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This past weekend was filled with public events, both great and small. The competition for people’s attention was intense already, and event organizers all over town had to be holding their breath as Saturday morning’s gloom became a shower and, then, a steadier shower and, in some places, a fair bit of a storm. Just north of Laclede’s Landing, the participatory arts festival Artica was put on a pause for a few hours as the rains made their way through St. Louis City, producing a thick, clay soup around the fields near Lewis & Dickson streets.
Somehow, though, the rain only made the afternoon’s Boat of Dreams Parade that much more enjoyable. As in years past, the parade meandered through a largely empty section of north downtown, starting just after 1:30, and winding through a warehouse district that includes the trailhead of the riverfront bikepath and Bob Cassilly’s Rootwad Park. As in years past, the parade was lead by the local percussion group Joia, which brought about a half dozen players to the scene; they’d energetically lead a few dozen others from the main Artica grounds to the craggy beach alongside the Mississippi River.
As they did so, the rain appeared. A first, it was of the light, spitting type. But by the time that the parade reached the river, it was coming down at a decent clip. Something cool happened, though. Revelers found their way under the overhang that once served as the greeting area of the Admiral’s casino years; it’s still there, a nice canopy on a fall afternoon when the rains have come. The echoes of that overhang added some power to Joia’s rhythms and as folks danced and made merry, it was soon time to walk down to the river, across rocks and cracked cement.
There, as ever, those who brought boats set them into the water. Others grabbed wildflowers from along the pathway and tossed those in. One artist, famous for those Merferd creations that’ve popped up all around town, threw in a tree branch. A little of this went into the Mississippi, along with a little of that. A few words from Artica’s poet laureate, josh (wolf) followed the boat launches, and as quickly as it came together, the Boat of Dreams Parade was all over.
Then the rain came down some more and caused some casualties on Artica’s musical roster. The band Keokuk, an annual treat, pulled out due to the muddy conditions and the whole scene was a bit scattered as Saturday’s skies went from heavy rains to clarity, eventually revealing the kind of unseasonably-warm day that can come on a St. Louis October afternoon.
On Sunday, the skies were routinely blue and clear, and Articans were out and about on dirt fields that dried more quickly than could’ve been expected. Music accompanied the good vibes of Sunday’s portion of the fest. Celia, for example, played an epic, two-hour set, heavy on protest songs. She was preceded by Em Hemeyer’s evocative, vocals-and-loops solo turn as Ghosts I Have Been. Blank Generation got a mildly late start, but brought their live hip-hop right into the evening’s sunset. At that point, Johnny Vancouver took over. Each year, as the festival concludes, a burn takes place, with this year’s Our Lady of Artica brought to embers by board president Lohr Barkley and his burn crew, per usual.
As the fire grew higher, Johnny Vancouver played their atmospheric rock from atop a hill overlooking the grounds. And, as ever, it was the perfect accompaniment.
Music is one of the multiple artforms represented at Artica. And this year’s edition, dubbed Artikinetic Entanglement, featured everything from site-specific dance to commissioned pieces built-and-torn-down within the span of the weekend to performance art.
The 2018 version of all this is slated for early October. So, about a full year from today. <Sigh.> In the meantime: enjoy some pictures
Check out our coverage of Artica from years past right here.
