Artscape is “America’s largest free arts festival, Artscape features 150+artists,
fashion designers and craftspeople, including DIY/new wave crafters; visual art exhibits on and off site, such as outdoor sculpture, art cars,
photography and the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize; incredible live concerts on three outdoor stages; a full schedule of performing arts
including dance, opera, theater, fashion, film, experimental music and performances by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; family events such
as hands-on projects, demonstrations, jazz vocal and combo competitions, children’s entertainers and multiple street theater locations; and a
delicious, international menu of food and beverages available throughout the site.”
aka awesome. And it’s like a 5 minute walk from my house. They shut down several city blocks (which is great for traffic) and it lasts for 3 days. I took a half day from work today ’cause I was feeling blah and tired, so I got a chance to get a sneak peek at Artscape before it gets PACKED — as you can imagine, Saturday is the big day and it is a mad house. But awesome.
Pretty much every event in Baltimore features at least one Art Car. It’s funny because when I saw my first art car I assumed I would never find them interesting again (seen one, seen ‘em all) but that hasn’t happened at all – every time I see one it’s so different and cool.
The thing I love about the Art Cars, besides the fact they just look neat, is everybody’s reactions – people love them and sometimes even laugh out loud upon seeing them, which makes me happy for some reason. There were other cars besides these two, but these were the only two I got today.
They also have a relatively new section (I think last year was the first year they did it) where they basically let art students go crazy (there is an art school right in the middle of Artscape). The result is hilarious.
I didn’t get a picture of them, but when I first passed this there were two people in front of it; a guy standing very still and looking very serious while another person covered entirely (hooded and everything) in silver glitter dot fabric raved around him. It cracked me up. There was also a girl dressed up like a turtle for some reason; she was eating french fries.
I believe the thing here was to ask a question and get an answer from that wheel back there. The whole point of this section of fun interactive stuff – besides the tiny raves they also had an underwater karaoke experience (same as regular karaoke, except the booth was decorated in blue and with fake seaweed) and a booth that was covered in masks you could try on. Obvi this stuff is more fun with other people so I just checked it out but will save it for tomorrow. 
I love this project – all these photos are of people (regular people just wandering around the festival) from Artscape 2008. People who have their picture taken this year will have THEIR photos posted next year – maybe I’ll have mine taken.
I was just passing through to see what was up but I ended up spending an hour there. :O I might even buy some actual art. Because, oh yeah, that’s kind of the original point. The DIY @ Artscape section was neat – I hope my last entry didn’t give the impression that I hate the handmade scene; I don’t. I have no idea how they picked who got to be at the festival, but I thought the crafters there were very strong and had some good stuff. And on the other side of the festival they have the more “traditional” fine art, it’s a good mix. Too bad it’s always so expensive!!
Anyway, I will definitely be going back tomorrow so I will probably have more pictures. Actually, I will probably be going back TODAY to see the bellydance troupe perform. Just can’t stay away! Plus I need to acquire a funnel cake (or several).
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