Art on the sidewalk
Art is particularly cool when it's staring you in the face from a downtown sidewalk rather than a stuffy art museum.
Adam and I ventured to Lake Geneva on the Fourth of July to see the Horsing Around Town exhibition, which benefits SMILES therapeutic riding center in Darien. The life-sized fiberglass colts stand outside, inside or in the windows of downtown business, and we had fun admiring them as we meandered from one end of Main Street to the other.
After a trek to Milwaukee this past weekend, we decided to take "the scenic route" back to Janesville, and that led us through Racine, where we saw the Sphere Madness public art exhibition put on by the Downtown Racine Corporation. The 32-inch spheres look like crystal balls, but the artists took a lot of creative license and created an upside-down Sno-Cone, an eyeball with legs and Cinderella's carriage.
Public art exhibitions like these are often meant to draw attention to a city's downtown area as part of a revitalization effort. Remember the Chevys on the Circuit in Janesville? But sometimes they're simply a tourist draw.
I'm headed to New York City next week, and while my boyfriend and I are there, we're planning on checking out the Statues on Parade exhibition--miniature Lady Liberties decked out in the garb of Major League Baseball teams in honor of the 2008 All-Star Game.
I'm sure there'll be plenty of silly pictures of us posing with the statues.
Aug 6, 2008 at 10:52 p.m.
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I don't like horses; and that blue one really freaks me out!
Jul 9, 2008 at 4:43 p.m.
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Another idea I saw first hand from my home in the U.P. of Michigan (home of the yoopers). You take an old door (wooden) and paint or decorate it and you can put a memorial on it to anyone you want like family member who passed away or even your favorite pet and you use your imagination and then these are displayed at a city park for a couple of weeks or longer, such as Traxler (this would draw people back to the park maybe next spring). The ones I saw were donated by people who had them laying around in their garage or even a lumber company could donate doors that they could not sell. There could be an entrance fee to put towards the award in the end for the best decorated door. The public would vote on line for their favorite one. It worked great up there and drew a lot of attention! I know there should be new ideas to get people interested in getting back to Traxler after this years loss!
Jul 9, 2008 at 9:08 a.m.
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Take a drive through Milton and go by the Lueca Guild. They have a painted fiberglass cow outside the building. Looks cool.
Jul 9, 2008 at 8:52 a.m.
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janesville needs to do something more artistic again... "chevys on the circuit" was so much fun (not just for the spectators, but the artists as well)... in light of the recent flooding that has so many people down & out, why not brighten up the community's spirit?? instead of chevys, why not decorate some fiberglass cows??
Jul 8, 2008 at 9:38 p.m.
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How cute !! They made me giggle ! Please share your photos from New York City.
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