I like this. I really, really like this. I am sitting at 1133 South Washington Ave.; the newly energized AA Creative Corridor (that’s another blog), with my photographs from a three year journey on the walls. I have friends, family and even strangers that stop and read through each of my placards for the photos on display. I get feedback and questions. I have really great conversations with the people who pass through. What I really like is the relaxation of this new part. Before, when I talked about City Saunter the question always came up; “how much more do you have to walk?” This suspension of completion always irritated me. I know it makes perfect sense to ask, but I felt like because the project was unfinished it was dismissible. I would feel exhausted thinking about how much work I still had to do. Now that all the walking is complete, I get to analyze it. I get to theorize it. I get to share it. I really enjoy that part. I’ve found through this analysis part that there are many aspects to this project and it’s often hard to settle on just one as the most significant.
There’s the photography. I loved that I was able to use my journey to solidify my love of photography. I also love that it is through the photographs that I get to share Lansing. For the few moments you take to look at the photographs, you LIKE Lansing, you really like Lansing. It’s gorgeous and fun and exciting from the perspective of this exhibit. I enjoy bringing that to people.
Then there’s the process; the how I worked my way through all the streets of Lansing. I didn’t systematically walk the streets. I used events, and volunteering and familiarity to branch out across the city. This allowed me the chance to get into a lot of different aspects of the city as a venue. I remember a few years ago Lori Lanspeary the Leisure Marketing Manager for Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau invited me to Lugnut’s stadium for her birthday because “I was helping her do her job and she wanted to thank me”. I hadn’t even met her! It was these type of piggy backing that allowed me the greatest opportunity with this project; meeting amazing people that were also trying to make Lansing amazing. We all #lovelansing.
Then there was the actual walking part. A woman just came in today and after checking out the exhibit looked at me and said, “You look amazing. I mean you did all that walking”. She then took me to the photo that LSJ took of me in February 2011. My face is much rounder in that photo than what it is today. I think she was a bit embarrassed but I understood what she meant. I was walking a lot; 535 miles to be exact! From September 4 to October 4 I walked 197 miles. On October 3rd alone I walked 29 miles and biked about 5 more. It was 10 hours of exercising! There is no way I could have ever done that before. Twenty Nine Miles!! I have it colored in orange on the map at the gallery; I’ll show it to you!
I’m sure there are other aspects to this project that I haven’t even gotten yet. There has definitely been this “opening of doors” effect that still astounds me, especially as I sit here in gorgeous REO Town, in an historic building, diligently working on the next aspect of this journey.
Come down to 1133 Washington Ave this week to catch an encore presentation of the City Saunter Exhibit. I’ll be here from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. every day this week. There’s no need to knock, the doors will surely be open!
City Saunter 