CAFKA14-Don Miller

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I totally love how riled up some people are getting about Shelburne artist Don Miller’s piece “Saturn and Cronus” on David Street, just north of Courtland. The only enemy is apathy.

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Don (above) and a team of volunteers painted, and I mean completely painted, two abandoned houses that had been stressing the neighbourhood due to squatters inhabiting them. Some neighbours wanted the houses torn down immediately and were very unhappy to have demolition delayed by this art piece. So it was with a large amount of cautious suspicion that Don came over and talked to me as I took photos. I’m a friendly!

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Don told me it was important that everything was painted.

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Giant arrows. One for each house. See the one sticking out of the second story window in the white house?

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Volunteer and artist Jess Firsoff was running the black paint, covering grass and fence. I recall shooting Jess’ mirrored peephole piece “Pyramid Scape” last year at the WalterFedy Dreamscapes show.

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Hey, CAFKA volunteer and Yeti Cafe proprietor Victoria Kent. She was out snapping photos, too.

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Volunteer and artist Shannon Figuereo was running the white paint, hitting the shrubs trees and grass along the driveway.

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I love the scale of this piece. With the houses totally covered in paint, they become more of an abstract concept of a house. I couldn’t help thinking this would make a great backdrop for a photo shoot. Get there.

DW

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2 Responses to CAFKA14-Don Miller

  1. anne jenson says:

    The worst piece of crap I have ever experienced. It is just vile. People lived in those houses. They brought up children in those houses. Why didn’t you just let the houses die their rightful death instead of making a mockery of them?
    I will NEVER waste my time on CAFKA, or your work ever.

    • dw says:

      Anne, I don’t think Don Miller’s treatment of the houses was a mockery. If anything, it made me think more deeply about houses that fall into disrepair and decay when the inhabitants move on. I think the memories made there travel with them and aren’t stuck in a physical structure. When talking with Shannon who worked on the project, I learned that someone who had previously lived in the white house as a child had come back to help paint it. So, like all art, it hits everyone differently.

      I appreciate you leaving a comment. This page has had 40 views and you’re the only one that has contributed so far.

      DW

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