What is art?

I would like to think that I'm one of the luckiest people in the world. Did I win the lottery?  Nope and although it would be fun to win the lottery, I continue to work if I did win.  Money can't buy everything!!!  Yep - the word is out.  I'm in love with my job. Oh, there are days and tasks that I would readily forget, but overall - loads of excitement. It's "sad" when you're excited to go to work every day.  

I have to tell you my good deed of the day story before I delve into what is art. The other night when the weather was crappy. While it wasn't cold, it was raining and slushy and not super pleasant to be out. Unless you have two very happy dogs. I'm merrily walking my girls which requires a lot of concentration. All of a sudden, I realized that there was someone sitting in a wheelchair in a driveway of a house. No one else was around. I stopped and asked if he was OK.  No answer. I asked again. He moved but didn't speak.  Then I saw a woman come out of the garage door which was open.  See - I was so focused on the situation at hand, that I didn't notice that.  I asked if she needed help and she said yes, but I had the dogs.  No problem - I tied the dogs to a STURDY street light that happened to be there, expecting them to go ballistic when I walked a few feet away.  Nope the two of them sat there good as gold, no barking, no straining at the leash.  

I then helped this lady wheel her husband? (who had gone to the day program for stroke patients) up the wheelchair ramp which was quite the feat.  The ramp, while not steep, was slick with ice. So imagine, the man going up backward in his chair. I'm pulling him up and I could only use one hand to pull because I had to grip the railing with my other hand. Likewise, she was pushing with one hand as she had to grip the railing with her other hand. There is NO way she could have done that on her own.  By some miracle, we made it up the first time. 

I retrieved the dogs who were patiently waiting.  I love my girls!!!!   They come through when I needed them to be good!

Last night, I attended a focus group on culture/arts/heritage in my city. I had no idea what to expect. There were a lot of people there, although there were a number of people from the city in attendance.  We sat in groups at tables and after listening to a presentation, the idea was to write down ideas - brainstorm on what is missing from the city programs. 

Let's just say that some people DO NOT know how to brainstorm. We had a particularly vocal group.  Brainstorming does NOT mean talk about why things can't be done. Or how to do them.  It was a bit annoying. 

But it was exciting to be there amongst all those art focused people. One of the things that came up was to make art more accessible to the public and on the way home, I was reminded of these pictures that I took recently and never posted. 

Near the city center, there is a boulevard that has these very tall, very thin trees.  In winter, the trees are wrapped in burlap to protect them from the elements.  This year (I had read about it in the local newspaper) an artist wrapped some of the trees in colorful wraps. If you check out this link, you can see what the trees look like in daylight with the wraps. And I found this picture on the internet. 

Colorful tree wraps

The other night I was in the neighbourhood, and there was a HUGE HUGE wind and the trees, with the lights and the snow looked amazing!!!!!

Funky tree wraps

Funky tree wraps

Funky tree wraps

It was fascinating to watch the wind whip those fringes around.  The trees looked like they were dancing. Amazing actually.  When I passed by on my way home, the wind had stopped and the trees took on a completely different look.   This was very entertaining art!!!!!   Not everyone could or would appreciate the beauty of the wrapped trees, but I think it's one way that art can be introduced to the public. I`ll going to forward my pictures to the committee.

There was one other thing that had been niggling at the back of my head for a while. I never did anything about it, but last night seemed to be the place to air my beef.  At my local public library (owned by the City), there was a HUGE quilt on the wall. The quilt had been made when the library was built (no idea by whom - the quilt that is, not the building!).  The quilt looked like a library shelf with books on it.  It added a nice touch.

I don`t get to the library often anymore, but when I was in a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the quilt was gone. And this is what it looks like.  This HUGE empty wall.

Empty wall in the library

I was shocked!  What happened to the quilt?????   I asked one of the librarians and was told that it had been taken down when the walls were repainted. OH - must be the exact same color!   Why wasn't the quilt rehung????   Fire hazard and health reasons (dust collector).   SERIOUSLY?????   A wall quilt is a fire hazard in a library that is filled with PLASTIC furniture, carpeting and books.  I am plabergasted at that.  As for health reasons???   Again - if we look at ANYTHING - it's all dust collectors. Window ledges, lights, staircases - everything collects dust.

I aired my beef last night.  I now have a contact to air my beef to which I will!

I envision art of any kind on ANY space.  

Have a super great day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!