Away she goes!

The unveiling for Treasures of Holley is only days away. June 5th, at 11am, the mural installation in Holley’s Canal Park (map) will be unveiled.

I’m very happy to be tying this event in with Holley’s Junefest. Crafters, many garage sales, a car show, chicken bbq and other festival food, drum corp show, 5k race, fun for the kids, fireworks!…. and of course an awesome mural!! There are a lot of reasons to come to Holley on June 5th.

The mural kiosk under construction. You can see the lift bridge and the canal in the background - great location!

It doesn’t seem like it was a year ago that I met Joyce Ridley, then president of the Holley Rotary Club. Somewhere in that first conversation the subject of creating a mural in Holley came up. Before winter hit I had spoken with the rest of the club about partnering with them for a community project, then applied for and won a grant through GoArt to fund the project. This project was even more involved, with way more potential, then we first anticipated. And this is just the beginning!

After all the work of the past year, it will be really great for everyone involved to see how this will all function on Saturday. The murals themselves were very well received at the preview (an article in the Journal Register Register). That was a great night! We saw more people then we ever expected, and the response to Treasures of Holley was just wonderful. Now it’s the other half of the project, the walking tour/treasure hunt that remains to be proven. We’ve tested the route several times to get the kinks out, but you know something will be not quite right, come the final reckoning. We’ve done enough ground work and preparation for it all to go smoothly enough, but I’m curious to see what the public will think.

That’s the moment I’m most looking forward to… when the murals are unveiled, the maps are picked up and people head out to explore the town of Holley. It truly is a launch, like sending a new boat into the water for the first time. Should I bring a bottle of champagne to smash?

A detail from "The Old Canal Spur" mural panel, Treasures of Holley

Spring has been a whirlwind of activity so far… or maybe a thunder shower, or a series of snow flurries would be a more appropriate metaphor.  This is Western New York after all, and while we’ve already seen temps in the eighties this month, today it snowed! So I reluctantly turned on the furnace, and spent the afternoon sending out promotional blurbs to local publications, announcing the ToH mural preview. I hope to see all of you there!

I eventually realized that the space I’ve been meaning to update for the longest time is still empty and waiting for some words. Sometimes it can really be a struggle to put the right words together! Sometimes it can be a struggle just to sit down and get close enough to this page to even begin thinking about finding the right words….But today, this is where the hard work and headache of composing press releases will pay off. Cut….and paste!

Treasures of Holley Mural Preview

On Saturday April 17th, from 4pm til 9pm, Marti’s on Main will be hosting an exhibit of all eight panels on April 17^th from 4pm to 9pm, the first exhibit in Marti’s brand new second floor gallery. This will be the last stop before the mural is permanently installed in Holley’s canal side park.

Enjoy live music and refreshments, while you learn about the purpose and intent of this interactive mural installation. Limited edition prints of the mural will be for sale. Meet the artist, ask questions, and learn about Treasures of Holley. All proceeds benefit this community mural project. Stop by for a sneak peak!

(I included a summary with the press releases as well. I’ll post it here just in case some of my readers are unfamiliar with the idea behind Treasures of Holley.)

About Treasures of Holley

This mural isn’t just a painting – it’s a Treasure Map!

This interactive mural installation designed for Holley’s Canal Park has been one year in the making. A collaboration between Holley’s Rotary Club, OCALS, and artist Stacey Kirby, Treasures of Holley is a community project that seeks to show people all that Holley has to offer. Eight mural panels illustrate a variety of interesting features of the town; historical architecture, natural beauty, interesting people – they’re all a part of Holley, waiting to be discovered.

After June 5^th, treasure maps can be found at the mural in Holley’s Canal Park. Use the map to explore the town of Holley, it will guide you to the different landmarks that are found in the paintings. Solve riddles, follow clues and answer questions as you go. The treasure hunt walking tour will be launched on June 5^th, with the unveiling of the mural installation.

“People from all over the country and all over the world travel the canal, and they love stopping in Holley’s beautiful Canal Park to eat lunch, relax and rest. Until now, there hasn’t been anything to draw them into the town itself, where their business would be very welcome.  Treasures of Holley is a solution to that problem. The colorful murals show visitors what Holley has to offer, but that’s just a taste. With the treasure hunt walking tour, they can see the sites first hand and learn all sorts of interesting facts about Holley. This is great for people traveling the canal that are looking for a new activity, people from the area that would like to discover Holley’s hidden treasures, and even people that live here in town.  It’s free, educational and it gets people active outdoors.” – artist Stacey Kirby

One of Connie's photo-transfer paintings.

As you know, the Artist’s Alliance of Orleans County participates in Albion’s First Friday event. Every first friday of the month, a new selection of work is on display at Marti’s on Main.

This Friday we’re celebrating Connie Mosher’s solo show at Salih Studio and Arthur Barne’s solo  show at Elsewhere, along with our monthly First Friday event at Marti’s. I admire the distinctive style and personal expression of both artists, (plus they’re just great people) so I’m very happy for this opportunity to promote their work.

If you haven’t been able to make it to an AAOC First Friday, I would definitely encourage you to try for this one. As always, Marti’s on Main will be full of a great variety of work by AAOC members, including my recently finished mural panel “Origins” and a few of my plein air paintings. I’ll be there on the porch, working on the next mural panel…unless I’ve wandered over to Salih Studio or Elsewhere!

I know it will be a beautiful night – strolling by the canal as the sky turns orange and pink, night breezes cooling the air, streetlights highlighting little tableuas of concrete and steel in green and blue. And hey, if none of that can get you there, I promise that there will be some fabulous peach cake in the refreshment area, made by yours truly. How can you resist?

A quick sketch from the fair last year. Animals are fun to draw, but challenging. I try to pick animals that are half asleep!

This Thursday, Friday and Saturday, painting a Treasures of Holley mural panel outside of the Trolley building at the Orleans County 4-H Fair.

How lucky can you get? Painting murals with a country fair as the backdrop! I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to visit the cows and goats, draw some chickens, snack on fried dough and milkshakes…. and hey, all of these are good reasons for you to visit too.  If you’ve never been to the Orleans County Fair, check out their website. There are tons of events and attractions, I couldn’t even begin to list them all.

And of course my reason for being there! Each day I’ll give a breif demonstration (see the previous post for details), summarize the project, and answer questions. Hope to see you there!

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Holley Community Library

July 15 & 22,   Aug 5 & 19 6:30 pm
MAP

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Tilman’s Historic Village Inn

July 26th 11am 4pm
AAOC Exhibit

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Village of Holley Summer Concerts

Aug 14 & 28 6pm – 8pm
Music at the Gazebo at 7pm   MAP

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Orleans County 4-H Fair, Trolley Bldg   MAP

July30 2pm – 7 pm            3pm Demo: A Painter’s Brushes
July 31 2pm – 7pm             3pm Demo: Surfaces
Aug 1 11am – 6pm               3pm Demo: Painting Techniques

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August 7 5:30pm – 9pm    Marti’s on Main,   AAOC Gallery Event

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This is my favorite part of a commission I completed last winter. I love how the light rolls across the golden grasses in the middleground.

I enjoyed hanging out at the library even though the event did not go according to plan. Originally I intended to set up the current panel and paint for a little while, after summarizing the project for my audience. Instead I read cookbooks and chatted with a few friendly library patrons about ToH. It was very pleasant. There’s something about a room full of books. Not just a library- any room that has a decent quantity of books is filled with an aura of expectation. Books are like doors… each one presents a world of knowledge and when you open it – a huge amount of new possibilities are available to you.

OCALS (Orleans County Adult Learning Services) is a local organization that was instrumental in helping Treasures of Holley receive funding through GoArt. It’s a young organization that’s just starting to integrate with the community, from my understanding. Their primary objective is to increase literacy in the area. There are a lot of adults, young adults and children that will benefit from their services. My own experience at the library today, and my general passion for books, has refreshed my perspective on literacy. Imagine being unable to access all of that wonderful information, all of the stories, the history, the knowledge…. If you know anyone that needs a little help or guidance in learning to read, please call OCALS at (585) 638-7180. I know the people there are very friendly and helpful! And if you feel inspired to volunteer your time or make a contribution I’m sure they would be happy to talk with you.

This is one of the many images I'll be referencing for the mural. An early settlement in "Saltport".

Here’s a link to a nice article that was printed recently in the Medina Journal. Various papers and newsletters have expressed an interest in publishing articles about the project, so it looks like this will be the first of many. The more the merrier! Each publication informs a new group of people, which leads to more participants in Treasures of Holley – which will make all of our efforts that much more successful!

With large projects like this, everything seems to take just a little longer to organize then expected.  If you’re wondering when the workshops and demonstrations will be, don’t worry they’ll be scheduled throughout the summer so there will be plenty of opportunities to watch the murals develop, and participate in the process. The first one will be in May, but we’re still ironing out a few details so I’m not sure of the exact date.

If you’re interested in painting, please send me an email or post a comment. That way we can start compiling a list of people to contact with detailed information.

A plain cardboard box full of simple, unassuming jars of paint arrived in the mail last week. Few things are more fun for an artist to get in the mail then materials- it’s like Christmas! And this particular box of paint was even more interesting then the usual shipment. A donation specifically for Treasures of Holley, sent directly from Golden Artist Colors, New York State’s very own acrylic paint company and factory. Over the past several years I’ve heard  high opinions about Golden from various seasoned professionals. Perusing their site, you’ll find innovative new products (especially the mediums for mixed media artists) that really get the imagination going. Also impressive, they are far more open about safety issues, such as ingredients and toxicity, then most paint companies. There are pages of health, safety and environmental information on their website. If you paint in acrylic, I would definitely recommend checking it out.

I look at these little jars of paint and imagine the transformation of 128 square feet of blank white panel into a colorful illustration of Holley. They may look smaller then you would expect, but they’ll do the job with some to spare. The amount of paint still in the jars after a mural is finished always surprises me.  But I won’t be painting 128 square feet by myself! Mrs. Zavitz’s art students at the high school will be pitching in. In exchange for their hard work, we’ll discuss all sorts of professional artist’s issues, the creative process from start to finish, and the importance of using quality materials.

I’m really looking forward to working with them, especially after meeting with Mrs. Zavitz for the first time last week. We chatted about the project as well as issues related to art in WNY, and teaching art in high school. It’s always reassuring to meet an art teacher as enthusiastic and inspired as Mrs. Zavitz. Teaming up with  someone like her that is open and flexible, and willing to fit something extra into the curiculum, is  a big bonus for ToH.

Treasures of Holley Update: meeting with Marsha DeFilipps, town Historian of Holley.

Sitting down with piles of old photographs from as far back as 1860, and someone as knowledgeable as Marsha, was a great start to my planning process.  We were able to pick out the most important sites around town and within an hour the route had practically formed itself. A little history, a little architecture, some nature and personal interest stories – it’s balancing out very nicely. I walked the route that afternoon – a comfortable 35 minute mile with all of the stops, riddles and trivia figured in.

Today I’m working in my studio, roughing out sketches. It takes a lot of photo reference, time and thought to compose eight mural panels. Here’s the plan so far:   Panel 1 – Today on the Erie Canal;     Panel 2 – The Beginning of Holley NY;    Panel 3 – Flora & Fauna;     Panel 4 – The Old Canal;     Panel 5 – Flag Day in Town Square;      Panel 6 – People of Holley;      Panel 7 – Sandstone and Local Architecture;     Panel 8 – Murray & Clarendon.

Before April, I hope to have several demonstration and workshop sites scheduled. Dates and times will be posted here as well as in local papers. I think I’ll start at the school. With a few energetic students, we’ll have 128 sq feet of panel primed in no time!

Holley is a small town situated on the Erie Canal. But as you travel along the towpath, the town is out of sight. Your view consists of farmland, followed by houses, followed by trees. Beautiful as all of this is, it invites one question: where’s the town?

Two blocks South. The village of Holley is kind enough to create a haven for boaters with a beautiful park that includes showers, bathrooms and other amenities, even though it seems unlikely that any of those canal tourists ever get into town itself.

Initially I planned to propose a conventional mural installation for the canalside park, something to give people an idea of what Holley is all about. The Grant application is actually what got me thinking outside of the box. Community arts grants emphasize public involvement in the project. For a mural, it’s a simple solution to invite people to participate in the painting. But what about after the mural is finished? Planning and creating are such a small fraction of the life of a mural. It will be part of the community for decades. How will the community be interacting with it for all of those years? While I will never deny the significance of public art works and the many benefits they give to a community, I think the solution I came up with pushes public art a little bit further and is particularly suited to Holley and other canal towns.

The mural installation will act as the starting point for a treasure hunt that entices visitors to explore the village of Holley. While the mural will be able to stand on it’s own as an illustration of local history and significant aspects of the town, the hunt will elaborate on the illustration, and take it one step further – instead of just looking at a painting about Holley, they will experience it. Each featured subject in the mural will also be a destination on the hunt and each destination will have a question, riddle or task to go along with it as explained by a map. The mural is thus transformed from a signpost, to a gateway.

This project has a lot of potential, and I was lucky enough to team up with a group of people that are just as excited about it as I am – the Holley Rotary Club. Meeting Joyce Riddley, the president of the organization was one of those serendipitous occasions. I happened to mention that I was interested in starting a public mural in Holley and it turns out that they were primed and ready for just this sort of community project.

I would love to create installations like this all along the canal, helping canal visitors to learn about the towns they pass through and residents to appreciate the history and value of where they live.

I will be posting sketches and updates as we go along. We will also be looking for volunteers and donations- if you’re interested in helping just post a comment or send me an email.

I would love to hear any comments or thoughts on this idea!