After Deb and I carted the canvas and easels to the Hyatt Place lobby, we sat it in a temporarily open space and were glad it was sitting safe and stable. I had an interview with a cameraman from Fox 17 the next day and met him on Wednesday the 13th of September to talk about the project. I asked if he wanted to capture me painting the first numbered rectangle and he thought that was a good idea. I painted the first orange spot on camera (and didn’t do a great job frankly).
When we pulled the canvas and easels outside the following afternoon to start public painting, a gentleman named Dante immediately expressed interest in being the first painter. It was nice to see someone ready to start the project with us. He wanted to paint the top corner yellow spot so that he’d be able to identify it in the future. I found a chair for him and he became public painter #1 and did an awesome job. Thanks Dante for starting the process!
Not everyone who passed by that afternoon immediately understood what we were doing. Due to the lack of painted spots, many people didn’t know what we were up to, or that they were invited to paint on the canvas themselves. I tried to remedy that a day or two later by posting a panel saying “A 1,600 Person Paint-by-Number”. This seemed to make things click for passerby’s and we were off to the races!
