Sarah Paulsen
  • News
  • About & Bio
    • Statement
    • CV
    • Press
    • Contact
  • Current Projects: On Whiteness
    • The Invention of Whiteness >
      • White by Law
      • Passenger
      • Consumer's Void
      • The Racial Matrix
      • Jello
    • On Whiteness >
      • hidden white norms
      • Family Culture, Traditions, and Rituals
  • Visual Art
    • Animation Drawings, Props, and Ephemera
    • Painting >
      • Untitled Women
      • Parades >
        • History of Parades
      • Female Flaneur >
        • Female Flaneur Exploration in St. Louis
        • Thrift Store Identities
        • Searching for Art in South America
        • The Grand Tour
      • Portraits of Columbia
      • Group Portraits
    • CamRah >
      • Ant Circus and Built
      • Echo
      • Off the Wall in Utter Pandemonium as We Tape on It.
      • Temple of the Dancing Bear
      • Murals and Set Design
    • Collage/Assemblage >
      • Targets
      • Wanderlust
    • Community Projects >
      • Community Workshops & Artist Residencies
      • Curating
      • Murals
      • People's Joy Parade
    • Drawing >
      • Recall Redraw Release
      • Things for Which I am Nostalgic
      • Sketches and Process Work
    • Installation >
      • & Animation
      • & Paintings
      • Female Flaneur Exploration
      • Found Fabric Screen
    • Costumes and Performances
  • Video and Animation
    • Ant Circus
    • Begin
    • Elegy to Connie >
      • Elegy to Connie artworks
    • High Wire
    • Heart is a Muscle
    • Midwest Hair
    • ¿Qué Séra, Séra?
    • W.O.W (Women On Wheels)
  • Teaching
    • Marian Middle School and College/Adult Classes
    • Animation Workshops and Classes
  • Sales
    • Freelance & commission work.

The People's Joy Parade

Come One, Come All, to the funkiest parade of all!

Since 2008, the People’s Joy Parade has been held each year, as a part of the Cherokee Street Cinco de Mayo Celebration in St. Louis, MO.  The public has been invited to participate with local artists in Cherokee’s Streets only art costume parade. Gathering with artists and community members, this celebration honored the spirit of the community through, the Mexican neighborhood,  and the resourceful creations of artists.

Cinco de Mayo Cherokee Street

Why parades are important to me.

Celebration is serious, it’s an anti-hierchical act of social architecture. Class, role, and self, are temporarily inversed, and the streets become occupied public property. Parades and festivals are present rituals of collective celebration. A participant communes with his/her ancestors by upholding the rituals of celebration.   Parades are a social narrative; through the symbols and tableaus presented, the spectator is told a story about their society.  Processions and celebrations are necessary to the healthiness and well being of a democratic society, as it recognizes the importance of the people living in a place.  The concepts of the parade connect with my own goal; to promote stories of connection and community.

While investigating ways to visually depict the experience of a parade, I first started creating paintings. In paintings, I selected and juxtaposed archetypal figures and built them with an array of materials.  The pursuit of this idea led me to organize an actual pedestrian parade that involved participants including; artists in hand made costumes, a community choir, and a high school marching band.
Parade Paintings

People's Joy parade Invitations year 1

The first year of the parade, I made it a personal project to create handmade invitations for friends.  I worked with Steven and Alycia at All Along Press to create three different silk screened images that I could then personalize.  I tried to imagine each of my friends in a different costume.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.