Hello friends.
Here we are, mid-September, whether we like it or not. While it's incredibly obvious, I'd like to say that 2020 has not gone as planned.
For those of you that are actually flipping the pages of your 2020 TrashCal, September features the piece I made live at Riot Fest 2019. Those three days were some of the most professionally and creatively challenging moments of my artistic career. Even on the final day, I wasn't sure that all the pieces were going to fall into place. I was often hungry and dodging bees. I was often too tired to stand. I was often grinning like a total idiot.
Truly, I lived out a dream. If this year had gone as planned, I'd be back there -- literally right now -- living out this dream for the second time in so many years.
Roots Stage (Riot Fest 2019)
I cruised into 2020 thinking I could use this experience to wiggle my way into all kinds of dreams. I spent New Year's Day searching the interweb for events all over the country that fit the bill:
Multiple days
Outside
Attendees generating trash
A clear tie to the community or local charity
A potential sponsor (soommmeee day!)
Featuring a good band or two or 50 (not entirely necessary, I guess)
2020 Wishlist (Potential Event Calendar)
It was immediately clear that outside of SXSW, the first quarter was going to be quiet. There aren't a lot of outdoor, multi-day events January-March. But there are a lot of indoor, multi-day events January-March.
I lived in Chicago from 2009-2014. I spent each of those five winters working home games for the Chicago Wolves. Not only does the team have stretches of multiple home games over a single weekend, they work with a long list of lovely charities that benefit the greater-Chicago area.
I walked back into the arena for the first time since 2014 on March 5. That weekend, I caught up with old friends, took trash from fans, and, again, grinned like a total idiot while photographing the final piece at center ice.
Allstate Arena (Chicago Wolves)
I returned to Ohio on March 10, just in time for the entire world to shut down. One by one, every event on my 2020 wishlist was canceled or postponed. I thought that by the time September came, I'd have a new library of pieces made live to feature in the 2021 TrashCal. Not so much.
Early 2020 was about chasing my dreams. Late 2020 might be about completely reinventing my dreams.
Stay tuned.
💌
If you're one of my very favorite friends who's already supported the 2021 TrashCal Kickstarter campaign, you're going to receive this update twice. While I'm sorry about clogging up your inbox, I'm so thankful to have you around.
Title image by Dan Dennis via Unsplash