Mark Baratelli (left) and Dan Ginader (right): Orlando agents of the Fiesta Movement
On May 20th, I received a parking ticket for parking in a loading-only zone on Pine Street and Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando.
I know. Dozens of parking tickets are issued in downtown Orlando every day. Big deal.
But I'd venture to say I have one of the most interesting reasons yet for getting one...
... I was participating in an art show just two parking spaces ahead. Literally.
Mark Baratelli and Dan Ginader had set up a 'mobile art show', which happens the third Thursday of every month right in front of the City Arts Factory at the same location. Unlike me, however, they were actually smart and acquired a loading permit, which allowed them to occupy the space for two hours.
Normally, they rent a U-Haul truck and run the mobile art show out of it for this event. But because Mark and Dan are the Orlando chapter of the Fiesta Movement, this time they made their Ford Fiesta hatchback part of the art show as well.
The Fiesta Movement is Ford's effort to spark interest in its new Fiesta subcompact car which arrives at dealerships this summer. Ford asked Baratelli, who in turn asked Ginader, to essentially continue doing exactly what they were already doing... but to bring a Fiesta along for the ride. "The idea of the Fiesta Movement is that the people who drive it are young, creative, and hip," says Ginader.
He cohosts the Orlando theatre podcast Radio Rick Shaw, which airs live every Monday at 12:30pm. It was started 4 years ago by John Balines and Don Fowler, who Ginader says are "regular dudes that like sports and going to the bar and drinking beer, but also enjoy theatre and entertainment and arts."
Baratelli is the creator of the immensely popular blog The Daily City, which he calls "a culture blog, but it's not just arts and culture." "I talk about anything that is going on in the city, and I dig around several sources and try to find really great things that are going on and highlight them."
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Why go to the park when The Daily City can bring the park to you?
As I'm talking with these guys, we're sitting in lawn chairs arranged in a circle on a piece of astroturf, which is sitting in the middle of a parking space on Pine Street. I'm admiring the sketches and concert posters from that week's featured artwork display, the belief! yumi project by brothers Jeremy and Jason Menard, both classmates of Ginader in high school. When an SUV lumbers down the street no more than two feet behind us, the genius of this exhibit strikes me.
How? The maroon Fiesta they're driving (which is the first US-spec Fiesta to arrive in Central Florida) isn't just their transportation to the event. It's a part of it.
Emblazoned across the side of the car in large magnet letters is "TheDailyCity.com Mobile Art Show," surrounded by a border that resembles an old movie theater sign.
As if this scene doesn't attract enough attention already, Ford is taking full advantage of the new opportunities afforded by social media to generate buzz about the Fiesta Movement, including Facebook, Twitter, and especially Foursquare.
Ford also keeps tabs on the activity, as the Fiesta Movement is ultimately a contest. "We're against 19 other teams [across the country], and points are tabulated through RSVPs on the website for these events. You can text a code that's specific to each city, and they also count Foursquare check-ins," says Ginader.
What do the winners get? "Their artist gets to perform at the Bonnaroo music and arts festival in Manchester, TN," which is coming up next weekend, June 10-13th.
Ever been to an art show where the street WASN'T blocked off?
But first, one more event is coming up for the Orlando chapter of the Fiesta Movement. Tomorrow, June 8th, at 7:30pm, a screening of a short 5-minute film about the Ford Fiesta will be at the Regal Cinema 20 movie theater in the Winter Park Village, right before a showing of MacGruber. The film was made by local film director and Full Sail University professor Andrew Campbell.
Details on how to RSVP for the event as well as help with Foursquare are all here.
So... how did the mobile art show go? The crowd reception was fantastic. In addition to those who were already aware of the event, including friends of Baratelli and Ginader and other art-savvy people who closely follow local art events, several people who were merely passing by and fascinated by the scene before them took a seat, looked at the artwork, asked questions, and had a great time.
Ginader expressing his disapproval of The Man's interruption of the festivities
Unfortunately, after about an hour, the event also garnered attention from a police officer on a bicycle, who insisted that the show could not take place in a parking spot.
Although it initially seemed that the party was over altogether, the show was permitted to move up onto the sidewalk, and several people still dropped by to find out about the artwork and the mobile art show.
Thus, aside from that minor inconvenience, the third event of the Orlando Fiesta Movement chapter and The Daily City Mobile Art Show was a great success.
I, on the other hand, still had to pay my stupid parking ticket.
But I've never had a better time getting one.
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