For Connecticut’s 350th Birthday in 1986 a parade was New Haven’s celebration. SNET sponsored an art section that City Spirits organized. It would be a “human float” with the Art Officials out front, the band Mikata playing and students from Roberto Clemente school dancing/marching. City Spirits asked me to design & make all the costumes, their designer had quit, so I had a short amount of time to do it in. Readymades! I ordered dozens of sweatshirts & sweatpants which at that point were rarely worn outside of gym & track. I picked a rhyming term for each of the arts: cues = acting, blues = music, hues = visual art, toe shoes = dancing and muse = writing then silkscreen printed them on the sweats in random order/placement so each set would be different.
Their designer had made a drawing of gowns with one letter each on the front spelling ‘SNET” and ‘ARTS’ which I fabricated for the dancers. I made loose colorful cotton ‘berets’ and used the gown material for zany turbans with wire & tassels. Since it was almost springtime I made enormous tulle rose hats for the Art honchos who decorated their own sweats and also wore hardhats.
We assembled on April 19th at the Yale Bowl and marched/danced down Chapel Street.
