Do you remember that feeling of joy as a kid when you could be completely creative without restraint, without the fear of being judged? Like when you opened a new box of crayons or drew an awesome new picture?
This is the feeling behind the development of Yard Art Day.
Yard Art Day is a city-wide art project that welcomes anyone and everyone to celebrate the creative spirit that exists in the city by displaying or performing their own works of art for 24 hours in their front yards or balconies. The project is meant for us to cross neighborhood boundaries and get to know our city better.
According to Deborah Triplett, photographer and founder of the movement, a line from a song she heard in her youth stuck in her head. The line is ”if everyone would light just one little candle, what a bright world this would be.” This line made Deborah want to find ways to spread joy, which came to fruition with Yard Art Day. “After last year’s event, for one day, I felt like I’d had an effect on my community and brightened some people’s worlds.”
Approximately 250 homes participated in the event last year.
And so Yard Art Day will be back! This year, it will be held again on Labor Day because, as Triplett says, “it’s the one day when you’re supposed to play and it’s the exclamation point to summer.”
There will be a couple differences, though. For starters, participating neighborhoods will have cheerleaders to spearhead their activity and get as many people involved as possible. The second change is that it will serve as a fundraiser for a new initiative Triplett is starting called AID – Artists In Distress – that will help artists with everyday needs such as health insurance. The funds will be raised by charging businesses that would like to participate a small fee. And finally, the other change for businesses is that, if they would like to be included in the participant’s map, the president of the company has to participate in the creation of the art or hire a Charlotte-based artist to create the art.
Get involved for yourself and for your neighborhood! Check out the Facebook Group and the Twitter feed. Sign up for the e-newsletter. Or keep an eye on the website for updates.
Image: Dru Thomas Quarles/YAD Facebook Page
