Visitors to downtown Farmington braved the cold Thursday to learn more about public art on display around the central business district.
Hosted by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), this Heart the Art Hot Cocoa Crawl included an art walk touring works by David Barr, John Martin, Doug Delind, Adrienne Picket, Mac Harthun, and Mary Lou Stropoli.
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Two more events will be held February 18 and 25, 6-8 p.m. Musician Bob Monteleone will perform both nights. A portion of proceeds from participating businesses will go toward the next downtown public art project.
Farmington Area Arts Commissioner Ted Lee Hadfield speaks about sculptor David Barr’s work, “Avenue”, located in Riley Park.
It’s 23 degrees, but a crowd gathers in Riley Park for the Heart the Art Cocoa Crawl, held Thursday nights in February.
Kathy Harrison warms up by a heater in Riley Park. She lives in Waterford and was happy to get out of the house, in spite of the cold.
Jess Westendorf is ready for the Crawl with a big cup of hot cocoa.
DDA staffer Kate Knight speaks about Doug DeLind’s raku-fired clay work titled “Faces of Farmington”. The piece was mad by DeLind during the 2019 Art On The Grand, with some help from people of Farmington. The moveable work is now at Masa-Mexican Street Food.
Doug DeLind’s “Faces of Farmington” is now located inside Masa.
Artist John Martin talks about the themes and inspiration for his mural painted on the north side of CVS in the Syndicate area of downtown Farmington.
Arthur Power, founder of Farmington in 1824 occupies a large part of the mural. Artist John Martin sees Power as a rock star, and jazzed up his portrait with Elton Johnesque details. It may be a bit of a stretch, since Power was a Quaker, but it’s still a cool piece of art.
Live music from a warm musician on a cold night.
Artist Nac Harthun painted her floral design mural on the west wall of The Vines Flower and Garden Shop, on Grand River Avenue.
Artist MaryLou Stropoli talks about her mural, “It’s a Small Town After All” on the west wall of Sunflour Bakehaus. Bakery owners Becky Burns and Jeff Pavlik collaborated with the artist, painting some of the details. Becky painted their children and Jeff painted his baked goods.
Last view from the tour. Another Riley Park sculpture by the late artist David Barr, titled “Temple”.
