Have you seen the 'October Surprise' carvings around the city? When I was interviewing Ward at Urban Threads passer-bys continued to walk up to the beautiful wood carvings that were placed in front of their shop (yesterday). The carvings were dropped off by huge cranes, and one hundred of them are making their first appearances all throughout the city. It's wild to think that these works of art were, not too long ago, glorious trees. Now we are seeing this freak storm in a new light... an artistic light.
The carvings resemble famous people that relate to our region - Red Jacket, Joyce Carol Oates, Father Nelson Baker, Charles Burchfield, John J. Audubon, Elbert Hubbard, William McKinley, James Whitmore, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson Greatbatch, Dewitt Clinton, Lawrence Bell (to name a few). Each work of art is sponsored by an individual or a company, and sponsorships are still being accepted (see website). I've got to hand it to Therese Forton-Barnes for turning this project into reality. Not since Herd About Buffalo have we seen such an awesome citywide art project. There is even a website dedicated to the project called Carvings for a Cause. There you can find a map that shows the locations of all of the carvings. Look for the different figures dotting our cityscape over the next few days.