ArtBeat by Day
Saturday, July 16
Exhibits & Activities in & near Statue Park (Center of Davis Square, by Store 24)
12:00 PM — The Red Menace Parade
The Red Menace will kick off at Elm Street Plaza (right by Starbucks, 260 Elm St.) and snake its way throughout the festival. Led by Brazilian drummers, the Red Menace will include large beating red hearts, pirate puppets, fruit jugglers, and costumes to boot! The Menacers will have red flags on hand for anyone who wishes to join in the mayhem. Wear Red! Join the Invasion!
12:00 PM — The Untitled Man
Created by Basil Halwagy in 2004, the Untitled Man is an avatar for the creative self. This red-clothed character will wander throughout ArtBeat, interacting with festival goers and exploring the emotions, attributes, and experiences that come along with being creative today.
12:00-3:00 PM — OP the Cyclops
OP, the one and only prehistoric Cyclops, is looking forward to meeting new people at ArtBeat this year! He is very friendly and lays eggs for children who are nice to him. Sometimes a companion will join OP in his quest to make new friends. A very rare and very magical creature, OP has been to carnivals and festivals around Massachusetts and now wants to spend some time getting to know the crowds at ArtBeat.
ALL DAY — Activity Area (By Statue Park, outside Store 24)
Local organizations like GroundWorks Somerville, Outside the Lines and Arts at the Armory will present oodles of interactive acitities. Their will be a sand art table, face painting and the Open Air Circus will give stiltwalking demos. Also, SAC grant winner Ariel Freiberg will present “Dream Harvester” in which festival attendees are invited to write or draw accounts of a dreams, from slumber or an aspiration. Once Ariel harvests the dreams of ArtBeat visitors, she will create visual representations of the collective accounts.
ALL DAY — Dragon Building (Main Traffic Island)
Artisan’s Asylum will be creating a one-story tall dragon sculpture on the Davis Square traffic island. Asylum members will create the skeleton from common building materials like wire conduit, junction boxes and chicken wire. Then ArtBeat festival goers will create the scales—using bright red material—that will transform the sculpture into a giant red dragon.
THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL
(Along Holland & Elm)
ALL DAY — Food, over 100 Craft Vendors and Community Organizations! Industrial handmade jewelry maker Julia Ledoux will be joined by Mudflat Pottery, Malabar Glass, and dozens more craft vendors. And don’t miss the chance to customize your own toilet seat cover with Stephanie Ziobare or create a plein air painting with Rachel Mello–these are just of few of the artists and organizations that will be at ArtBeat.
At the Inside Out Gallery
(Davis Sq. CVS windows)
For the monthly of July at the Inside Out Gallery, the Somerville Arts Council will be showcasing works in honor of this year’s ArtBeat theme: Red. A visual feast of fiery motifs, this exhibit makes a statement that is hard to ignore. Ranging from paintings, photography, jewelry, and masks, this collection of pieces is as vibrant and enticing as the hue itself.The Inside-Out Gallery is located in the CVS Window in Davis Square, a unique space that allows the public to view an eclectic array of works from different artists and local organizations each month.