Hamilton has always been a city about paper.
Now, a city-wide festival called “Hamilton Unfolded” will be three days celebrating people, paper and place through art.
“Hamilton Unfolded is really about creating an event for the community, and it’s a way to support our small businesses, and engage our local artist community,” said Taylor Stone-Welch, vice president, City of Sculpture.
He said the City of Sculpture is funding the event with the support of sponsorships. Monies are going directly to artists, who are creating art/paper installations at local businesses as well as several large-scale, public outdoor installations.
“This way, business owners don’t have to pay an artist themselves. It allows the artist to go in and do something cool, but with our funds, instead of asking a small business to give their dollars towards it. We are also buying decorations for businesses,” Stone-Welch said.
From Thursday, April 16 through Saturday, April 18, the streets, storefronts and parks of downtown Hamilton will transform into a showcase of imagination as paper art comes to life across the city.
There will be a combination of indoor and outdoor exhibitions. More than 20 featured artists will showcase their work at over two dozen locations throughout downtown, turning everyday spaces into extraordinary galleries.
“Our event gives people an excuse to come downtown and go to Main Street. They can do some shopping, eating and drinking, and just explore what Hamilton has to offer, while seeing some amazing art and paper decorations. It is also an opportunity to better understand what City of Sculpture is,” said Stone-Welch.
Large-scale outdoor sculptures and installations will complement indoor displays hosted by local venues and businesses.
Outdoor art installations can be viewed at various locations throughout downtown, including Armstead Park, Rotary Park and Journal Square, among others.
Armstead Park (at the corner of Main and South D streets) will have a nature garden that comes to life with large-scale creatures crafted by the artists at Bright Wall Collective. After dark, color-changing LED lighting will highlight the park.
Rotary Park (at the corner of High and N Second Streets) will have a large, abstract sculpture by Roscoe Wilson, a local artist, and City of Sculpture board member. In addition, art students from Miami University will create four abstract, paper and cardboard sculptures that will be on display at the park.
At Journal Square, along High Street, between Luke’s Custom Cakes and COhatch, there will be a paper lantern installation in the trees, which will overlook City of Sculpture’s most iconic sculpture, The American Cape.
Downtown businesses will join the celebration with paper-decorated storefronts, themed shop hops and specialty DORA cocktails and treats inspired by the festival. Attendees can also expect to see pop-up paper gardens with handcrafted installations.
Local artists have partnered with downtown businesses to bring even more paper art to town.
Leah Hughes will have cardboard sculptures on display at a variety of businesses. Hughes will also create a life-size paper doll photo op for The Eyrie, a new bar that is connected to COhatch Hamilton.
Lori Kay Farr will create large paper flowers for an indoor display at Sara’s House, creating a colorful garden party.
Artist Doreen Barrow will make a custom sculpture for Chubby Bunny Bakery, inspired by the business and their logo.
Additionally, students from Ridgeway Elementary will create a piece of art for the windows at The Main Look.
Darlene Hight will transform the planters outside of Basil 1791 into an abstract paper garden for the weekend.
“Bringing in the element of paper is a new medium to work with for the festival. It is exciting as far at the opportunities for artwork,” said Stone-Welch. “The primary tie-in is Hamilton’s industrial, paper-making history, and how we can pull that into a modern arts festival.”
Brad Spurlock of Hamilton Lane Library will kick off the festival on Thursday, April 16 with a talk about Hamilton’s paper-making history and roots.
If You Go
An interactive, digital festival map will guide visitors to installations, activities, and participating businesses, making it easy to explore every creative corner of downtown. For more information about Hamilton Unfolded, go to hamiltonunfolded.com.
