May 21, 2008

Overnight Art Installation day !

Today was my installation day for my Overnight Art piece. Rainer and I headed out to Portsmouth around 8:30 to talk with the staff about installation. The whole install took about three and a half hours, which was fabulous due to the incredible support of the Portsmouth Parking staff, Deb Thomspon and Chris Grenier from the board of Overnight Art (and Rainer who was able to get that decal on without a hitch!) Even Channel 13 stopped by during their coverage on "Ant-gate"(see the video here) - the sad story of Nathan Walker's cool ant which was beheaded. The weather held too - save for one little black rain cloud which passed quickly over us and blew a little wind our way. It was perfect - so here goes a few photos of the process:

These are the street level signs posted by the works to
show the route of the art works.


First we rolled out the banners inside the Parking Garage...

Then we tied it down with string to keep the bottom half steady

Deb Thompson (from Nahcotta and OA)and Chris Grenier from Overnight Art!
were so incredible - thank you both! Chris installed the signs above with a post digger - no small feat.


The bottom half was easier to reach and the wind wasn't blowing as much ...
did I mention I am completely not "keen" on heights up there?

the cherry picker came by ... but just dropped off a taller ladder

Deb and I were nervous watching the ladder/facade escapades
The Parking Division staffwere INCREDIBLE!

inside, Rainer is applying the little yellow bird decal

Jon Fredricks, City of Portsmouth Parking Manager wiping away the fingerprints!

Ta-Da! Three and a half hours later, it's finished! (We moved things around a bit with the little yellow bird (he was originally going up above the red horizontal bar) so I am going to add a little branch or wire for him to stand on.)
I am thrilled and thankful to be part of this incredible program in Portsmouth. I was so impressed with the entire process, the support and shared excitement as well as huge respect for public art which emanated from the Overnight Art Staff, the City of Portsmouth and in particular the city's parking staff. Thank you all so very much!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks awesome! I love the yellow bird on the glass. Congratulations Susan!

Anonymous said...

this is amazing

Anonymous said...

HI. love it. big direct. go go grumpy birdies!
-Megan

Cally said...

Oooooooooh!
So exciting! I've been too tired to read blogs, or even look at pics (cause they excite then exhaust me). But wanted to say you are not forgotten. Glad I clicked in today to see the unveiling of the public art masterpiece, fabulous. Well done Xxx

Unknown said...

Susan,This is soooooo great! It looks fabulous!!

Rita Vindedzis said...

What a great concept. It looks wonderful! Congratulations

Anonymous said...

Cool! This looks awesome, Susan! You always blow me away...do you ever rest?! :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Susan! I hope this is just the beginning of seeing your art full blast. Love, Ellen

Anonymous said...

wow wow wow!

This is fantastic!! Thanks for sharing all the steps-- so very cool.

~bluepoppy

futuregirl said...

Congratulations! This is so awesome! And it looks wonderful ... beautiful. :)

flossy-p said...

Oh it looks fantastic!!! Congratulations again, how exciting!

One Crabapple said...

Congratulations on Your Banner and getting it installed ! I loved it when I saw it before, but this really makes it more real hearing about all of the work involved getting it UP there too !

One never even thinks of those things when seeing artwork out like that.

The decal on the window , the perfect kiss of a touch !

And your name (signature) all BIG Like that !

Wowww, kool !

Gorgeous banner. Take a bow !

xxo-S.

ps. and what great friends to help out. They should take a bow tooooo.

Anonymous said...

I just want to say thank you for making something ten times, nay, a hundred times more beautiful than it previously was. I'm sure people that walk by there everyday will get a great big smile on their faces seeing that. Excellent work.

Anonymous said...

That. That looks amazing.
Well done!
a.