My most favorite book in a long time: "Fairy Houses ... Everywhere" by Barry & Tracy Kane. It's a picture book of little houses built in the forests, backyards, beaches and islands of coastal Maine, made of twigs, stones, barks, shells, etc. Apparently there are hundreds of them all over the place. Tracy Kane says that when she discovered them, she felt a "twinge of jealousy, realizing no one had introduced this delightful activity to her when she was growing up." I immediately sent copies to my grandchildren, who live in places where they stay indoors most of the time and play with manufactured toys. Building fairy houses takes no tools or plastic parts, just your imagination. What does this have to do with community art? In September 2006, an innovative neighborhood in Portsmouth, N.H., launched a fairy houses garden tour. The Friends of the South End Neighborhood Association and the City of Portsmouth invited everybody to build fairy houses in their gardens and participants ranged from 3 to 93, "exploring skills from preschoolers to professional architects, with house construction ranging from rustic to mansion." This was a gift from myself, following a suggestion by my old friend Darrell Taylor, who lives in Portland, Me. Somehow it makes me feel better about everything.

To buy a copy, see the CAN bookstore.

   

Comments

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

URL:
Remember me? YesNo

Comments: