Azure Cafe and the Hilton Garden Inn are neck-andneck in the holiday decoration contest with Azure starting off Monday with a lead of more than 20 votes. The afternoon saw a change in fortunes with the Hilton gaining a lead, but Azure recovered 381-347.
Voting has been extended to next Monday for the contest, according to the FreeportUSA website, which also includes displays from Island Treasure Toys, Bridgham & Cook Ltd., FIORE, and several others.
Freeport resident Sebastian Meade, who started Acts of Random Art as a Twitter-only project to share works of public art, is the artist behind the Azure Cafe holiday display, which features three brightly-colored yarn-formed deer, an arrangement of yarn Christmas ornaments and a bench where viewers can become part of the display.
“I personally hope people see and enjoy it as something fun, (that’s) always my first goal with my artwork,” said Meade. “And to not be afraid of art — that is why I added a white bench so people, if they so desire, can take a picture in the yarn bombed woods on Azure’s patio.”
Each deer took roughly a week to complete, said Meade, who studied studio art and art history at Ripon College in Wisconsin. Meade learned knitting and crocheting from his mother, Kathleen, which he then applied to elements of his formal training.
Win or lose, Acts of Random Art’s street art is becoming a staple of downtown Freeport, with Maine Street Stitchers and A.o.R.A. “yarn bombing” the exterior of the Freeport Historical Society’s headquarters in June. The display of yarn sea creatures appeared in celebration of the annual International Yarn Bombing Day, and is the fourth year in a row downtown Freeport was “bombed.”
Meade has also installed displays on the Azure Cafe patio for five years running, he said, contest or not.
“Street art can never really be strictly controlled by people who want to control art and what art is,” said Meade. “Public art is always tricky because you can put up a bronzed flower (and) someone will find it offensive — no matter what it is, someone doesn’t like it.”
Bringing art to the sidewalks also broadens the dialogue about what art is, said Meade, expanding it from museums and academia and making it accessible to the general public.
“I hope … people realize that they can accept art, whatever it is to them, without a long reason behind what it is,” said Meade. “Many people in the general public are afraid to say what they think art is … thinking they will have the wrong answer.”
For Meade, there is no “wrong answer,” even if public opinion differs from the artist’s original intent.
To view the entries in the FreeportUSA Sparkle Celebration decorating contest or to vote for an entry, visit http://sparklecelebration.com/freeport-holida-decorating-contest/
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