Mini Labyrinth Scavenger Hunt for Boulder Arts Week 2022
The 100 Day Project 2022
I love how sometimes a project that starts as a small flight of fancy evolves into something much more meaningful and engaging.
This evolution happened for me this year during the first half of my #100minilabyrinths project. There is a collective social media event known as the 100 Day Project, which is an invitation to explore some creative form every day for one hundred days starting in February. Last year was the first time I successfully completed the project, painting 100 watercolor crystals across the whole year. I didn't meet the deadline, but I didn't give up either.
This year, after some encouragement from friends and my viewers on Twitch, I decided to embark on painting 100 miniature labyrinths. I made it ten days before I had to make a major pivot and I'm so glad I did! At first I was painting simple watercolor labyrinths in a beautiful journal. The form didn't capture my attention, so instead of giving up completely I decided to paint labyrinths with my new set of Gelli Paints. The bright colors and play between background and foreground was really exciting to me.
But the real inspiration came during Boulder Arts Week. BAW is a week long celebration of all things creative in Boulder, CO. Every day in the final week of March there are amazing art openings, artist talks, performances, crafting workshops, and surprising events that showcase all the amazing, creative things happening in my hometown. I joined in several events across the week including an artist talk at the Reflections Show and a performance with my Belly Dance Troupe. My favorite event of the week was the Nobo Scavenger Hunt, and this is where I found myself really excited about my 100 day project.
The Scavenger Hunt
For BAW 2022 the North Boulder Arts District invited anyone and everyone to hide free art around NoBo. I love invitations like this and knew immediately that I wanted to participate. The challenge was to create and abandon a piece of art somewhere outside, and then leave a clue of social media with its whereabouts. It was a requirement, but the hope was also that the art would be somewhat weather proof. At first I thought I might just leave some of my earlier #100daysofminilabyrinths prints under rocks or pinned to fences. Spring in Colorado is quite turbulent, and I couldn't convince myself that my art would be found before it blew away or was damaged by rain.
1. Make Art
2. Drop Art in NoBo Art District
3. Share a photo clue on social media
4. Find Free Art
5. Tag Artist & @noboartdistrict #noboarthunt for a chance to win prizes.
After some research and consideration I decided to make six more mini labyrinths inside altoid tins. Altoid tins are a wonderful art resource. The metal casing is secure (as well as slightly magnetic which is fun), easy to paint or decorate, and perfect to store art goodies. I happened to have a stash of tins from a previous project making Spirit Boxes at the Turning the Wheel National Retreat in 2016. I decoupaged the outside with spring colors. Each tin was inspired by a different part of the season.
While I waited for the outside to draw I made wands for the finder to trace the Labyrinth. One of the reasons I'm drawn to labyrinths is that the form has been expressed by people for generations. It is an ancient gesture, shared by ancestors all over the world. Since the labyrinth was too small to trace with a finger, I offered a wand to follow the path with instead. Finally I painted the labyrinths within the tin, using a combination of sharpie and gauche paint.
The mini labyrinths were ready to hide!
I hid two each day for three days during the celebration of Boulder Arts Week. Inside each tin I was sure to also include instructions for the art hunt. The first two I hid up near the Bus Stop Gallery off Broadway. Its the gallery in the NoBo Art District that I have had the most presence in, so it seemed appropriate to hide tins there. The second day I wandered around the Holiday Neighborhood. I had seen clues for art hidden near there and thought I might be able to find as well as hide, but I had no luck. I left a piece by the Little Libraries and one by Amante Coffee.
On my final day of hiding I ran into a major hiccup. I left my phone at home! I had planned to hide art by the FUMC on Spruce St, as I was performing there Friday evening with the Tribal Misfits and had art in the gallery. I thought it would be fun to include a different part of the Art District in the event. After expressing my woes I chose to hide the tins around the church anyway, simply announcing the hidden treasures to those present. Two of my troupe mates found the labyrinths, which made me especially happy because they didn't just vanish into the unknown.
The hope was that people would post that they found the free art on Instagram so that I could share the piece had been claimed. NoBo also incentivized the sharing with a drawing for a $250 gift card! However, a few of my creations disappeared without record and I hope are being enjoyed by the finder.
As of today I have created 51 Labyrinths for my 100 day project. The six labyrinths hidden around Boulder were by far my favorite of the collection so far, and I am excited to see how the second half of this art adventure continues to evolve! I have 49 more labyrinths to create before May 31st. If you are interested in seeing more Mini Labyrinths in Altoid Tins let me know ^_^
