Good MOOOORNING Do Art Nation! We hope you’re staying warm and creative out there. February is upon us, and we’re extra excited to keep bringing art and creativity to communities across the country.
This includes a Bead Art workshop at the Woodstock Recreation Center. And so, last Saturday, I headed out to Woodstock, IL, to pass out flyers with Jerry’s mom Karen.
If you’ve never been to Woodstock, Illinois, you should definitely make the time–especially in February for its annual Groundhog Day celebration. Groundhog Day is a tradition almost as funny as the animal for which it’s named–it began as a German superstition involving a bear (or badger), and migrated to America with German immigrants (known, curiously, as the Pennsylvania Dutch). The American groundhog (also known as a woodchuck) became substituted for the badger, but in either case the superstition was the same: the animal leaves his hole, and if he sees his shadow he runs back into his hole, and 6 more weeks of winter will follow.
The tradition was primarily centered around Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. But in the early 1990s the writer and director Harold Ramis–an Illinois native–began plans for a movie about the holiday. The movie, which you MUST see if you never have before, centers around an ornery weatherman (played by Bill Murray) who is forced to relive the same day (February 2nd) over and over again. Woodstock, Illinois, was chosen to film the movie for its quaint, turn-of-the-century American architecture. This architecture, most prominent around its famous town square, is immediately identifiable if you’ve ever watched the movie, and it makes Woodstock one of my favorite places to visit, whether passing out flyers or just enjoying the restaurants and scenery.
We circled the town square, handing out flyers to passers-by, stopping in some of the businesses to post flyers on their walls. The architecture of the town square gives it its visual appeal, but it’s the bespoke nature of these organizations, and the warmth and creativity of the people that make them work, that makes Woodstock a truly special place to be.
Just one example: As we made our circuit around the town square we stopped in what looked from outside like a coffee shop. The sign read Yogalounge and Warp Corps. It reminded me of places I’d been to in Chicago–community spaces that combine a cafe with an art gallery alongside a space for people to gather. To make art. To, for lack of a better word, “hang out.”
We posted a flyer, but I was drawn to the back room. Signs posted throughout the space advertised live music, substance abuse support groups, and the concept of Prevention Through Engagement. Young people, of various ages, sat on couches talking, or painting at some tables in the center. A drum kit, piano, and other music at the end made it clear that this was a space for events and live music.
Once we’d done a long circuit around the square (meeting artists and crafters as well as parents and kids), we came back for a cup of coffee. The proprietor, Rob, discussed his mission with a few other people as I revisited the space, warming up my hands as I took it all in. It was a beautiful example of how art can turn a few walls in an old building into something living and beautiful. And by “art,” I don’t just mean the paintings on the walls, or the crafts for sale, but the human act of applying creativity to a physical space to enrich the world around us. Much in the way a rodent, or a movie, can inspire a festival in the depths of winter, and bring warmth when people need it most. We wished Rob well in his endeavors, and hopefully our paths will cross again.
As we walked across the town square, back to the car for an afternoon of library visits, Woodstock had one more surprise for us. On the street corner a crowd had gathered, centered around a tall man wearing warm clothes. I recognized him immediately, as Phil Connors did not in the movie–the actor Steve Tobolsky, who played Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day.
We took a picture, and I shook his hand, thanking him for the great work he’s done, a man who brings joy to people through the practice of his craft. We’d return to Woodstock that evening for dinner with Jerry–some good mole enchiladas, food and music to inspire warm thoughts after a day walking around in the cold. As always after a long day of pounding the pavement for Do Art, I left exhausted for the moment, but invigorated for the long journey ahead. Determined to help enrich the world through art.
