Walking Is Transportation

STATEN ISLAND PRIDE 2009

The Big Apple Corps Marching Band struts down Stuyvesant Place near Wall Street in St. George as part of the Staten Island Pride 2009 celebration. (All photos by Kevyn A. Fairchild except as noted. For more photos of Staten Island Pride, go to Kevyn's blog at 2gsmedia.com.)

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STATEN ISLAND PRIDE 2009 kicked off last Saturday, June 6--the same day as ART BY THE FERRY (ABF)--and in the same place: St. George. ABF continues this coming Saturday and Sunday, June 13 and 14 (more information at artbytheferry.org).

The following text and photos appeared originally on Kevyn A. Fairchild's blog at 2gsmedia.com. Many thanks to Kevyn for sharing his observations and photos with WIT readers.
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NOTES OF A RELATIVE NEWCOMER
Guest Blogger: Kevyn A. Fairchild

Grand marshal Chris Bauer waves to the crowd with his left hand   . . .

STATEN ISLAND PRIDE 2009

On June 6th, 2009 pride season was kicked off in my nabe with the Staten Island pride parade and festival.  The photos in this gallery were taken of the parade and the festivities at the George M. Cromwell Center.

 

. . . while Rep. Mike McMahon waves with his right . . .

This was my first time at Staten Island pride, though I have been to the larger New York pride that takes place in Manhattan.  

Marching past Borough Hall.

I was incredibly impressed by the diversity and the sense of not only GLBTQ but personal and community pride at the event.

A little flag-waving
outside Electric Hair.

There were faces in the crowd that would have easily been lost in the larger pride that draws near a million participants and spectators. 

A rainbow appears outside Cromwell Center.

It is also amazing that even in what is easily the most suburban, conservative and hostile (though not as hostile as it could be) borough, people still lined the streets in the community to watch the parade go by.

I am proud of my fellow GLBTQ Staten Islanders who marched together in celebration of our lives.

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ABOUT KEVYN A. FAIRCHILD
[Text from the autobio on Kevyn's blog; photo by Iestyn Fairchild.]

Born in Colorado and raised in Alaska, I have had a multifaceted way of seeing the world from a very young age. Bi-cultural from birth, I have always been simultaneously inside and outside of the world in which I live. The status as a consummate outsider for some would be a burden, but I have turned it into a way of redefining vision and defying definition.

In 2006, I finished my BA in Film Studies from the University of Colorado at Denver and am currently pursuing my Masters of Media Studies at The New School University in New York. A lens based artist by self definition, I am interested in the aesthetics of applied film theory.

I am currently working a number of projects ranging from personal documentary to fictional narrative as well as a contributing writer to the New York Blade.

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ART BY THE FERRY, Mostly in Photos

At first on Saturday morning, June 6, the weather didn't seem interested in rewarding the Staten Island Creative Community's hard work in sponsoring, organizing, promoting and securing space for the Art by the Ferry festival's second, two-weekend-long event.

It didn't seem to matter, either, that members of the Staten Island Collaborative, or SICOLAB, a group of younger Staten Island-based artists, were riding the boat, wearing or displaying their art and inviting passengers to get off the boat, get out of the terminal, and get into Art by the Ferry.

But by about 1 p.m., when I arrived--two hours after the 11 a.m. kickoff, which meant I missed the Staten Island Gay Pride Parade--the sun seemed to have made a decision to hang around for the balance of the day as I and many others walked up and down the streets of St. George, which had been turned into a very large art-themed block party.

[What follows is only a very small sampling of what I and many others saw. I hope to post a neighbor's photos of the Staten Island Pride event in the next few days.]

(SOME OF) THE CONTEXT

Vivian (Hey Viv!) Vassar, currency festooning her headband, represents the theme of Art by the Ferry's Day de Dada Parade, which is the relationship between Art and Money.

Joan and Gary Moore and others make music in the courtyard of the Staten Island Museum before the kickoff of the Day de Dada Parade.

One enthusiastic parade participant
 hawks a new and innovative insurance product for bad actors who'd rather pay
 than suffer the residual guilt.

At the former Fishs Eddy glass and china outlet,

vendors and festival-goers outside,

spoken word performers and their audiences inside.

(SOME OF) THE WORK

(Please click on photos to enlarge.)

Pat DeCicco

 

Herman Zaage

Marjorie Waxman

 

Robert Bunkin

 

Kristi Pfister

 

The Studio 150

 

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GLASS STUDIO OFFERS EXHIBITION SPACE FOR FLAT-FEE RENTAL;
NO COMMISSIONS ON SALES

During my Art by the Ferry visit to THE STUDIO 150 at 150 Bay Street, Tompkinsville--which specializes in hand-blown glass and custom-fused art glass--I noticed a poster offering artists, whether individuals or groups, the opportunity to rent THE STUDIO 150's exhibition space, including wall and pedestal space, for a flat fee, with no commissions on sales.

While I can't say whether the space is suitable for your work or medium, I can say that the facilities are clean, high-ceilinged, well lighted, and attractive. For more information, please contact Ryan McGivern and Justin Gaynor of THE STUDIO 150 at 718-816-4726 or 631-428-1291.

The Studio 150's website is at studio150glass.com.

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ONLY 2 DAYS TO GO!

This WIT EXTRA is just a preview reminder.

For complete details,
including artist/musician/performer roster,
locations and schedule
--and some great photos, too!--
see tomorrow's

WALKING IS TRANSPORTATION

RECONCILING MAN AND DRAGON

ST. GEORGE DAY:
A MUSIC AND ART FESTIVAL
ON THE THEME OF
COOPERATION AND COMMUNICATION
--THIS SATURDAY,
STARTING AT 12 NOON

Earlier today outside the Every Thing Goes (ETG) Book Café on Bay Street near Victory Boulevard, a young man painted the finishing touches on a large papier maché construction.

Inside, proprietor Steve Jones Daughs was busy composing a song on his computer--in between pouring lattés, brewing teas and shmearing bagels--while ETG book manager Katie McCarthy reported she'd already completed a short play in preparation for this coming Saturday's event.

Katie and Steve are only two of the many people--musicians, writers, puppeteers and artists, craftspeople and vendors (even a belly dancer!) who will be on hand for St. George Day. There'll be art, songwriting and literary contests, too.

MAKE NICE, DON'T FIGHT

And unlike commercial festivals--which purvey pre-packaged food, entertainment and corporate promotions and usually claim to be celebrating this or that national holiday--each of the various St. George Day components was conceived and organized and will be delivered by members of the Staten Island community.

Using the popular legend of St. George and the Dragon (in which the former slays the latter), event organizers conceive a different outcome. One in which the contesting parties find a way to work it out nonviolently. I hope to see you on St. George Day, this coming Saturday, from 12 noon on at the beautifully restored Tomkinsville Park, Bay Street at Victory Boulevard. For more information: 1) Go to www.etgstores.com/bookcafe/; 2) email [email protected]; or 3) call 718-447-8256.

St. George Day sponsoring organizations include (partial list): N.Y.C. Department of Parks and Recreation; Every Thing Goes Thrift and Vintage; Every Thing Goes Book Café and Neighborhood Stage; Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI); Reiman's Hardware; SICOLAB; The Art Lab; Day de Dada; Dembner's Hardware; Frank Liquori Septic Plumbing