The Des Moines Art Festival is in full swing this weekend. We decided to try out the Friday night scene in order to avoid the heat of last year's humid and hot adventure. While the weather cooperated, the crowds were so thick I found myself needing to breathe deeply and slowly until we could find a break in the traffic flow and jump ship. Maybe I just don't get out enough ....... or maybe I am just getting intolerant of unapologetic pushy and rude behavior. Either way, Dave encouraged me to 'let it go' and enjoy being out with the kids in a pretty cool environment.
such an awesome building sign. The color saturation was fantastic!
The festival is a family friendly event, with many local businesses setting up booths with art projects for the kids. At one point Ben was molding some clay and trying to make it resemble on of the on-site sculptures (see photos below), when one of the volunteers came over and asked him if he was having fun. Ben looked up, cocked his head to the side, and announced "Yeah ..... tonight I am feeling a little artsy!".
Maddi was feeling a little 'artsy' herself
I will make a note to remind myself next year to make it back down the festival with just Dave or Maddi so I can meander along and actually LOOK at the art, instead of looking for ways out of the crowd. While avoiding the masses, we found ourselves spending a good portion of the time roaming through the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. Another place I need to put on my list of locations to revisit.
air gets into everything and nothing
Ugo Rondinone
enamel on aluminum
Juno
Deborah Butterfield
bronze
MOONRISE. east. August
Uno Rondinone
painted aluminum, steel
(BEN. Amy & Dave Berger skin and bones)
The most fun moment was when Maddi, Ellie and I joined up with about 20 other festival visitors to participate in shooting an interactive animation for Tiny Circus. The director was on the field with the group while a photographer was in a crane basket, approximately 50 feet in the air, shooting photos of the top of our heads. The people formed a 'hillside' while a big cardboard ball 'rolled' along. The completed film will be available on YouTube in a couple of weeks, and you can bet I will share it here when it does. Check out some of their current films on their website. BTW, this is the same thing Maddi does with her short-stop films ...... only on a much smaller (and cheaper!) scale.
The director would yell "Circus" and we would all moved a step to the vertical right. Then they would take a photo from above. Repeat about 100 times!
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