Photos!Site: Bryant Park, New York City
Time: 3:45- 5:45 pm
Contributors:
Benny Goldman, Ariel Zipkin, Mollie Zipkin, Zach Pollakoff
(*I did not have a sign up sheet for contributing artists at this event. If you contributed and would like to be added as a creator of the work, please write your name on the comments link below)
We Paint is back in North America! Thanks to Zach who was the official 90-second timer of the day as well as a fine participant-grabber.
Setting up in Bryant Park seemed to assure us that we would attract a wide variety of New Yorkers and out-of-towners, and certainly a midtown location should draw a number of business men and women. We had a great start with a group of art students who dove in hands first, followed by others who were mostly more reluctant at the start. Amongst those who are more inhibited in their art practice, a common thread is the growth in the level of their comfort once the brush is in their hand and the paint is spread across the canvas.
One woman in particular made me feel that the project was doing its job. She almost passed by the site without noticing the canvas at all; she seemed to be deep in thought in a far off place. When asked to paint, she snapped out of her other world and into this one. She was glad to paint, grabbed a brush dipped in red paint, and made a seemingly small contribution to the canvas. Nonetheless she walked away with a smile and with an expression on her face that said "I am here".
It is these moments that remind me of the importance of the one a day moments in every individual's life experience.
