FeatherFest

FeatherFest was a public art project planned by The Centre at Salisbury (the mall in Salisbury, Maryland). Local artists were to decorate 4 foot by 4 foot fiberglass chickens to be displayed in the mall. The designs would be chosen by a committee, and each chicken would be sponsored by a local business or individual. I submitted my design application which included proposals for five chickens. I spoke with the marketing manager at the mall several times about the status of the project as it was delayed a few months while she recruited more sponsors. Although the mall had a storage unit full of gigantic fiberglass chickens, eventually the project was postponed indefinitely. My application materials and original drawings were returned, and they are resting in my flat file. As far as I know FeatherFest in Salisbury never happened. Too bad because it was fun coming up with ideas for the chickens.



Teriyaki comes from two Japanese words: "teri" meaning luster and "yaki" meaning to grill or broil. Better for this chicken to wear a kimono than to fill a dinner plate.



Get it? Jackson Pollock the abstract expressionist painter? Pollo = chicken. I know, terrible pun.



Poultry meets Swampman: part fish, part fowl. Funny how feathers and fish scales look pretty similar.



Why Did the Road Cross the Chicken? I flipped the famous question around and discovered Route 50, the main artery through Maryland's Eastern Shore.



Mrs. Steele's Accidental 500. I researched the history of the poultry farming in Delmarva at the Ocean City Library. In 1923 Ocean View, Delaware, became the birthplace of the commercial broiler industry, when Cecile Long Steele was mistakenly shipped 500 chicks instead of the 50 that she ordered. She kept them, raised them, and prospered. The rest is Delmarva history.