I wasn’t going to do another post on The Yard at Rock Harbor… but I just couldn’t help it. This time, I decided to do a wrap-up post instead of a ‘You better go’ post. If you made it to The Yard yesterday I think that you might have been inspired to see an event that is finally starting to capture the imagination (and attention) of its attendees. For the first time the event was running on all (or close to all) cylinders. Up until now it has been all trial and error. Do we charge at the gate? Do we change the times? What do we need to do to get people to visit The Yard?
I guess persistence is the key to the growth of many things. That and building a gigantic found object checker board set… oh, and when you throw in live (and contained) graffiti exhibitions… well, that doesn’t hurt either. We were told by some of the graffiti artists that there are no places for them to show off their work legally. They appreciated the fact that people gave them a venue to express themselves – even Geoff (photo), an worker at Atlas Steel, completed his first ‘piece’ ever. At the same time, we are planning to take many of the ‘tags’ down along the Scajaquada Creek. I can appreciate controlled graffiti – destructive tagging on the other hand is just not cool.
See more details on The Yard.
As more people continue to discover The Yard, we continue to make fun things for them to play with – chalk drawings, shuffleboard, live music on an industrial stage… and I think that 99% of the people who showed up arrived via bike. The Yard is destined to be an alternative (and free) venue in the city. Now that we’ve ironed most of the kinks out, the few remaining outdoor events should prove to be even more fun.
On a totally different note, I have to give a shout out to the Nickel City Co-operative’s gathering at ‘Ol Wondermoth (corner of Elmwood and North) last night. They hosted a slammin’ costume party that lasted ’till the wee hours of the morn. That event drew hundreds of cyclists from all over the area. Hi-lights of the evening included a drum circle and a live performance from Fashion Expo 1990 – the crowd was totally jazzed. I’ve said it more than once, and I’ll say it again… co-ops are good for Buffalo. Whether it’s a living cooperative, a garden co-op or a food co-op, these are the people who make city living worth while every single day (see why).
Hmmmm, maybe The Yard and Nickel City should team up?