MANCHESTER, NH – Cats and monsters were first up yesterday in Manchester’s week-long Citywide Arts Festival 2022.
About 150 people turned out to join Mayor Craig in a 5:30 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony at Cat Alley, just south of the Bookery, on Elm Street. Eighteen artists worked to bring brightly colored cat-themed art to the brick wall on the north side of the alley, virtually covering the entire space.
“It’s a great evening for arts in the city,” Bookery co-owner Liz Hitchcock told the gathering while perched on a stepladder to get a full shot of the crowd. “Internationally-known artists come to Manchester and have seen it grow and become more and more beautiful.”
The weather was beautiful as well for the outdoor event as earlier showers gave way to partly sunny skies with the temp in the mid-70s.
The Bookery hosted a panel with three of the artists, which was moderated by creative director Dave Hady from the Orbit Group.
Further south on Elm Street, Family Day Clay Monster Sculpting took place concurrently at the Studio 550 Art Center. No point in tempting a cat’s cradle of bad juju as Frankenstein and the felines were kept well apart.
The Bookery added a number of nice touches to the event including cat cake pops and Cat Alley Tees. This writer unknowingly had a cake pop placed in his camera bag! A catamundo thank you.
The festival will feature arts events around the city Monday through Friday and will conclude with a Block Party on Hanover Street’s Opera block during the day on Saturday and Sunday. It will feature performing arts such as dance and music, fitting as Palace Theatres is one of the driving forces of the festival.
“This festival is a cool reflection of what we can accomplish,” Hady told the crowd.
The panelists drew a full house of 50 inside the Bookery and discussed their artistic specialties, networking, and what current projects they’re excited about. They came from different professional perspectives.
Emily Dumas is a surface designer. “If you see a shower curtain at Target, someone did the artwork on the outside.”
Her products have been widely displayed in a number of department stores.
Richard Pellegrino got his start illustrating science fiction. “I’ve done SO many dragons.” He’s since moved into more traditional graphic illustration with his work featured in the 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel.
“I get bored every few years and reinvent my career,” the artist said. I don’t recommend it.”
He’s currently working on Marvel Premier cards.
Children’s books and maps are what Ryan O’Rourke enjoys most. He’s currently illustrating a children’s non-fiction title on adoption and recently worked with New York’s Alliance for Coney Island on both a map and subway ads for the classic amusement park.
The park is now on the National Register of Historic Places and its award-winning wooden roller coaster opened in 1927.
Your cat doesn’t care.
Below: Galleries by Stacy Harrison
You can pick up an official Cat Alley T-shirt at The Bookery.