The Creations from the Lincoln Park Lagoon
The Return of the Flo-Tilla
1998
By James O. Stola
The annual Chicago Flo-Tilla floating group sculpture exhibit, which has been on hold for the past two years, resurfaces July 25 to August 9 in the Lincoln Park Lagoon, thanks to Chicago artists Joe Fontana and Michael Thompson. Together with Oz Fest catalyst Gerard Pendergast, they've struggled to keep this exhibit afloat.
Much acclaimed at its inception (in 1993 Flo-Tilla navigated its way to a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal), in 1991 the water-borne event flowed from the fecund imaginations of two other Chicago artists, Luke Dohner and Dennis Callahan. Originally it was a one-day event that involved sailing sculptures down the Chicago River from the Cortland Avenue Bridge to the Turning Basin at North Ave. FIo-Tilla became an annual event and quickly gained popularity with both art patrons and people just looking for something fun to do.
In 1993 Flo-Tilla was picked up as part of Art Chicago, that involved sailing the art works from Cortland Avenue Bridge to the Ogden slip at North Pier, but it ran into a snag in 1996, when the art show wanted Flo-Tilla shipped to Navy Pier. The difficult logistics of floating an art exhibit alongside the Pier sank the project. Consequently, there was no Flo-Tilla in 1996.
In 1997, Dohner and Callahan passed the mooring lines and headaches to Fontana and Thompson. They had assembled more than 20 sculptures for an anchored exhibit in the Lincoln Park Lagoon. The show was ready for launching when the Park District demanded $8,000.00 (or $500.00 per day) for permission to use the lagoon.
I've investigated this matter and I haven't been able to quite figure out why they had to pay so much to the Park District. Flo-Tilla is a non-profit organization that collects no fees or taxes. Fontana and Thompson checked their pockets but came up about $8,000.00 short (artists, with money?) Needless to say, the show was scuttled in '97.
Now, back to 1998. Our heroes had not given up the ship. Gerard Pendergast of the Oz Fest found out about Flo-Tilla's woes. He put the wind hack in its sails when he agreed to make the sculpture exhibit part of the Oz Fest which by then had been relocated from Oz Park to Lincoln Park adjacent to the Lagoon--exactly where they had wanted to put the project the prior year. (Wasn't Oz Fest chased out of Oz Park for some peculiar concerned citizen reason? Was that anything like a peculiar Park District fee... ?).
Fontana and Thompson are pleased about being able to put Flo-Tilla project together. Joe told me he's always happy to be connected with any project that gives local artists an opportunity to display their talents. The art pieces require a lot of planning and thought as well as creativity and talent. These constructions do have to stay put and float in a lagoon for two weeks.
Actually, Flo-Tilla pieces are more in the nature of parade floats than they, are "normal" sculpture. The artists who submitted drawings with flotation plans appeared to favor wood platforms with Styrofoam™ ballast. In addition, show guidelines require proper anchorage: Nylon line or rope approximately 20 feet long plus a cinder block or similar anchor must be attached to the artwork. Each piece is then towed to its place, anchored and left on view for the duration of the show.
The actual placement of each piece will be determined by a number of factors. Primarily, the lagoon must remain navigable: Canoes, kayaks and rowing shells must have their space. This alone dictates the 1ocation of many pieces.
Fontana and Thompson have had substantial experience in mounting art shows ...both have a good aesthetic sense and understand how placement of artworks creates a continuum of theme. They recently put on the Velvet Show at Caffe Baci (Clark and Wacker) and managed to include almost every submitted piece--effectively. There were actually four artists involved in organizing the Velvet Show. The other two were Michael Hernandez de Luna, who was the catalyst for the show, and Al Pocius. I was privy to the installation and had a lot of fun listening to these guys discuss what should go where and how to display different pieces.
The installation of Flo-Tilla begins at 9 am on July 25. It may well he worth your while to attend and see how 20 or 30 artists get together to install their art works in a major exhibit. You won't very often get an opportunity like this one because this is one of the few collaborative shows that require a coordinated outdoor installation.
Many local artists have submitted plans for artwork that will be included in Flo-Tilla. In one of the past shows, Mary Brogger did a piece entitled "Surrender Dorothy" that should make a return engagement, given that the exhibit is part of Oz Fest. Speaking of Oz Fest, Thompson told me he's looking forward to seeing an Emerald Castle planned for the show.
Among the local artists who will be exhibiting am Ray Struck, Marie Kennedy, Kenneth & Sasha. Nathan Mason, Allan Bolle, Walter Baron, Aron Packer, Jno Cook, Julie Stackhouse and many others, including some collaborations and "best pieces" from past Flo-Tilla. Oh yeah, Fontana and Thompson will also have a couple of pieces that float. After all, they are artists.
Chicago is a great town for art fairs. From the 57th Street Art Fair to the Old Town An Fair to Around the Coyote, artists here get a lot of exposure. Each of these shows allows Chicagoans to get outside, have fun and view a huge variety of art. Each one has as own personality. There's deftnitely something for everyone when it comes to public-space displays and fairs. But a floating sculpture show is as unique as art exhibits can get It's definitely worth a visit.
