Being Cheerful!

Let’s just say that I ENJOY the comments people make to MOI!! Having spent the entire weekend celebrating VOLUNTEER weekend at the Art Center (welllllll………that wasn’t the exact title, but that’s what it felt like!!). I was working the “Creative Station” Kids Fest tent at the Fountain Square Art Fair-splitting the two days with a fellow staffer. The YOUNGER faculty artist was there for both days and remarked that she couldn’t believe all the energy I had for working there all weekend and being so CHEERFUL to the public!! That’s MOI-Always CHEERFUL! It was a command performance, since I spent both mornings working at the Art Center on preparing the “Bottle” installation for recycling and wasn’t so sure I could be very CHEERFUL!!!

We have an outdoor sculpture that sits on the lawn in front of the Art Center for an entire year. I search high and low for funding, since it costs $$$$. Everyone has great ideas for funding…but, then we all know how that goes!! I do manage to get grants and such, but it still doesn’t always cover the costs!! This current sculpture went up last June-you know the one with 5,000 bottles and messages in the bottles….Remember that! It actually ended up being very cool and one of the KEY components of the design was that it was COMPLELTELY recyclable! Sounds perfect! It is time for it go away and the new one is going up in early August..SOOOOOO, the Exhibition chair tells MOI that it is time for it to come down. Not so sure WHY this is my job…but, I guess the committee felt that the INTERNS could help!! The artist lives out of town and he said that he would come back to take it apart, but we would have to pay his expenses and I would need to assemble a large group of volunteers to help. Not wanting to spend ANY additional money on THIS sculpture….since I have to work on funding the NEXT one and thinking that since I had to get volunteers anyway…I WOULD DO IT MYSELF!! I had an intern find out about recycling the components…the Bottles could be recycled, but you have to take the little cork plugs out…..HMMMMM….didn’t seem to be too bad, had no idea that the cork plugs were JAMMED in there and difficult to remove…FOUND that out LATER!

The wood holding it together could be recycled, but has to have all nails removed (not too bad…how many nails could there be???) The PVC tubing could be recycled as is! YEAH! The plastic sheeting underneath the bottles could be recycled (didn’t realize that each bottle was SCREWED on (did I mention that there were 5,000 bottles??) to the plastic sheeting. And then there is that isty-bitsy problem of all the rain, so hard to find a date to get those volunteers together!!

SOOOOOO…..on to Plan B! Decided to have the interns take parts of the bottle sculptures (5 of them) down every moment it wasn’t raining! We have access to the four car garage that is on the property (although, we can’t keep everything in there for more than two weeks). So, once the deinstallation begins…the clock is ticking! We had four of the sculptures down and in a big heap in the garage, with only one to go…some days of rain slowed the process. Then…a curious thing happened…I received a call from a lovely woman who HEARD that we had bottles in a sculpture. She does the window design for Anthropology stores and was looking for a source for recycled bottles. She started to explain what Anthropology was….We know what Anthropology is…I explained!! I told her that I had several interns in the office and they were BIG FANS of Anthropology….I said that we could make a deal-recycled bottles for Anthropology gift cards! She laughed and said she would see what she could do…I asked her how she found out about our bottles and she said that she had sent a message out on Twitter that she need bottles and with in 10 minutes she had 15 people respond that we had bottles and they were going away! The power of TWITTER!! I loved it!! I told her that we would be happy to accommodate her with up to 5,000-but that some were not looking so FABULOUS! She arranged to come by the next day and left with 500! YEAH!! The bottles are going away! Stay tuned for the second life of those bottles! I told her that we (MOI et INTERNS) wanted to be invited to their window display debut (Chicago Store on N. State Parkway!) She also mentioned that they are opening a new store at Old Orchard and we might be able to do a shopping opening event there (SEEEEE….you get all the fashion retail news right here!!!!) HA HA HA!

Then, the next day with only one Bottle sculpture left standing, an email from the Artist came to MOI stating that he had submitted the sculpture to the America for the Arts award recognition program and this sculpture was selected for one of the top 40 sculptures in America for 2009! Well, this was very exciting news! I sent an eblast out to everyone to hurry and see it in the next few days, because this award winning sculpture was going away!! One thing the committee liked about the project was that it was made ENTIRELY of recyclable components!

The following day, the Boy Scouts (did I mention that I decided to rally the troops and call area Boy Scout troops to help out! All those years as a Cub Scout Pack leader has its perks!!) finally rounded up enough scouts to help pull out the corks, take the bottles off the sheeting, take the crews out of the wood!!! Of course, this was the same day as the Art Fair…The Boy Scouts wanted to meet at 8:30 a.m. both mornings-NO PROBLEM, so my co-worker went to the Art Fair for the early shift and then I headed over there in the afternoon until closing. Who needs to do anything else, when you can volunteer ALL weekend! The Boy Scouts and Dads arrived ready to go….I explained the project and they went to the task!! Thank goodness Jeffrey’s training for Eagle Scout Boot camp prepared MOI for this task!! We had all the requirements (you have to put the bottles in boxes – not plastic bags, so a trip to UHaul and several $$$ later provided boxes…..One Board member later suggested that to save money, I should have gone around to grocery stores to get donated boxes…I just smiled). The boys did a great job, but everyone had to leave at noon-no problem because another crew was coming on Sunday a.m. Things started out at a fast clip-several boys made the boxes, other boys began taking the bottles off the plastic sheeting….but then, there came the corks…not so simple to take them out! One of the Boy Scouts started using his teeth-and then another suggested a CORK SCREW! Those 7th graders are so CREATIVE! I said that the Art Center does have Cork Screws!! Ran inside to fetch several and guess what….the Boy Scouts knew HOW to use those cork screws! They get all sorts of training these days!!! In fact, the Dads were also impressed that the boys knew how to use cork screws!!! It must be part of the Gourmet Badge or perhaps the Wine Tasting Badge!

It was noon and with a third of the bottles in boxes, I thanked the kids-I had high hopes..corks in one box, bottles in others…one Dad said that he was interested in taking some of the wood…things were looking well…..looking very recyclable-

Sunday a.m., rushed over to find one lone Boy Scout waiting….he said he wasn’t sure if anyone else was coming today….After an hour, things did not look good! SOOOO, I called Jeffrey and told him to get over to the Art Center right away! I had to be over at the Art Fair by 1:30 p.m. and I REALLY need for the Bottles to be OVER!!! Did I mention that I wasn’t sure WHY this was my job??????! So Jeffrey and I made some executive decisions….forget the corks-we just started putting all the bottles in the boxes…Wouldn’t the cork melt in high heat or however they melt the plastic??…Jeffrey wasn’t so convinced…then, that wood…the Boy Scout Dad was going to SELECT the pieces that he wanted and bind them together with special tape….I was so OVER that-plus, he didn’t show up…so, the wood just went in a big heap…Jeffrey did his best to not say too much-but he could tell that this wasn’t my finest hour! I kept telling myself that I RECYCLE constantly….so that I might be forgiven by the recycling Gods if I ended up pitching part OR ALL of these materials at some point….I even dared to dream of ordering a large Dumpster….Just a dream, since I would probably have to raise the money to pay for that too!

We swept out most of the garage and had all the boxes in a somewhat organized fashion. The wood looked respectable in a large pile and the PVC piping was in another corner. I have to call for the BIG PICK up from the recycling company tomorrow. One of the Boy Scout Dads suggested that I could “tip” the recycling pick up folks and they might look the other way with those corks….At the time, I was thinking….no way…NOW…SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA….Note to self…stop by the bank in the a.m. and pick up $100’s!!!

Rushed over to the Art Fair to greet the public and answer all sorts of questions…my favorite from a nice young college student wondering where he could buy a blanket in the area…HMMMMM…. “Uncle Dan’s” Army/Navy Surplus store! It’s AMAZING what you know! I was sitting with a Board Member (All the Board members signed up to work shifts – which was very nice, but you then had to “chat” all afternoon!) and she was impressed with the fact that I knew to go there! I told her that I was a huge FAN of Camping-love to sleep on the floor, especially in Japan!

At the end of the day, when we were cleaning up and I had to use my “It’s time for EVERYONE to go home” voice…since, several families were having a wonderful time at the Art tent and it was getting late and I REALLY WANTED TO GO HOME, the fact that I still sounded CHEERFUL, truly AMAZED MOI!

Here’s a brief glimpse of MOI in action. I am in the middle of video and it’s quick, but fun! Go to this website:



And for the Fashionistas!

Ken Downing for Neiman’s picks a few of his Fav’s and guess what!! Studded pocket jeans!!! VERY similar to the pair I bought at Kmart! You heard it here first!!!

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog

Saw an interesting article in MORE mag about the beauty regime of a Plastic Surgeon. She said that she can TOTALLY RELATE to her clients, now that she is 46! She looks VERY GLAM…I haven’t tried these at all…but I am RUNNING out to get them all! If it works for her….

Daytime:

Clinique Medical Probiotic Cleanser $28, www.cliniquemedical.com

Fresh Crème Ancienne, $250; www.fresh.com (Pricey I know…but she DOES look good!)

Sun Block: Nia 24 Sun Damage Protection SPF 30; $24, www.nia24.com

Evening:

She repeats the regimen, but also uses Skinceuticals Retinol 0.5, $50; www.skinceuticals.com, instead of the sunscreen-so INTERESTING…I thought perhaps her “healthy glow” came from sleeping under a sun lamp.

O.K. and in the interest of FULL DISCLOSURE…she did say that she uses Botox, but what has made the BIGGEST difference is using fillers to get rid of the hollowing under her eyes. Not only does it make her LOOK less tired, but she actually FEELS less tired!!

WHO KNEW!

Have a great week! I am taking next Sunday off from the email-Holiday weekend and all…in fact..I think I actually get the 4th off!! HA HA HA!

Love, P