Last summer when I was walking one evening on Ogden Avenue in Jersey City Heights, I saw two people standing outside of one of the houses that always has wonderful displays for every holiday. When I say wonderful, I don't use that term lightly, because these displays are full of wonder and joy and light and life. The front yard area is not very large, but it is so overflowing with good cheer that it feels like a world of its own. There are installations that are within the installation too, like a holiday village around Christmas time or little areas full of their own special decorations within the larger beautiful display of holiday messages, and often there is music that goes with the holiday theme.
As I walked along and saw the two people, at first I thought they were the owners of the house who were looking over their display and perhaps adding some touches to it, but then when I got closer I saw that it was two people who were admiring the decorations and were so overjoyed by what they were seeing that they were almost dancing with delight. I stopped and said hello and something along the lines of isn't it great, and then somehow or other it became clear that these two people had not seen this house or this display before. We began to talk a bit and I found out that one of them lived in the area, but hadn't lived in the neighborhood for very long, and the other was visiting from another country and had just arrived not long before our meeting. I told them about the house and that though I didn't know the owners, I always walked by when I could to see what new wonderful decorations they had installed for the holiday.
I became friendly with the two people I met, and discovered that they are both Artists. Because of our meeting that night, one of them, Marcio Donasci, did live painting at YES Gallery for the second show that opened during the Hoboken Art Walk and Studio Tour weekend last fall, and his paintings are now at the gallery. After he left to go travel a while to be with his family, I sent him photographs and a video of the house when it was decorated for Christmas. His response to me was that this is performance art, and I agree that it is and that it is of the best kind their is because it makes everyone who sees it stop and smile at least for a moment if not for very much longer.
On Friday evening as I walked past, I saw one of the owners of the house finishing up decorations for Memorial Day, and I was able to stop and thank him and tell him about the story of meeting Marcio and how much he had enjoyed the installation. It was so nice to be able to let the owner know how much light and life his decorations bring and that there are so many of us who are able to smile as we walk by because of the wonderful vision he has to decorate so lavishly and celebrate the holidays with joy.
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