WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Michael Stewart, 10, from Forbush Elementary School in Yadkin County was on a mission. While attending the June 13th Winston-Salem Dash baseball game at Wake Forest Baseball Field (old Ernie Shore Field) with classmates, he was keeping score of something more than just hits, base runners and home runs.
Michael was trying to find the actors participating in the performance Life/Theater: The Dash and marking his results on a special playbill/scorecard. Michael, along with all the other baseball fans at the stadium, were given a playbill/scorecard by the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) outlining the roles that nine volunteer actors would be performing throughout the game. As the actors emerged out of the crowd and circulated through the stadium, fans checked off each performance on their scorecards as they spotted it in the stadium.
Both actors and fans were participating in an interactive performance event organized by Greensboro-based artist Lee Walton. His project Life/Theater: The Dash was part of SECCA’s larger Inside Out: Artists in the Community ll public art series. Walton’s project was co-presented by SECCA and the Winston-Salem Dash
SECCA curator Steven Matijcio said, “As people in the stands began to look more closely at one another and everything that surrounds the game on the field, this project became a ‘game within a game,’ like a visual scavenger hunt.”
The actors were subtle (and not-so-subtle) caricatures of fans who regularly add color and humor to the baseball-game experience. The roles included a fan with too much popcorn, a clumsy fan with drinks, a couple wearing matching outfits and a fan who stumbled as he walked up and down the aisles.
“The best one was the Stumbler,” said Michael. “It was really cool — the guy actually stumbled right over me. It was great.”
Patrick and Tina Boesel and their children Kyle and Erin also got a kick out of seeing how quickly they could spot the actors in the crowd. “We come to the Dash baseball games regularly,” Patrick said. “But playing ‘I Spy’ for these actors really adds to the good time we’re having as a family tonight. It’s given us all something extra to enjoy especially during down time on the field.”
Tina felt the most difficult characters to spot were the couple dressed alike. “Until you’re looking for something like this, you don’t realize just how many couples and families dress alike when they come to a ball game. When we spotted them we noticed that they even wore flowered sneakers alike — it was very clever.”
Lee Walton is also a UNC Greensboro art professor who organizes performance-based work out in the community. As a former college baseball player and avid sports fan, Walton often incorporates elements of athletics and sports events in his work. For more information on his work, visit his Web site at www.leewalton.com or www.secca.org.
Inside Out: Artists in the Community ll is supported by a grant from The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art, and by a program grant provided by the James G. Hanes Foundation. In-kind support is provided by the Sundance Plaza Hotel, Spa and Wellness Center and AdColor.
SECCA is designed to involve audiences in the art of our time. SECCA is an operating entity of the North Carolina Museum of Art, an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. SECCA is also a funded partner of The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.