Monday, October 15, 2012

autumn masquerade success!



The Spiderweb show this last weekend may have been the best yet, despite glaring difficulties with the weather. In the days preceding the show we held our breath and watched the radar building up storm systems headed directly for north Texas. The forecast read that every day the week before the show and every day the week after were supposed to be just beautiful- Saturday was the only hiccup in the midst of perfect days. Our luck! We stressed and agonized over what to do and made the risky decision to continue the show as planned until the weather became so unkind that we could no longer do so. With the help of our kind sponsors (Linda and Brett), we built a crude shelter over the majority of the porch where we host the Salon, and weather-proofed the area the best we could. We were worried people would stay home and not come to the show. Happily, we were proven wrong. Not only did we have a fantastic turn-out, but the weather held off until just after the show wrapped up!

The evening was full of highlights. As it was a masquerade-themed event, we had a bunch of really great masks and facepaint creations! It was so cool so many people got into the spirit of things! There was something magical going on under the huge tarp we sent up. (It resembled a creepy circus tent.) It may have helped that we spent hours before the show decorating. Pumpkins, lights, and, appropriately, spiderwebs and little plastic spiders were draped over almost everything. Several artists displayed some very unique pieces that drew a lot of good attention and added to the overall atmosphere. We even had a really great little zine, designed and illustrated by a veteran spiderweb artist, including poetry from several others.

The words and music presented at this show came from all sides of the artistic spectrum. We were so fortunate to be able to experience both seasoned musicians trying new and exciting things and blossoming amateurs gathering their new-found courage and delivering powerfully. We heard readings that were funny, sad, thoughtful, heartwarming, eerie, and full of a commanding truth. The audience was constantly entranced. I, personally, wouldn't take back a single moment from the entire night.

The thing that continues to strike me when we put on these shows is how REAL it all is. It’s what we want, of course, but the heart that these artists are putting in to their work blows me away every time. {We, bees} began this project with one solid idea: we wanted to create an environment that is comfortable for everyone, a place where creativity can thrive and nervousness takes a backseat to the excitement one feels in sharing their art with people who are genuinely interested and open-minded. There will never be room for pretentious attitudes. We just want to bring people together and inspire our community. I think we are succeeding, and I’m not sure I have ever felt anything so rewarding.

1 comment:

  1. I am Conor Wallace, and I approve this message! Note: THE NEXT ONE IS GOING TO BE AMaZING!

    ReplyDelete