Art on the Ave
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Transforming a Community to CHAOS — and back.
by Jessica Corey-Butler
Jul 05, 2007
Nine years ago, a newbie Tacoma resident ventured onto Sixth Avenue to see what “Art on the Ave” was all about.
“I saw, like, four tables and a couple of people walking around,” recalls Claudia Riedener with a chuckle.
This year, as she pokes her head out onto Sixth Ave, she’s likely to see chaos, most of which she’s helped to assemble as the Sixth Avenue Merchants Association Art Chair.
Part of the chaos will be the standard street festival stuff amped up a couple of notches. Roughly 65 booths of artists will show off and sell their wares, live bands will entertain, more artists will demonstrate techniques, non profit agencies will inform, food vendors (and restaurants) will feed, community members will show off; and then there’ll be odd odd-things like art cars, magical salmon, and a dunk tank with costumed politicians and local celebrities. Even the Dockyard Derby Dames will make a showing in their “Asphalt Assault,” a roller derby demonstration from 3 to 3:30 p.m. on the corner of Sixth and Oakes.
Nine blocks of Sixth Avenue will be blocked off, from Trafton to Cedar Streets. “It’s kind of like a European Square,” describes Riedener. “For once people are allowed, cars are not.”
And then on top of all of that, or perhaps more accurately, in the midst of it all there will be CHAOS.
Specifically, there will be CHAOS into order, a performance art event orchestrated by Lynn DiNino with a factory floor full of frantic workers with assistants, cell phones, noise implements, and newspapers, with orators speaking their messages to try to calm the workers into some semblance of order.
The seed of the idea was planted when DiNino visited factories in Cuba and noted that as factory workers busily rolled cigars, orators read. Ostensibly to add an educational component to the drudgery of the task at hand, the oration also helped to calm or inspire workers.
DiNino sees her orators as serving the same purpose, though potentially under less organized circumstances. Each orator, speaking for 30 minutes, will speak on the subject of Peace and will try to capture the attention of at least the busy stitchers, who will set up their “factory” in front of Shakabrah Java.
The disorganized workers, dressed in garb DiNino describes as “outrageous” ranging from nose-ringer gothic chic to a bustier from Henry the Eighth (or is he?) to a cave man, on to a cocktail dress-wearing socialite, will be working toward creating an ephemeral icon.
A large scaffolding will be put in place, and huge strips of recycled newspaper will be stitched together and put onto the scaffolding by agile assistants. The plan is to transform the frame into a huge piece of physical art.
“Part of the idea was to make a very giant something that can be seen from both sides of the Ave,” explains DiNino.
While the scaffold will serve as the tangible creation of art, the oratory and gradual process of calming the mayhem into a semblance of order will serve as a metaphor.
Another element of the event will be an operatic performance of a Debussy piece. “Peace is really the same thing as order,” says DiNino, who heard Gil Bailey saying the same thing in the tail end of a program she caught on the radio.
“I’m not trying to answer the question — just trying to display peace,” DiNino muses. “We’re taking the fruits of chaos and hanging it vertically, creating something that we think will be beautiful; we’re recycling different ideas” (in the form of recycled Weekly Volcano pages), DiNino further explains.
Another key piece of the CHAOS event will be the performance of a Debussy piece by opera singer Sue Carr, with taped piano accompaniment by Diane Walkup.
“Lisa Fruichantie is making the opera costume out of paper and mixed media. I’m super excited about that,” says DiNino.
The first orator begins at 11:30, though the CHAOS event itself begins at noon.
All around the organized chaos of CHAOS, the festival itself begins at 11. Last year’s estimates ranged between 10,000 and 15,000 participants, which is quite a leap from Riedener’s first year observations. She credits this development to the strong support of the Merchant’s Association, which adds its volunteer efforts with a crew of other commited citizens, like Riedener herself, who sits on the Art on the Ave steering committee.
One of the points Riedener is most proud of this year is the Web site, www.artontheave.org, which she has created the content for while she says, “Kevin Freitas donated his major major talent” to creating the site’s form. The Web site outlines all the musical acts, artists in action, locations of events, times of dunkings, and more.
Of the process behind getting the event together, Riedener says, “It takes a core group of people who have a shared vision, and an atmosphere where everyone is involved and can participate. It takes crazy people to come up with the stuff, then it also takes people to show up.”
She continues, urging people to “get out of the mall, turn off the TV.”
She points out, “You’re creating memories (at festivals, and by engaging in events,) How you measure life is in those memories.”
Art on the Ave
What: Sixth Avenue street fair with more than 50 booths of handmade art for sale, live music on two stages, food, artists in action booths, car show, dunk tank, juried youth art show, kids activities, Dockyard Derby Dames “Asphalt Assault” on skates, and “CHAOS Into Order” performance art piece.
When: Sunday, July 8, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: On Sixth Avenue between Cedar and Trafton streets, Tacoma
Admission: Free
