By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Two university students are mapping out how art lovers can enjoy Art in the Park from a distance.
Jonathan Taylor de Oliveira and Sara Oates are devising an online map that will link people to artists and performers who in the past would have been sharing their talents at locations throughout Simpson Garden Park.
This year because of restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus the event is moving online with a link on the Bowling Green Arts Council’s home page. The link will be live on Friday, June 26, at 8 a.m. In its sixth year, the event is presented in collaboration with Bowling Green Parks and Recreation.
Oates, a senior graphic design major at Bowling Green State University, and de Oliveira, a doctoral student in contemporary music at BGSU were both charged with creating the virtual art tour as part of internships. Oates is an intern at the University Galleries and did the graphic design and de Oliveira is an intern with the arts council and organized the project.
The goal, de Oliveira said, is to have a dynamic experience.
There will be 19 participants including someone doing activities for children.
There will be eight musicians and one dancer. A pin on the online map will link to a video of them performing.
Several of the visual artists have also submitted videos showing them at work in their studio. Otherwise there will be images of their art as well biographical information.
The original concept was to have visual artists spread around the park working on art. Visitors were able to stop and talk with them.
“We wanted it work online as similar to being a live experience,” he said.
Oates said she visited the site to take photos that inspired her design.
She wanted to capture the beauty of the park, yet not make the design too cluttered.
Oates said they also worked to get the sound of the music as clear as if the performer were in a concert hall.
Those musicians include de Oliveira, who is a pianist.
In his fourth year of the program, he hopes the skills he’s acquired on the project will help him as he launches a professional career and has to design his own website.
He came to BGSU because of his interest in contemporary music. His thesis is on introducing contemporary music to younger musicians. Now, he said, they don’t encounter new music until they are in graduate school.
Oates said she made her decision to come to BGSU during a campus visit. First, she noted how friendly people were, holding the doors for the tour group. Then she saw a student walking in front of the Wolfe Center singing and dancing, and yet no one seemed to notice or care. He could just be himself.
Oates said she decided this was the kind of place she’d like to attend.
She also has a minor in apparel merchandising and product development. Oates hopes after graduation to work for a non-profit or socially conscious company.
“I’ve always been drawn to helping people.”
One advantage of Art in the Park being online, de Oliveira said, is it has a broader reach. People who wouldn’t be able to visit the event are now able to log on.
The art council Instagram account drew more viewers when they announced Art in the Park would be online.
A spring event, Art Walk in downtown Bowling Green, also was moved online, and far more people cast ballots for the people’s choice award than were cast when the show was live, de Oliveira said.
However, there will be no people’s choice balloting for Art in the Park.
Having the virtual event “really helps to promote Bowling Green and artists from Bowling Green and the arts council itself.”
Those who will be participating are: Michael Hill; Joshua Heaney; Humay Gasimzadeh; Pak Hei Leung; Vicki Lee; Amanda Withrow; Kelsey Meyer; Louis Staeble; Jacob Wolf; Elena Sanz-Marin; Thomas Wheeler; Branna O’Dea; Paul Brand; Rebeckah Alviani; Michaela Monterosso; Emma Wilson; Melanie Stinson; Briana Jordan; and Jonathan de Oliveira.
