“So this is considered art?” That’s what Mia Thermopolis asked in The Princess Diaries when she and her mom threw darts at paint-filled balloons. Those who attended the Penn Art Club’s “Fly Day and Glow with the Flow” event Saturday evening on Rodin Field were able to do the same.
The event, the Art Club’s latest public art project, incorporated flying kites and glow stick art.
In Spring 2009, the Art Club organized Penn’s first University-wide public arts exhibit, Squirrels on Locust Walk. In keeping with the tradition, last spring they got fifteen non-arts groups on campus to paint kites to represent their individual club or organization. Due to poor weather, however, the Art Club had to postpone flying the kites until this fall.
GALLERY: Fly Day and Glow with the Flow
The club’s public arts initiative’s mission is to integrate non-arts groups into the artistic community. “It’s a way to raise awareness for the groups and celebrate for them,” explained College senior Molly Johnson, president of the Art Club. “[We want] to give people who love art but don’t have the chance to take studio classes the chance to do something artsy.”
“Fly Day and Glow with the Flow” allowed students to take part in array of art activities. Art Club members seemed to be most excited about throwing darts at paint-filled balloons to create a messy masterpiece. “We stole the idea from The Princess Diaries,” admitted Johnson. Participants also had the option of taking slow exposure DSLR pictures with glow sticks and finger glow lights and were able to purchase their prints for $5.
Despite the free Jimmy Johns sandwiches and Insomnia Cookies for participants, the event did not draw many people outside the Art Club. Nursing junior student Jessica Yang, public arts committee co-captain who helped plan the event, noted that the majority of non-Art Club members were “people just walking by” drawn in by the free food and activities. Representatives from the groups who painted the kites last spring were invited to come fly them, but most who showed up had other ties to the event. “I just came to support the event because my best friend is on the board,” Engineering sophomore Julia D’Souza said.
“It’s a lot harder to handle than I thought but we finally got the hang of it,” D’Souza added in reference to flying the kites. Engineering sophomore Jeremy Benson found his kite to be “feisty,” struggling with the wind for control of it.
Next spring’s public arts project will be to create a mural, Johnson said.
This article has been modified from its original version to reflect that Nursing sophomore Jessica Yang helped plan the event, not the School of Design student of the same name.
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