f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

There are many events each year that help make Schenectady’s historic Stockade district both an interesting place to live and a real neighborhood — a placed filled with neighbors and welcome guests.  The event I most look forward to is the Villagers Outdoor Art Show, which always takes place the weekend after Labor Day. The tropical storm formerly known as Hanna caused the original date of this year’s 57th annual Outdoor Art Show to be canceled on Saturday, and we all crossed our fingers to see what Sunday, the Rain Date, would bring.  What it brought was a perfect late-summer day, with sunny skies, a slight breeze and temperatures in the mid-70’s.

outdoor art show
three agnostics
pray the rain away

…. by dagosan

.. Lawrence after the Show — Front, Ferry & Green Streets. . .

More important, Sunday brought almost all of the fine artists (over a hundred) originally scheduled for Saturday — painters, sculptors, photographers, sketchers, and more — plus a robust, smiling throng of residents and visitors.  The result was a celebration of art and neighborliness along both sides of the blocks radiating from the traffic circle monitored by Lawrence the Indian. [As we said on Monday, Wilford “Frenchie” Hamilton, the recently murdered homeless artist, would surely have loved it.]

As with all such events, many people had to work very hard to make it happen. Here’s what they say at the Show’s web page:

“The event  is made possible by many neighborhood volunteers, the cooperation of the Chamber of Schenectady County, the Oakroom Artists, the Daily Gazette and the Stockade Association”.

The f/k/a Gang guiltily admit that we in no way helped to make the event such a success (except for showing up twice Sunday afternoon).  We especially want to thank Connie Colangelo and Matt Volks, who co-chaired the event and inspired so many others to organize, set it up, judge the art, and take it down.

Impressionism
ladies with parasols
walk to the next painting

…. by John Stevenson – Shamrock Haiku Journal (Vol. 1, 2007)

a child’s painting
bleeds into itself
summer rain

flitting from
watercolours to oils
a butterfly

.. by Matt Morden
“a child’s” – A New Resonance 2
“flitting from” – Morden Haiku (August 29, 2007)

.. The Show offers juried prizes (awarding over $1300 in cash) and lets the crowd vote for their favorites.  Below the fold, you will find the complete list of winners (via Connie Colangelo).

gnawing the edge
of the prize painting…
burning wormwood

in the hell painting
perched on a fence…
a lark sings

.. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

In past years, some wags have complained that the winning pieces seemed too conventional.   That complaint can’t be made this year.  The First Place prize went to Tony Murray, of Cobleskill, NY, for his metal sculpture “yes! Yes! YES!. Second Place was awarded to Erik Laffer, of Albany, for his “cartographic” painting Electronic Erosion (36”x36” Oil on Canvas 2008).  Third Place went to Katherine Cartwright for her painting All Cracked Up X.

Clicking on the links in the last paragraph will bring you to each artist’s website, which include photos of the winning pieces and many samples of their artistry.  Here’s what the two overall winners looked like — with Tony Murray’s sculpture on location (see a detail here), and Erik Laffer’s painting in situ at the Show on Sunday:

First Place, by Tony Murray . . .

.. .. Second Place, by Erik Laffer

sculpture park
between Romeo & Juliet
a robin’s nest

… by Pamela Miller Ness – HaikuCanada Newsletter

old painter
his bristles
point everywhere

sweltering heat
a drip
from the painter’s brush

… by w.f. owen –  (haiku notebook, Lulu.com, 2007)
“old painter” – fish in love (HSA Members’Anthology 2006)

.. Frank Gilmore won the Best of Our Neighbors award for one of his paintings. (I’d love to show it to you, but my camera captured mostly glare off the glass in its frame.)  Frank also displayed the inspired piece he created for a brand new Stockade tradition, the 1st Annual Stockade Soiree, on September 6, 2008.  Frank’s Soiree “date card” was part of that evening’s silent auction and is gracing the start of this paragraph.

Thanks again to all the workers and artists, neighbors and visitors who made this year’s Stockade art show such a winning experience.  I’m going to stop all this fluffery right now, before Prof. Yabut yanks my curmudgeon card.  [Don’t forget: all of the art show winners, and honorable mentions, are listed at the foot of this posting. Also, you can share this post using this Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/fkaArtShow2008 ]

cut grass
i sweep away
summer’s end

… by Roberta Beary – The Heron’s Nest (Sept. 2005)

on display:
her paintings
and her navel

… by dagosan

straight out of a full moon
painting…
the geese depart

… by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

paint brush –
my breath moves
a spider

……. by Laryalee Fraser from Simply Haiku (Vol. 5:2, Summer 2007)

watermark
the way the master’s brush
strokes the wings

.. by Peggy Lyles – To Hear the Rain (2002)

p.s. The first version of this post incorrectly stated that Tony Murray’s metal sculpture Arcturus was awarded First Place. The editor of this weblog saw Arcturus under the Blue Ribbon and incorrectly assumed it was the winner.  We still like Tony’s whimsical icon.  And, yes, we’re going to stop doing so much assuming.

The Winners of the 57th Annual Villagers Outdoor Art Show are:

FIRST PRIZE – Tony Murray (sculpture)
SECOND PRIZE – Erik Laffer
THIRD PRIZE – Katharine Cartwright

Honorable Mentions (12)
Steve Kowalski
Steve Bourgeos
Jaime Murray
Louise Woodard
Linda Biggers
August D’Annibale
Gail Kort
Jesse Meenaghan
Jon Covey
Marilyn Rock
Robin Rosenthal
David Waite

Young Artist Awards -8 to 18 years old and must be in school
Ansli Hu – also received the Stockade Art Show Scholarship Award of $500.00
Ben Acevedo
Philip Parker

Ernest A. R. Cohen Award – S. Douglas Smith – Best depiction of the Stockade Neighborhood

Oakroom Artists Award – Robert Gullie
in honor of their deceased members – James Gilliland & George Weinheimer

People’s Choice  Award – Jaime Murray – Chosen by the spectators

Nicholas J. Colangelo Award – Robert Gullie – First time exhibitor

Best of Our Neighbors Award – Frank Gillmore – presented to a resident of the Stockade