Over the past two months, the Akron League of Creative Interventionists has been celebrating culture, music, art and even time to connect local residents through creativity.

Participating in Big Love Fest was just one of the approaches the group used, which gave league members a chance to contribute through art and leadership within a zero waste framework.

Roughly 2,000 people attended the 12-hour event on Feb. 28, and when it was over, there wasn’t enough trash to fill a single trash bag. Megan Shane, one of many Akron League of Creative Interventionist members who made the event possible, said, “Everything else was recycled or composted.” Even the art was made from recycled materials.

Each month the league builds an event around a theme set by its founder, San-Francisco-based artist Hunter Franks. Knight Foundation provided more than $55,000 for Franks to create similar community connections in four Knight cities: Akron, Detroit, Philadelphia and Macon, Ga. February’s theme was Strength, and the league was one of the presenting organizations for Big Love.

“Our strength is love,” said David Swirsky, leader of the Akron interventionists. “The whole festival was showing strength of our community and our love for the community.”

March’s theme was Time. For the March event, members were armed with thought provoking time-based statements to chalk in high foot traffic areas. Some of the statements posted on their Facebook page included, “What does quality time mean to you?” and “How do you measure time?”

But one of the standout pieces of public art they made was a message they weaved into a chain-link fence with burlap saying, “Lost Time Is Never Found.” The group is planning an event for April’s theme: Light.

The February Big Love event was the brainchild of Zach Freidhof in 2014. Swirsky and another league member, Beth Vild, joined Freidhof in organizing the event last year and this year.

Shane was Big Love Event’s art director – leading the charge to design, create and install art exhibits throughout the three floors of the Musica Complex where the event was staged. In addition, she tapped many league members to contribute their art and labor to the exhibits.

“It was wild; it never would have happened without support of the league and volunteers,” Shane said.  

In addition to her work as an art director, Shane crafted the artistic centerpiece of the event. A professional artist who works with metal, Shane tapped two of her fellow artist friends to make the giant metal winged heart. The heart was draped with red fabric and the whole thing was illuminated for display on the stage of the Musica where the dozens of musical acts performed. The plan is to reuse it for the annual event.

“It was a huge labor of love,” said Shane. “It was a giant labor of love. We all meant it.”

One of Shane’s favorite installations was the hanging geometric shapes league members made with balloon sticks and straws. They were suspended with fishing wire from the ceiling above the crowd.

She also created a space she called “The Nest” on the third floor of the complex.

“It was a whimsical dreamy ethereal room. I welded frames of trees, wrapped them with burlap and Christmas lights and chicken wire to create foliage,” she said. Also in the room were images of birds flying around.

Swirsky said attendance at Big Love doubled compared to 2014 and more families with children attended this year.  The families particularly enjoyed the giant Lite Brite exhibit that was on loan from the Akron Art Museum.

“The media coverage this year was incredible,” he said. In addition, he managed the social media and marketing for the event.

And it was a great opportunity to recruit new members for the league. The league’s Facebook page is reflecting the growth. The number of members has grown from 322 in mid-January to 431.

“It was an incredible experience,” Shane said. “Truly a testament of what’s possible when you put your ideas out there. Minds and hearts come together for a beautiful intention.”

Susan Ruiz Patton is a freelancer writer based in Northeast Ohio.

Photo credits: Geometric Shapes (top) and BirdsNest (bottom) by Kevin Richards; LiteBrite (middle) by David Swirsky.