Photos by Amanda LaCasse and Alexandra Scoville
In the middle of his speech during Grand Avenue’s ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Fifth Annual Grand Avenue Festival, Mayor Greg Stanton rushed out from behind the podium to point at a poster board showing all of the street’s goals. Boxes next to some items — such as on-street parking and bike lanes — were checked, while others remained empty.
Those checkmarks and boxes represented the Grand Avenue Festival as a whole — a celebration of all that Grand Avenue has accomplished and the potential it has to continue to grow.
The ribbon cutting was the key event during the festival and honored Grand Avenue’s recent street improvements, including addition of parking, bike lanes and planters. Councilman Michael Nowakowski, Grand Avenue Merchants Association President Tim Sprague and Kooky Krafts owner and Grand Avenue advocate Beatrice Moore were some of the figures who spoke alongside Stanton.
However, the festival also demonstrated that Grand Avenue hasn’t lost its edge and artistic vision. Immediately following the ribbon-cutting ceremony was the Untrashed Recycled Rubbish Fashion Show and Trashy Hat Promenade, featuring clothing made entirely out of trash and recycled materials. Dozens of musicians and local artists played and displayed their work at various venues across Grand Avenue. The fence surrounding the craft fair was surrounded by recycled political sign art created by Beatrice Moore.
Many of the street’s businesses were able to show off their unique offerings. For example, Japanese drumming studio Fushicho Daiko held drum performances and karate demonstrations throughout the day. The Oasis on Grand hotel transformed a few of their hotel rooms into pop-up galleries and stores for artists and craftsmen. The O.S. Stapley Hardware building offered tours inside the historic 1920s property.
Contact the photographers at ascoville@asu.edu and alacasse@asu.edu
