Take several dozen creative types from Roanoke, put them in a bus and van and send them to New York City for a long weekend. Mix in some impromptu exhibits featuring the work of local pop artist Betsy Hale Bannan, and a chance to talk about the Star City. That was the gist of “Roanoke on the Road,” which took place last weekend in the Big Apple.
The lush, iconic paintings of Roanoke painter Betsy Bannan, which often evoke a feel for the pin-up girls of the Cold War era, were one inspiration for the trip, according to performance artist Beth Deel, part of the contingent that made its way to Manhattan and Brooklyn for Roanoke on the Road. Bannan also teaches in the art department at Virginia Tech.
The trip, sponsored in large part by Ed Walker’s City Works organization, stopped at parks and alleyways in New York City, where it would unload the paintings of Bannan and set them up for “guerilla” exhibitions. “It was a collaboration,” said Deel, “[stemming] from two circumstances and four conversations.” While Ed Walker might have helped bankroll the trip, Deel said the varied group “put in different kinds of capital.”
Deel said the contingent, which had its own logo (a winged bus) and several bikes used to go out and spread the word about Roanoke, was well received by the people in New York. The visit was also timed to coincide with a concert appearance by the Roanoke group, “My Radio,” a power pop quartet that has received considerable attention this year. They saw My Radio play at a club on the lower East Side and traveled with the band as well.
Some of the women in the group wore custom outfits designed as a nod to flight attendants and cigarette girls of another era. Deel, a dance major at Hollins, helped choreograph their part in the Bannan exhibitions and the team as a whole. They even ran into “tons of people,” said Deel that had been to Roanoke – and a few Roanokers that happened to be in New York by coincidence.
“We just picked out our spaces … most of them were public,” noted Deel. The group avoided needing permits by keeping the crowds that gathered down to 20 or less at a time. “We had no problems whatsoever.”
One highlight was the DUMBO arts festival in Brooklyn, a popular event where they were well received. The group set up in an alley just down the street, and festival organizers were supportive, according to Deel, who says she could see another road trip down the road, promoting other artists or concepts perhaps, while again attempting to raise the visibility quotient for Roanoke. “We were like, what would it be like if we took our city on tour? [At least] some cool aspects of our city.”
By Gene Marrano [email protected]