The Streets Alive project was a groovy success this year as thousands of people from around the province came to the Sunshine City to see the 'hippie vans' parked along downtown Orillia streets to celebrate the legacy of the Mariposa Folk Festival.
On Friday night, Streets Alive founder Leslie Fournier was downtown for the event's closing ceremonies.
“It had the most impact out of all the projects we’ve ever done, and I think it was a combination of things: the artist's talent and creativity, how fun the theme was, and everyone was so ready and excited about sculptures on the street after being held back last year,” she said.
Fournier says the hippie buses were a hit far and wide, and stressed local people loved the concept.
“The feedback from the community was nothing but amazing,” she said.
On Friday night, Fournier announced this year’s Streets Alive winners. Taking home the first-place prize of $10,000 is David Shaw.
“David created an entire van. The majority of artists just used the flat panel shape and put their art on that, but David went a step further and built an entire three-dimensional van out of wood,” Fournier said.
“Both inside and out were incredibly detailed, and he used the theme of Lightfoot to showcase music and the impact Gordon Lightfoot has had on the Folk Festival and the community of Orillia," she explained.
Shaw, who owns Northern Joinery and Makers Market in downtown Orillia, said he is humbled to be the winner of the project considering the deep talent pool of local artists.
“I think a lot of credit needs to go to Leslie for organizing this. I love Streets Alive ... I love what it does for our community, and this year especially with everything that’s gone on with COVID it’s been a really nice, uplifting experience for the community,” he said.
Shaw says originally when he heard this year’s theme would be Hippie buses, the first thing that came to mind was Gordon Lightfoot and the Mariposa Folk Festival.
“The first vision of the van was to have Lightfoot’s face sort of grown into a tree, and then from there the rest of the van sort of grew together,” he explained.
Shaw says he will be using the money for a new dust collection system for a new shop he’s building.
The second-place winner of $5,000 was Samantha Vessios, while the third-place winner of $2,500 was the duo of Carley McCutcheon and Frank Ripley.
Fournier says Friday night's celebration was more than just about the prize winners, but a celebration of all the artists and what they’ve given back to the community.
“It’s always a little bittersweet to just recognize the winners when every artist piece had a huge impact on the street,” she said.
Streets Alive is a juried competition. However, winners are selected using a combination of the jury's rankings and votes from citizens in the People's Choice competition.
