Beauty Alliance Unveils Spring Project

By GARIMA KING

Beauty Alliance, the art consortium led by Randal Tokei, has revealed its spring project, called 'Dreamer's Path.' Artists associated with the alliance swept through the streets of the business district late last night, blazoning the sidewalks with words and images. The phrases are carefully constructed to tell a story, traversable from multiple directions, Tokei said. "The dream will unfold at your feet no matter your origin or destination."

The images have been blazoned in a special polymer that will withstand heavy foot traffic and weather for some months, gradually wearing away in layers to reveal new patterns, but is expected to fade away entirely by September. "It is the nature of a dream to fade from memory," said Tokei, "So of course our project must also fade from view."

Pedestrians in the area seemed largely enchanted with the work this morning. John Vining, proprietor of the Filter coffee shop on Polis Ave., said that it was all his customers could talk about. "Everyone is very excited," he said. "Outside, I see little clusters of people coming together and excitedly discussing their dreams. Nobody can wait to see how it will all change over the summer."

The project is an unprecedented work of street art in scope, though Tokei insists it is "merely a warm-up to get used to working together." The Alliance's founding charter describes a goal of making art that will "endure a thousand years." Alliance member Shoshana Keller agreed with Tokei, and said that the group may well do several smaller-scale projects such as this in order to foster creative trust and a healthy collaborative environment before tackling its thousand-year ambition.

The Office of the Council has said that it did not issue a permit to the Beauty Alliance for the project, and is conducting an internal review to decide if it should initiate action. One junior official inside the office, though, said that it is unlikely that any punitive measures will be taken, due to the impermanent nature of the project.