While walking around downtown Orlando around the start of the 5pm rush hour, I passes Art2 where Electric Delaney performed on her electric guitar. She was just setting up her music stand and little speaker when I arrived.
Art2 is billed as Downtown Orlando’s New Hub for Creativity and Connection. The space features food vendors, craft beverages, murals, and digital art experiences, the park reimagines outdoor community space. What I saw were digital ads for the Enzian Film Festival and some benches and tables on concrete. I don’t see how that reimagines outdoor community space. The space was funded by the City of Orlando’s Community Redevelopment Agency,
Electric Delaney performed for well over an hour giving me plenty of time to sketch. I couldn’t fit the entire facade on my sketch page but I tried to fish eye it into place. DTO Live performances happen all over downtown Orlando around lunch time and when the work day ends. It it a good way to introduce 9 to 5ers to the diversity of arts available in the City Beautiful.
I got a tin of colored pencils out to scribble on the sketch as the sun set. The wind started picking up and a gust sent by tin of pencils flying onto the cement with a metallic crash. Delaney stopped her set and helped me pick up the pencils. I was honestly the only person specifically watching her perform. Others were inside having drinks or at tables having animated conversations. As a visual artist I don’t really see the indifference of the people who might see my work, As a performer on stage you look out and can witness the indifference first hand. It takes a special kind of bravery to create under those circumstances.