YARN n YOGA brings crowd, creativity to Euclid Beach
What could be better than a sunny summer evening on Lake Erie?
On Friday, July 25th people from across Northeast Ohio poured into Euclid Beach Park, some for the very first time. On top of the last of the Euclid Beach Live concerts, YARN n YOGA took our neighborhood’s largest slice of lakefront by (yarn) storm.
The sun warmed the sand while a gentle breeze carried Sounds of the Soul’s lyrics to yogis reaching for the sky in tree pose. All evening the lake shimmered as community members and artists stood side by side wrapping, weaving, and knitting on to the historic Pier.
YARN n YOGA, a grass-roots, volunteer-led arts and recreation project supported by Cleveland Metroparks, Waterloo Arts, Northeast Shores, and Praxis Fiber Workshop drew families from Westlake, artists from Akron, donations from Boston, and press as far reaching as California. It quickly became Cleveland’s first large-scale yarn bomb and a bright, beautiful, temporary public arts project that EVERYONE and anyone could participate in at no cost thanks to monetary and material donations. The event was funded through a crowd-sourced Kickstarter campaign, a grant from The Cleveland Lakefront Parks Conservancy and would not have been possible without the talent of more than a dozen artists whose inspired pre-made panels catalyzed the public’s excitement and involvement.
Mike Zellers - who fondly remembers the Park as an amusement park - took home the “Best in Show” arts prize (sponsored by The Artful Yarn –Chagrin Falls) for his panel “Mermaid”. Runners up included Linda Zolten Wood’s “Accidental Neon” which incorporated plarn (plastic grocery bags turned yarn) and Leslie Edwards Humez’s “Flotsam”.
Praxis, soon to locate on Waterloo Road, judged the competition and yarn bombed the single bench on the pier while children and those young at heart wove brightly hued strands around the remnants of what was once a major fishing pier and dock for boats – or “TUBS” – coming to shore from Downtown Cleveland.
In addition to the yarn and free yoga class, a 6’ x 8’ photo-booth offered a collaged view of the Pier as it looked in the 1960s and a rendering of what it may look like in the future, as our community anticipates a longer, more useful Pier after the current one is demolished by the Cleveland Metroparks this Fall.
Also, Euclid Beach Park Now filtered through hundreds of photographs and postcards to create a memory lane of the many lives and uses of the Pier since it was constructed in 1895. You can view the enhanced reproductions and pick up information sheets at their event “Remembering Sights and Sounds” in September and on Waterloo in October.
It is estimated that over 3,000 people viewed the fiber arts installation and historic photographs during its 10-day run on the Euclid Beach Pier thanks to the Park’s biggest event of the year, the 5th Annual Euclid Beach Blast!
While the yarn bomb is no longer visible from the shores of Lake Erie, select artist’s panels will be on display at the Hoffman Building (across from the Waterloo Sculpture Garden) beginning Friday, October 3rd, 2014 when the art exhibition YARN n YESTERDAY opens. In addition to the fiber installation, YESTERDAY will feature “sound clouds” consisting of spliced anecdotes as relayed to artist Chris Kulcsar during the original event on the Pier. This project is generously funded by The Kresge Foundation and Cuyahoga Arts and Culture through a Collinwood Rising Vibrancy Grant. Mark your calendars and come savor the latest and greatest memory of the Euclid Beach Pier.
Together we knit a vibrant public art piece. Together we can create strong, creative communities.
Allison Lukacsy
Allison is a Collinwood resident and neighborhood cheerleader curating public art projects including LOCKS of Love, From Waterloo and Phone Gallery in the Waterloo Arts District.