This summer’s annual Streets Alive event was originally planned to feature hippie buses to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Mariposa Folk Festival.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that cancelled the festival, Streets Alive founder Leslie Fournier was forced to switch gears and look for a new way to brighten up downtown streets.
She was left with little time to come up with a new idea, but she knew she wanted the art to be meaningful and provide a boost to community members dealing with the daily stresses of living in a pandemic.
“It had to be something that we could do and put up fairly quickly and easily,” said Fournier. “My brain went to something kind of nature-based because being outside during a pandemic is where most of us feel the most relaxed.”
After two weeks of brainstorming, Fournier decided that this year's Streets Alive art would feature 100 butterflies painted by 100 local artists.
“It’s just a beautiful design and a beautiful prototype to use for colour and art,” she said.
After coming up with the idea, Fournier needed a quick and effective plan that would have little to no cost for Streets Alive and local artists.
“I thought of using coroplast which is what’s used for real-estate signs and political signs. Once I figured out a material we could use, I needed to source out where we could get enough and get them cut into butterfly shapes,” Fournier explained.
That’s when she remembered reading that long-time Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton had recently announced he would not be seeking re-election.
“I knew he would have a lot of old political signs that he might be willing to donate, so I gave him a call,” she said. “He was great. He quickly provided us with 100 boards of coroplast.”
Next, Fournier needed to find someone who could cut the coroplast into butterfly shapes.
“Dave Shaw from Makers Market volunteered to cut the butterfly shapes. He’s got a CNC cutter, so those two things had to come together fairly quickly and they did. Both those guys have been great supporters,” Fournier said.
During the See You On The Patio and Art Hop event last Friday, 40 of the 100 blank butterflies were distributed to local artists to start painting.
The first batch of the 2 X 2 feet butterflies will be found downtown on street posts, the outside of buildings and in store windows later this week.
“We should have 40 up by the end of this week. We want to get 100 up in total. By the end of the month, our goal is to have them all up,” Fournier said.
The next batch of butterflies will be ready for pick up on a first-come, first-serve basis at Jack & Maddy A Kids' Store.
Artists who are interested in painting a butterfly should follow the Streets Alive Productions Facebook page for updates on when butterflies will be made available.
Fournier says she has seen some of the finished butterflies already and they are full of colour, creativity and will add some energy and life to the downtown streets.
“They are amazing. I come up with the idea and the artists bring the magic every time,” she said.
“Some artists are doing a realistic butterfly design, and other artists are just doing colourful and creative designs that don’t replicate actual butterflies, but they are all beautiful and I think people are going to enjoy them,” said Fournier.
