the DeYoung...

What can I say? It was incredible!
The place was hoppin’ with quite a diverse crowd of people from all walks of life. Droves of people filtered into this very large area of the museum. A bar was set up on one side with bartenders making top shelf drinks and the area where the band played filled up quickly with some folks sitting and others dancing while crowds stood and mingled and wandered around. Across from where I was set up people were allowed to participate in creating Vivienne Westwood inspired accessories.

I created a sculpture inspired by a Vivienne Westwood piece. I invited guests to join into the experience of it all by signing a ribbon to add to the piece. They could simply sign their name or write a message. I spent the evening talking to so many individuals, talking about my work and listening to them tell me how the work spoke to them. I tied ribbons continually reading a variety of messages from a simple “Aloha” to things like “Seek peace” and “Look for inner beauty”. People even wrote ribbons in memory of friends who’d passed away. I loved seeing children (lots of people brought their families and kids) get excited as they signed a ribbon and then watched me place it on the sculpture. It all came together nicely. It was simply an amazing night. At the end of the night we were told that it was estimated that 1800+ people were there (that was the number of people who saw the Westwood exhibit that night even though not everyone who attended went to the exhibit). Now that I am home I am struggling to find words to explain exactly how I felt or just how incredible and significant this event was for me. There were lots of sweet moments. One lady named Paula shared a story about Alexander Calder traveling on a trip with a roll of wire and pilers in his pocket, (instead of shipping a piece) having been invited as a guest to do a show. One woman asked if I’d seen this fabulous piece at a gallery on Geary Street in SF. As she described the piece I smiled. She was describing MY PIECE from the show I was a part of for the SF International Arts Festival!


What more can I say – it was a really good night.