to see him for free and order yourself a “Hair of the Dog” in the Palace courtyard until September.

 As I rambled around, I passed Rockefeller Center and stopped as I always do, to admire the amazing Art Deco statues and carvings that always fill me with joy.  Here is a young woman tourist who was getting up close and personal with the statue of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders.

 Here are the beautiful spring flowers in the heart of Rock Center .

Here is a fabulous relief over one of the doors. (In New York you must always look up—that’s where the good things are.)

 And here is a nice group of three women that I saw while looking up at an antique store’s facade—two women garden statues juxtaposed with a Lichtenstein (I think) woman in an ad for MOMA.

Speaking of Art Deco—here are some friezes just inside the Waldorf Astoria.  The same paintings were being featured in its windows, along with the information that the artist was Louis Rigal, so I went inside for a look. 

As I’ve said before—New York is a festival of art, even if you don’t go into the museums. You just have to remember to look up.