Best of the Archives: the Inaugural Art Parade

One day in September, 2005 a spectacle descended on Grand Street, and Out & About was there to watch, photograph, and write about it. Photos from the inaugural Art Parade have just been added to the Photo Gallery [click here], plus here's the Out & About column I wrote about it in the September 13, 2005 newsprint edition of the Sun. OUT & ABOUT A cardboard subway car powered by human feet, a horse-drawn carriage conveying the Citizens Band, and floating balloons were part of the spectacle at the first-annual Art Parade this weekend in SoHo. The event, organized by the contemporary art gallery Deitch Projects, mixed traditional parade elements with performance artists' shenanigans, showing a fun and frivolous side of the New York art world. Talent included the Brooklyn Steppers, the Dazzle Dancers, the Hungry March Band, and the J.V.A. Flag Corp. Actors Lauren Ambrose and Elijah Wood and the power curator of the Kitchen, Debra Singer, were among the more than 3,000 spectators who lined Grand Street on Saturday afternoon. The logistical feat was carried off by gallery assistants dressed in white jumpsuits and wielding walkie-talkies, without the assistance of barricades or police - not counting the officers of Paper magazine's "art police," who kept the peace in fishnet stockings. "We really like the totally flamboyant nature of this. It's over the top. We're over the top," one parade participant, Amber Ray, said. "Do you know how hard it is to find people like us?" The event gave the artists a sense of community. It was also a good time. "It went fantastic. I'm so incredibly happy. It was an excuse to dance in the streets," a member of the Brooklyn-based Art Corps, Andrea Sepic, said.