27
Blue Boxes are painted on sidewalks in Downtown Orlando. These boxes
are for panhandlers and buskers. Busking is now possible day and night in these blue boxes. Although set up for panhandlers, police have insisted street
performers must use the blue boxes. Artists are labeled as performers by this city law. Performing outside the boxes can
result in 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
I am working towards scheduling 27 sketch opportunities in which performers utilize these
Blue Boxes. I am about half way through the project. These Boxes represent the only places downtown where
there is theoretically freedom of speech. This group page is set up to
organize the systematic documentation of these 27 Boxes using sketches
and articles about what results.
Lauren Jane is a talented local visual artist in Orlando. Her representational work is large and bold. She decided to sketch me as I sketched her. The legs of her easel fit neatly in the blue box but one leg jutted just outside the confines of the box. If a police officer wanted to cite her on a technicality that inch might have been interpreted as blocking the flow of traffic on the sidewalk. This blue box is right near the downtown post office. You might think there wold be a greater flow of foot traffic justified by people going to the post office to get stamps. I think I am one of the few antiquated individuals who still sends bills via the mail.
Jane and I settled in to our task at hand. Very few people wandered by or even noticed that she was creating art. Lauren has started a business called Lauren Jane Inc. that teaches artists how to show, promote and sell their art. She has a free art biz blueprint book for anyone who joins her Art Biz Secrets Facebook Group. Secrets offered include:
-How to Sell your art
– How to Get in shows
– Learn what other artists are doing… what works and what doesn’t
– Learn how to talk about your art
– Join a close community of like minded artists who want to see each other thrive, in art Creations and Sales. It is all advice I desperately need. I am doing expense reports for 2017 and some months did not generate enough income to justify my staying in Orlando. I love creating, but sales don’t justify all the commitment to this city’s arts community.