Markeshia Ricks Photo
Paul Bass Photo
Cox: Let’s ramp it up.
Edgewood Park’s skate park is about to get a serious makeover — and perhaps spark an equally serious conversation about public art.
A two-day event featuring live painting, panel discussions and workshops will be held Oct. 25 and 26 at Coogan Pavilion and the graffiti-covered skate park by the West River. It is part an event series by a local not-for-profit called Site Projects celebrating 10 years of commissioning public art.
With the help of a $30,102 grant from the Connecticut Humanities, Site Projects Inc. has been exploring the role of public art through its 2014 event series called Catalyze + Celebrate: Commissions + Conversations.
The Oct. 25 – 26 “Art in the Park” event will bring together local and cutting-edge nationally-known artists such as Swoon. and Michael DeFeo. They will wield the tools of their trade to not only spruce up what some say has been a long neglected part of Edgewood Park. They also will help spark a conversation about the role of graffiti art and street art as public art, and how counter culture influences such as punk and hip hop have seeped into mainstream and pop culture.
Lou Cox, co-owner of Channel 1 Gallery, has been working on the event with Site Projects Inc, Friends of Edgewood Park, and the New Haven Department of Parks, Recreations and Trees for several months. He said he hopes that the event will not only raise the profile of the park and get people more involved in its upkeep, but also get people talking about what is public art. In addition to the installation of art pieces, some structural improvements will be made to the ramps.
The public is invited to participate in workshops and panel discussions on everything from the origins of rapping and the influence of counter culture on art, fashion, music and language to breakdancing and breaking down the difference between graffiti and street art.
While the event doesn’t have the space for many community participants to get involved in the painting of the park, Cox said other artists in the community will get their chance to make their mark too. Some of the art will be temporary pieces with the expectations that other artists will get to paint over them and install new pieces in the future.
The expectation that the new works will get painted over is a good one to have, said John Anderson, who was skateboarding at the Edgewood skate park with his dog Sweet Pea on an overcast afternoon.
The Edgewood Skate Park is a hotbed for spray paint enthusiasts. Some of their work looks pretty artsy — and some of it just looks like good old vandalism.
Anderson is among some of the older skateboarders who take advantage of the park and use their own time and dime to try to make improvements like smoothing out ramps, though he said for the kids that are really good skaters, the worst parks are sometimes considered the best. He said it becomes a point of pride to be able to skate in rough conditions and also to build their own structures.
Justin Kearney, who holds a special place in his heart for Edgewood Park because that’s where he first started skating, said he’ll “take improvements over paint all day.” But he said he thinks it could be cool to have art done on the sides of ramps. He maintains the West Haven skate park and recently played host to an event there that attracted 500 bike riders. He said he hopes that the Art in the Park event will raise the profile of the Edgewood skate park.