Escape Costume Party at Back Booth.

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Angel Jones invited Pam Schwartz and I to the Escape Costume Party at Back Booth (37 West Pine Street, Orlando FL 32801). We arrived at 10:30 PM but that was early for this crowd. People slowly arrived as I sketched. Blue balloons glowed in a booth that was soon occupied. A Japanese porn film looped on the TV screen. The film repeated itself enough times, so that I could sketch a scene on the screen. There was another booth that was hidden by a curtain so the films in there must have been XXX rated.

The costumes ranged from sexy tight anime school girl outfits to a giant rabbit and glowing gas masked dancer in a hood. A Parisian in a stripped shirt hung out with a can-can girl. On stage a performer spun a hula hoop to the beat of the music. The hoop has a rainbow of colored diodes inside creating a constant streak of vibrant color.

On stage there was a game show where a contestant was surrounded on three sides by a cardboard wall resembling a bathroom stall with holes cut in it. Two people would insert hot dogs in the hole and the contestant who could devour the most hot dogs from the glory holes would win. The problem was that the people putting hot dogs in the holes couldn’t keep up. The packaging would slow them down so they became an impediment to any truly talented glory hole expert. Another game involved eating food off another person while blind folded.

There was a screening of a home made film starring Angel as one of the characters. The lip sync was purposefully off, giving the film a comic twist. Overall this was a fun night. It is amazing what goes on behind closed doors in some clubs downtown. These Escape Parties by Mike Stone Promotions, happen once a month and have a different theme each time. They are definitely great sketch opportunities.

Blue Box 13.

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Angel Jones, an arts advocate and fashion designer, volunteered to be in the Blue Box Initiative. She occupied Blue Box 13 which is on Jefferson Street near North Orange Avenue.

For those that don’t know, Orlando has 27 Blue Boxes painted on the sidewalks. These are considered exempt zones, which means panhandling is allowed. Performers who bus downtown have been told by police that they must move to a blue box. Most of these boxes are in areas of downtown where there is virtually no foot traffic. I have decided to sketch every blue box with Orlando’s most talented artists and performers.

Angel didn’t want to ride her motorcycle downtown in her costume, although that would have been a sight. She designed and sewed her outfit. She owns a fashion company called Bazzar Bazzar. I drove her to the location. As we walked around Lake Eola she showed me what this whole Pokeman Go phenomenon is all about. I have seen crowds of people in the park staring at the phones, and not paying attention to what is go in on around them. The game depicts a simplified version of the park in which Pokeman characters appear. She showed me how to throw an object at the character. If you hit the character, you get points. You can also place a lure which will attract characters to your location. For the duration of her time in the blue box Angel looked at her bright pink smart phone. For all I know, she might have been surrounded by Pokemon characters dancing at her feet.

I have about 10 more Blue Boxes to sketch. If you know of a performer who would like to participate, please let me know.

Inspiration Orlando Mural to be unveiled at Pulse.

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Mural artist Michael Pilato came to Orlando shortly after the awful night on June 12th, 2016 at the Pulse Nightclub. He and  Yuriy Karabash have been working non-stop on research and development as well
as producing a piece of art with some of the stories of the 49 victims
the survivors and beyond.

Barbara Poma owner of Pulse, announced that on the one year anniversary, the mural that Michael and Yuriy are working on will be on display at Pulse before it goes to a destination not yet decided. Some hand prints and messages will be added. The panels are starting to pull together nicely as a unified whole.

A number of local artists have contributed to the mural.On Tuesdays, artists are invited to the studio above Anthony’s Pizzeria on colonial Drive and Mills Avenue. I sketched as artists arrived. Angel Jones, an arts activist, and owner of a fashion bazaar talked to Michael and committed to return and add elements to one of the panels. Colin Boyer stopped in to paint on one of the portraits he did for the 49 portrait project I had organized. All the artists who participated in that project were invited to work on Michael’s Inspiration Orlando Mural. There was a $100 stipend for contribution artists.

Angel Jones in Blue Box Number 3.

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27 Blue Boxes are painted on sidewalks in Downtown Orlando. These
boxes are for panhandlers and buskers. Back when they were painted, they were referred to as beggars boxes. Panhandling is possible only during
day light hours. Although set up for panhandlers, police often insist
street performers must use the blue boxes. If you loiter on the sidewalk, you are suspect. Performing outside the boxes
can result in 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. I have started a series of 27 sketches in which performers utilize
these Blue Boxes. These Boxes represent the only places downtown where
theoretically there is complete freedom of expression.

Angel Jones is a Fashion designer, stylist, model, writer, and artist from Melbourne Florida. Angel has spearheaded a Facebook group called, “Artists Unite! A group formed to protect all artists and our freedom” This page unites artists from around the state as cities like Winter Park and Saint Augustine create unconstitutional laws limiting freedom of expression. Orlando doesn’t have an ordinance specifically banning artistic freedom of expression, but the police do not see the difference between creative expression and panhandling. 

Finding these blue boxes is a bit of a treasury hunt. I arrived at the intersection of Amelia and Hughey and found a complex jumble of spray painted marks. Surveyors are marking up the sidewalks probably to keep track of electrical and plumbing lines. A block a way the “Creative Village” is now a desert of sand and dirt. Sidewalks and pavement are all being ripped up for whatever is to come. There are several Blue Boxes in this construction zone which may no longer exist. 

Angel was a bright splash of color on an otherwise drab and grey downtown street corner. She created handmade Victorian cupcake dress herself with countless hours spent sewing the brightly patterned fabrics. Her wig was bright pink an her necklace had every color of the rainbow. Angel’s Insanity and Bazaar Bazaar the clothing line, features her unique handmade creations. She chatted about her army brat upbringing and leaving home at the age of 15. Although considered the black sheep by her family, she clearly made the right choice to pursue an art inspired life. At protests she is the most exuberant champion for artistic freedom of expression.. She is a dynamic force who you definitely want on your side.

Students from Orlando Tech were the most common pedestrians. They would often stop to chat with Angel to find out what we were up to. A father and daughter on bike stopped to watch me sketch for bit. She is an artist and wanted to know how I sketch so fast. My advice was to loosen up and accept the imperfections. A sketch by definition is incomplete. A bright pink Lynx bus rushed by accentuating the pinks in Angel’s hair and dress for a moment. 

I never saw a police patrol car.  The police station is several blocks to the south of this Blue Box. Angel didn’t have an open case, or tip jar and if she did, I doubt any bills would have been dropped in. Once again the blue box was far removed from businesses where executives in suits might wander out during their lunch hour. They were safe from the threat of art. If you know someone who might want to join the Blue Box Initiative, send them to the group page which is where these sketch sessions are scheduled once a week.

A Funeral for the Arts in Winter Park.

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On December 14, 2015, the City of Winter Park passed an Ordinance that essentially states that it is illegal to do anything creative on Park Avenue, New England Avenue and Hannibal Square. Merchants felt that the presence of artists was a conflict with their commercial interests. Apparently one band set up and used a car battery to power their amplifiers. Rather than write an ordinance to ban amplified music the town simply copied an ordinance from Saint Augustine that bans all art. Of course Winter Park sells itself as a town that has a great museum and a few remaining galleries. They like some art, but they don’t want to see it created in their view.

Paul Felker, affectionately known as the Park Avenue Poet used to sit on a public bench on the commercial side of Park Avenue. He uses a 1938 Remington Deluxe Noiseless typewriter to write poems given any prompt. Since the ordinance was written, police now hassle the poet and tell him that he must go to the “First Amendment Zone” which is Central Park. Of course there is far less traffic in Central Park, so Paul writes fewer poems. Donations Paul relieved for his poems were being used to help put him through college. What some find quaint and endearing, the city finds criminal.

Paul organized a Funeral for the Arts in Central Park on January 29, 2016. Angel Jones from Melborne helped make artists around the state aware of the funeral. The funeral was to take place from 10am to 5pm. I arrived at 10am to find the park empty except for a news crew from Chanel 13. I chatted with news anchor Jerry Hume for a bit, and then we walked the length of the Park to look for black clad mourners. When we didn’t find any, I decided to sketch the peacock fountain, in the rose garden. Winter Park seems to worship this colorful bird. A more appropriate bird now would be a black Raven. As I was finishing up my sketch Jerry let me know the mourners had gathered a block away.

I found a Ian Twitch Reents all in black with his face painted white along with a red nose and aviator goggles. He was standing in his mile high rock and roll boots beside a five foot long black coffin lid. A woman noticed him and asked me to shoot a photo of them together. She might never realize she was posing next to a coffin. Paul had run to Old Navy to get a pair of black pants. He didn’t want to buy the pants in over priced Winter Park. When he got back he painted R.I.P. on the lid. Since there were only two protesters, I decided to meet a former co-worker, from my first job at Zip Mail in Tenafly New Jersey from over 30 years ago. She was seeing a free film at the Morse Museum called “Beauty in Art“.  It seemed a fitting subject since art was now banned on the streets of Winter Park. After the film and lunch, we returned to the protest.

Paul had called the police to let them know that he would be setting up in the forbidden zone to write some poems. TV news crews filmed the walk across the street, but police kept their distance, knowing that issuing a citation on TV wouldn’t look good. The penalty for creating in the Forbidden Zones is 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. After sometime Paul passed back over to the park side of the street. To date no citations have been issued. About six artists had joined the protest. I sketched Paul hard at work at his typewriter for the first time. Angel was dressed in a gorgeous black Victoria dress with a lace veil. Curtis Meyer was improvising  beat box poetry on the fly. I had heard that poets planned to walk up and down Park Avenue reciting poetry into their cell phones. Ray Brazen performed with a guitar that had no strings, allowing him to perform “The Sound of Silence“.

A man walked up to Paul and shouted, “What’s in it for me?” He kept repeating this question like an angry toddler. Paul calmly explained his poetry. Perhaps the man had been drinking to heavily at a Park Avenue cafe, then again, perhaps he was just like the city commissioners and merchants who are always looked for the bottom line in their lust for profit in their small town lives. “What is in it for me?” As if a quest for beauty and understanding is not something that can be comprehended. Was art put on this earth just to annoy this white bread Winter Park Scrooge? How many others are out there whose grey dark matter can’t comprehend color, joy and passion. I feel sorry for his loss.

Creating Art is a Cime in Saint Augustine.

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Back in 2009 Saint Augustine city officials wrote an an ordinance that banned the creation of art in public spaces. Painting or sketching city parks became a crime punishable with 60 days in jail and a fine of $500. In the ordinance, artists are grouped together with street performers, and vendors. Performers in the law includes, “acting, singing, playing musical instruments, pantomime, mime, magic, juggling, artistry or the creation of visual art, and wares, which means drawings or paintings applied to paper, cardboard, canvas, cloth or other similar medium when such art is applied to the medium through the use of brush, pastel, crayon, pencil, spray or other similar object, and the creation, display and/or sale of crafts made by hand or otherwise.”

This clearly contradicts our first amendment rights which allows for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The law bans art on 8 public streets and 4 public parks and green spaces. My first reaction was indignation and then I found out about a protest that was going to be held in front of the Lightner Museum and City Chambers (75 King Street Saint Augustine). The city is celebrating its 450th birthday and this law seems like it was written back before there was a US Constitution.  Sections of King Street are included in the ban on creativity but I couldn’t find out online if it was illegal to sketch on the block where the protest was being staged. My original plan was to do a digital sketch, which would seem to fall outside the laws limited definition of visual art. The protest was at noon however, so I returned to work in an old fashioned sketchbook. Imagine toddlers scribbling with crayons in their sketchbook getting arrested. Illegal or not, it was time for a road trip and a sketch.

I believe this insane law was put in place because the historic parks were being turned into a free for all flea market. Vendors sell all forms of tourist trinkets, including  snacks, sunglasses and clothing. Brick and mortar merchants must have wanted the ban so that they wouldn’t loose a dime in tourist sales. Some performers would attract large crowds of tourists who would sometimes block traffic. If the city would ban the tourists, then there would be no problem.

Saint Augustine City commissioners do not seem to mind having artists creating in public, but artists are still bundled into the law prohibiting performers and vendors. It should be noted that artists are not performers and they seldom attract a crowd. While the flea market continues, police turn a blind eye. The police do however take photos of artists at work in an effort to build a case against them. Artists are being considered a threat to public safety and a visual blight. There are 12 spots in the plaza that are legally available for $75 a month to rent, and these are given out on a lottery based system. Even if an artist were lucky enough to rent a spot in the park, it certainly wouldn’t offer the historic views that beg to be sketched all over the city.

My primary concern as I drove into Saint Augustine was the parking. 450 years ago the city streets were set up with only pedestrian traffic in mind.  The streets are narrow and often one way. Parking meters charge $1.50 an hour with a time limit of 3 hours. Clearly I would have to execute the sketch with that 3 hour window and then get the hell out of Dodge. The museum parking lot was full and I didn’t have enough quarters for a meter, so I got lost on the suburban side streets until miraculously a parking spot appeared. I’m thankful that I didn’t pay the city to document the protest.

I was quite nervous as I began the sketch. Every line was an act of civil disobedience. A musician pulled up behind me on his medical scooter. He had a friendly old Labrador retriever who wore sun glasses, a white beard and a Santa cap. As a musician, he clearly is affected by the law. He was looking forward to giving a speech later in the day. As I sketched the gorgeous architecture several dozen protesters gathered on King Street holding signs that said Art is not Crime, Freedom of Expression, and Spend 60 Days in Jail. Sketching was the perfect way to document this protest. One protester told me that the Mayor would at some point notice the protest when she glanced out her window. She would then likely have the police chase the protesters off. A silly little red tourist trolley stopped in from of the protesters. The driver was annoyed that shouts of “Art is not a crime!” interrupted his endless monotone scripted spiel. One police cruiser passed the protest without incident. Apparently you need to stay in motion when you are protesting. Protesters paced back and forth. As an artist, I was the only one who remained completely still and therefor I might be suspect.

Angel Jones welcomed me and handed me her card in case police gave me trouble for sketching in public. I was told that handing out business cards in Saint Augustine is also illegal. Angel was definitely the protests greatest cheerleader. When cars honked their approval, she would shout and cheer. Her enthusiasm was contagious. From across the street she shouted to me, “Don’t worry, if the police show up we will surround you. I’ll chain myself to your chair if I have to!” She was hilarious.

A Japanese family stopped to watch as I sketched. The little girl almost pressed her nose to the page as she crowded in to watch intently. The last thing I wanted was to draw a crowd because that is what got this insane law started. The trouble is that people love to to watch artists sketch. People kept asking me about the protest, so I got a chance to inform people over and over again as I worked. Limiting artistic expression is an issue that is near to my heart. Winter Park, which is a place I sketch often, is considering a similar ban on artists. Their reasoning is that artists hinder foot traffic on public side walks. This insanity is getting closer to home.

As I was finishing up sketch, some one told me that the area where I was sketching was safe from the ban on artists. Had I sketched one block east, it would have bee a different story. The city needs anti-art signs to let people know where creativity is prohibited. Maybe there should be an anti-art curb color to ward off possible painters or sketchers. It would have be nice to know it was safe to sketch earlier, the sketch might have been less frantic. I posted a picture of my sketch in progress on Instagram and close to 300 people have joined the conversation on the issue. Protests in Saint Augustine will be happening biweekly. When my sketch was done, I got out of that backward city as fast as I could.

The ongoing case to overturn this ordinance is in federal court, and a ruling
is pending. Change comes slowly, and this battle has been going on for too long, but you can help by telling others about this crazy law and of course you can e-mail city commissioners to let them know how you feel about St. Augustine’s current anti-artist laws. As Queen Victoria said, “Beware of artists because they mix with all classes of society and are therefore most dangerous.” The next step could be burning books.

Nancy Shaver, Mayor
NShaver@citystaug.com

Roxanne Horvath, Vice Mayor/Commissioner
RHorvath@citystaug.com

Leanna Freeman, Commissioner
LFreeman@citystaug.com

Todd Neville, Commissioner
TNeville@citystaug.com

Nancy Sikes-Kline, Commissioner
NSikesKline@citystaug.com