Umbrella!

Last night I wholeheartedly enjoyed Umbrella!, a benefit and silent art auction for Forecast Public Art at Union Depot in St. Paul. Twin Cities Fine Arts Organization was a supporting sponsor.

What a night! There was fun to be had at every turn. Pendulum Painting with Willis Bowman was a mesmerizing scene. Then there was the interactive video with Cinema de la Vie, Art Vending Machine from Altered Aesthetics and Light Projections (seen above on the building exterior) by Ali Momeni and Andrea Steudel.

Then of course there were the auctions. Live and silent, neither quiet. The crowd couldn't get enough of the more than 60 artist-designed original works on umbrellas. Umbrellas make such interesting canvases. My favorite piece was by children's book author and illustrator Nancy Carlson, seen hanging in the center of the image below.

A beautiful site--red balloons holding up a single white umbrella upside down. If you could pop a cork from a dry-ice-filled bottle into the umbrella, you won a free T-shirt!

This event had fun at every turn. I can't wait for the third annual Umbrella! next year.