Thursday, July 19, 2018

What is art?


Well, that's a question that can’t be answered in one blog post. We suppose it's really rhetorical.  But what can be said is that in Monrovia, we like to approach things from a different angle, take a broader view and think outside the box…but stay in the room.  Although, occasionally we've been known to go out on a limb.  

That’s the approach the Art in Public Places Committee takes with when considering new art projects.  Which have you noticed?  They’ve been busy.  There is art going up all around town...and more to come.
Installation of Paula Gemme's winning poem
near the corner of Mayflower and Chestnut

Not too long ago, the City Council approved a new program to celebrate the art of words:  poetry.  This translates into the Monrovia sidewalk poetry program, recently dubbed Footnotes.  

It takes Monrovia residents’ original short poems and stamps them into newly poured sidewalks all over town, eventually creating our own, city-sized book of poems by Monrovians.

Working in conjunction with ongoing sidewalk repair or new development, poems will be stamped as sidewalk panels are installed or replaced. Since the program follows the repair needs, the randomness provides an “element of surprise” for pedestrians.

We're soooo excited about this, that we devoted our last two posts to the program! So if you'd like to find out more, check out the links found in a haiku we composed just for the occasion.



First post tells background
more to say can be found here

understanding, all.

Clearly we won't be winning any contests.  Moving along...

Winning poet Kathee Henigan Bautista with
 Councilmember Gloria Crudgington
who coined the term Footnotes.
Speaking of contests, last fall the City held a contest asking residents to submit their creations.  Well, the response was terrific!  Who knew we had so many talented wordsmiths?  Our judges really had a tough time narrowing it down to just 10 poems.  Congratulations to the 2018 winners:

Kai Armstrong  (age 15)
Kathee Henigan Bautista
Juliette Fang  (age 10)
Paula Gemme
Rhia Hernandez
Megan Lundgren
Gayle Montgomery
Annette Simpson
Carol Steiner
John Vorhaus

The first poem to be immortalized in cement was “The Mountains” by Kathee Hennigan Bautista, imprinted in front of 238 West Palm Avenue. 



  
All ten poems can be read on the City’s website, www.cityofmonrovia.org/art  or better yet, look for them when you are walking around town.  We hope you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Get your creative juices going!  The next contest will be rolling out in the late fall.
The Mountains






P.S.  We're sorry you haven't heard from us in a while and we're humbled that we've been missed by a few (thanks mom!).  We've got lots of terrific stuff to share, so stay tuned.