An Alternative Fourth

Facebook tells me that I had this to say on July 3, 2012: 

Fourth of July celebrations were never as hot in my childhood, Ohio, days.  I want to celebrate but I desire to be cool more.

It’s still true.

I’m pretty sure that the readers of this blog know all about the local options for celebrating Independence Day: parades, fireworks, etc. But if you’re looking for something more low-key, may I suggest:

The Navy Concert Band will be performing at the Chrysalis in Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods beginning at 3:00 pm. The concert is free and appears to require no registration. 

The US Navy Concert Band takes the Chrysalis stage this Fourth of July for a free, family-friendly concert celebrating the American spirit!

Maybe fireworks are too loud for you or the little ones or the Lakefront scene is just too peopley. Maybe you’d rather not be out at night and have to fight your way through the traffic to get home. Or maybe you’d just like to plant yourself on the beautiful lawn in the Park and let the music wash over you. Best of all, you just might see children dancing on the lawn.

The weather report says there just might be storms, so, I can’t promise you anything. Keep an eye on the weather and hope for the best. Perhaps if it pours we can all go outside and dance on our own front lawns.

In 2019 I wrote about a concert at the Chrysalis by the Columbia Orchestra and a song, from the musical Ragtime, that moved me to tears.

A Song for the Day, Village Green/Town², July 4, 2019

Go out and tell our story
Let it echo far and wide
Make them hear you
Make them hear you

How Justice was our battle
And how Justice was denied
Make them hear you
Make them hear you

And say to those who blame us
For the way we chose to fight,
That sometimes there are battles
That are more than black or white

And I could not put down my sword
When Justice was my right
Make them hear you

Go out and tell our story to your daughters and your sons
Make them hear you
Make them hear you

And tell them, "In our struggle,
We were not the only ones"
Make them hear you
Make them hear you

Your sword could be a sermon
Or the power of the pen
Teach every child to raise his voice
And then my brothers, then

Will justice be demanded by ten million righteous men
Make them hear you-
When they hear you, I'll be near you
Again

Lynn Ahrens / Stephen Charles Flaherty, from the musical “Ragtime

It feels like a good day to listen to that song again.

Village Green/Town² Comments

Delete, Delete, Delete

 

Every once in a while I find myself so overcome by the amount of emails in my inbox that I hit a wall. 

Right now is one of those times. 

I am systematically unsubscribing from almost everything in my inbox like it’s my full time job. When they ask what my reason is, I type one word. 

Overwhelmed.

I’m overwhelmed by junk emails, donation requests, even the regular communications from companies that I like. Go away, all of you. 

You are too much, and I am small, only one person against the onslaught of the clawing hands in my inbox, all wanting something that I cannot give. Perhaps time, money, attention, or some other action on my part.

I can’t. You have beaten me into a state of complete paralysis and now, in an act of self-preservation, I delete you.

And, while we are at it: go away, news. No more reports of worldwide human suffering, smug racists, cruel transphobes, corrupted judges and a crumbling, polluted planet. 

No more religious hypocrites making a mockery of what they say is God’s love. 

Give me radio and television and social media filled with fascinating documentaries, cute animals, inspiring tales of decent and loving human beings. I want human interest stories that make me feel like there is still some reason to be human. 

Send me music, art, architecture, the beauty of nature. Oh, and things to make me laugh. Tell me stories that occupy my mind with ideas and people that will do me no harm.

I am overwhelmed.

There is so much pain. So much to fight. Somehow I must find a way to rest, try to heal, get my bearings. 

And so I unsubscribe. 

Village Green/Town² Comments

Time to get Arty

One of my favorite moments from the Phineas and Ferb cartoon series was a moment too complicated to explain fully. In short, Phineas and Ferb’s mom stumbles upon an unusual contraption she wasn’t really meant to see and says, 

“Hmm…I’ll never really understand public art.”

Perhaps it’s meant to resonate with anyone who has ever stumbled upon an example of public art that they find incomprehensible. Of course, not all public art fits that mold.

What is “public art”? According to this piece from the Association for Public Art in Philadelphia:

Public art is not an art “form.” Its size can be huge or small. It can tower fifty feet high or call attention to the paving beneath your feet. Its shape can be abstract or realistic (or both), and it may be cast, carved, built, assembled, or painted. It can be site-specific or stand in contrast to its surroundings. What distinguishes public art is the unique association of how it is made, where it is, and what it means. Public art can express community values, enhance our environment, transform a landscape, heighten our awareness, or question our assumptions. Placed in public sites, this art is there for everyone, a form of collective community expression. Public art is a reflection of how we see the world – the artist’s response to our time and place combined with our own sense of who we are.

If you followed this year’s budget season, you’ll know that the County is embarking on a new permanent public art program called Arts for All. 

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball is partnering with the Howard County Arts Council to create a new countywide Public Art program in Howard County, Maryland. This new ‘Arts for All’ program will solicit and commission iconic, permanent public art installations from a nationwide network of visual artists.

The new Arts for All program builds on the past ARTsites initiative, which placed art pieces around the county each year on a temporary basis. I’ve written about that before. Now the County, in collaboration with the Howard County Arts Council, will be selecting permanent installations to be placed through the community. 

They want your input. And, much to my delight, the survey is not too long. 

To give you a hint of what kind of art they will be considering, here’s a question from the survey.

Take the survey. It’s approximately three minutes long. (More if you overthink.) I would like to know how they intend to make sure that the art that is chosen represents more than the work and artistic sensibility of white male artists. 

But that’s another story altogether.

What’s your favorite piece of public art? I’m a big fan of Cloud Gate in Milennium Park in Chicago, and the Man/Woman sculpture in from of the train station in Baltimore. But my favorite public art installation is right here in Columbia.

Village Green/Town² Comments