From the smile on a child’s face, to scrapbook memories of a summer visit, Belfast has a way of being remembered as a warm, charming, family-friendly place to be or to be from. Over the past six years, the Bearfest, Belfast Street Arts, and Co-Motion have been instrumental in creating these fond memories by taking visitor on an experiential adventure through the streets of Belfast.

Recently, Waterfall Arts, a non-profit arts organization with locations in Belfast and Montville, agreed to organize the Co-Motion street art project, which had been a grassroots effort by individuals who contributed time, energy and money to create the outdoor exhibits. Recognizing the artistic and economic value and potential of the project for the community as a whole, Waterfall Arts gave it a new name “ECo-Motion” to underscore the project’s emphasis on using recycled materials, while promoting environmental sustainability and physical activity. This summer four new interactive sculptures will be placed in Belfast’s downtown along with earlier installations including Cy Klausmeyer’s flying tricycle “Ornithopter” and his fish bike “Icthyopter,” These magical creations combine artistic ingenuity, old cycle parts, fun and the inner child in everyone into unique attractions that were seen around the world on YouTube and Flickr.

A key component to making the new installations a reality this year is the financial support from the City of Belfast, the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce and the Belfast Downtown Business Group. Without resources for the artists and promotional materials, ECo-Motion would not be possible. Additionally, graphic artist Brian Sisco, who visited Belfast recently, designed a new, dynamic ECo-Motion logo, flyers and maps. Mallery Dalto, Karin Spitfire, David Hurley, Nel Moore, Mike Hurley and Jacob Fricke helped refurbish last year’s sculptures so they could be enjoyed again.

The new sculptures will be unveiled on June 20th at 12 noon in downtown Belfast. The celebration and recognition for the artists will take place on the Main Street green near County Copy with music, acknowledgements, popcorn, giveaways and festivities. In cooperation with the city’s Energy and Climate Committee, everyone is encouraged to make June 20th “Leave Your Car at Home Day” and bike, walk, roller skate, skateboard, or somehow manage to come downtown through any human-powered mode of transportation, perhaps even by a people-powered wagon-train.

For more information, or to volunteer assistance at the event, please call Waterfall Arts at 338-2222 or visit www.waterfallarts.org or www.belfastecomotion.org.

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