Window Dressing at the Almost Fringe Festival

     Spring hasn’t officially sprung on the coast until the weekend of the Almost Fringe Festival in Point Arena. Mid April this festival brings everyone in to town for the beginning of sunshine and socializing again after the long winter.

 

This year August Valentine created a visual installation in the 215 Main St. window humorously named “Window Dressing”.  Featuring oversized paper poppies in eye catching reds and blues that reached to the ceiling with brilliant green stems bent and twisted artistically to the floor. Live models in full couture interacting with the window installation and festival goers passing by on the street below made the installation feel alive.

One of our favorite festivals each year, this year did not disappoint. Great food, fine local crafts and art were plentiful. Live music, poetry and dancing are always something we look forward to and beautiful expressions of our community. I leave feeling grateful to participate each year, revitalized and ready for spring.

 

Designing the art Installation was easy, starting with a fairy tea party theme and working from there. Original concepts of the window display featured a table and chairs with full tea set and picnic aspects but as set up and models were placed in the the window it became apparent the tea party aspect would need to be dialed back.

The 12 giant paper poppies took 60 hours to produce between three people. Each paper petal piece was hand painted, cut and assembled over the course of a week.  Despite looking like powder coated metal the stems were made using molded PVC pipe and painted afterwards.  Art director Michael Hanson and prop master Myles Eggner made sure every detail of the set was perfect from start to finish enabling this vision to come to life on festival day.