Is It Time For Street Performers Downtown?

[spenser1058]

An interesting article from a WP architect on newgeography.com about the prohibition of street performers downtown and why their lack may be keeping us from developing the arts consciousness the City supposedly embraces. Any thoughts? I know the things that grew spontaneously (like the drum circle on Wednesday nights in Eola Park) and even some of the scheduled events (like the sidewalk art drawings event sponsored by Rotary) were nice touches to our urban scene, and I suspect we should allow more of it. Living downtown, I have never considered a busker a panhandler or a problem of any sort.

http://www.newgeography.com/content/00886-...reet-performers

[Cleaver5]

I have seen some bucket drummers out front of the City Arts Factory a few times. Those guys are awesome! I think they add a lot to the street scape.

[Jaybee]

Reep is a fool... there is no ban on street performances (newgeography is a quack forum). There was one out in front of Suntrust center on Orange a few weeks ago. But, I imagine there aren't that many people with cash to go around downtown orlando.

[spenser1058]

Reep is a fool... there is no ban on street performances (newgeography is a quack forum). There was one out in front of Suntrust center on Orange a few weeks ago. But, I imagine there aren't that many people with cash to go around downtown orlando.

[Jaybee]

Judging by that article, looks like homeless people panhandling, not Cirque du Soliel street performers and other artists. The weekly should have inquired with the City attorney - not cops on the street; doesn't sound like a thorough job of reporting.

[RedStar25]

AS far as I have seen just this week there are "street performers" Downtown... but they are all homeless people who happen to own an instrument.... not the same tradition that cirque du soleil grew out of.

It is well documented that the Weekly (owned by the same company that publishes many highly liberal "news" magazines across the country) has their own agenda.

[JFW657]

I think anybody who damn well pleases ought to be able to take their guitar, saxophone, tuba, mime act, whatever.... grab a spot on any sidewalk & do their thing no matter how good or how crappy at they may be at it, as long as they aren't impeding the flow of pedestrian traffic or creating a danger or a nuisance.

Obviously, there would need to be restrictions on acts involving fire or chainsaw juggling, but as far as a little harmless music or sidewalk theater is concerned, it would greatly enhance the feel & experience of going downtown.

[Magicfan95]

You can play music, so long as you aren't impeeding the flow.

Dr. Geek is probably the most well known.

[OCF]

I have seen many street performers downtown ranging from bucket drummers, breakdancers, horn players, guitarists and singers. The cops didn't seem to pay any attention them. The bucket drum kids seem to be very well liked. The breakdancers seem to get alot of ooohs and aaahs also but they had a prime location in the plaza. They didn't seem to be a rag tag group either, they had on the same uniforms and seem to have pre-planned routines. I think it adds alot to the downtown atmosphere.

[RedStar25]

Obviously, there would need to be restrictions on acts involving fire or chainsaw juggling, but as far as a little harmless music or sidewalk theater is concerned, it would greatly enhance the feel & experience of going downtown.

[demon]

AS far as I have seen just this week there are "street performers" Downtown... but they are all homeless people who happen to own an instrument.... not the same tradition that cirque du soleil grew out of.

It is well documented that the Weekly (owned by the same company that publishes many highly liberal "news" magazines across the country) has their own agenda.

[RedStar25]

And what exactly do you have against flaming chain saw jugglers? : )

Don't be so sure of that. If they were that good they probably won't have to be on the street playing. An you are making a pretty big assumption there that these are just people trying to get your money, no? Are you sure they are homeless?

This is an area where the ideal of a squeaky clean perfect city doesn't actually work in reality. The more you try and suppress everything but "officially approved" art, the more you turn non-approved performances into perceived beggars and the "approved art" into politics and not art. If you outlaw any legitimate performers, then you esentially turn any remaining performers into outlaws.

This is what stifles a city like Orlando. For all the creative city that it wants to be (and really is at it's heart), Orlando suppresses any expression. This is why nothing ever takes hold - why that ideal of a local community that many of those same people are craving, can't get a foothold - it is to restricted - to based in artificial "quality" to let the community identify itself.

Orlando is a creative city, but it tries to hard to separate itself from that creativity - it tries to hard to separate the city from the creative attractions companies to the south. They have to stop thinking in corporate terms and professional grade productions and start letting lose their imagination.

[jack]

I am pretty sure that it is illegal. Pretty darn sure to be exact. OPD just does not always enforce it but they have the authority to do so.

[demon]

I am pretty sure that it is illegal. Pretty darn sure to be exact. OPD just does not always enforce it but they have the authority to do so.

[JFW657]

I think it would be a very subtle point.

It can't be illegal to speak your mind on a streetcorner. Whether that be musically, theatrically, or what have you. I could see where it might be illegal to ask for money to do so.

[JFW657]

This is an area where the ideal of a squeaky clean perfect city doesn't actually work in reality. The more you try and suppress everything but "officially approved" art, the more you turn non-approved performances into perceived beggars and the "approved art" into politics and not art. If you outlaw any legitimate performers, then you esentially turn any remaining performers into outlaws.

This is what stifles a city like Orlando. For all the creative city that it wants to be (and really is at it's heart), Orlando suppresses any expression. This is why nothing ever takes hold - why that ideal of a local community that many of those same people are craving, can't get a foothold - it is to restricted - to based in artificial "quality" to let the community identify itself.

Orlando is a creative city, but it tries to hard to separate itself from that creativity - it tries to hard to separate the city from the creative attractions companies to the south. They have to stop thinking in corporate terms and professional grade productions and start letting lose their imagination.

[neon9]

Judging by that article, looks like homeless people panhandling, not Cirque du Soliel street performers and other artists. The weekly should have inquired with the City attorney - not cops on the street; doesn't sound like a thorough job of reporting.

[JFW657]

If criminalizing (whether as a statute or just by enforcement" performances because some people consider that they are purely about financial gain than about the performance is not trying to create a "squeaky clean" image, then what is it? Glenda Hood did try and failed, in very large part because just as you pointed out Orlando DOES have a huge amount of creativity. Only it is kept so much in the dark it never has a chance to blossom. I am not saying Orlando HAS to be like other cities (particularly creative cities), only that if people didn't actively try to prevent them from becoming like them, then Orlando would very likely turn out to be a prime example OF one of them.

And that is what my point is all about. Right now the city fits to a certain style. You are very comfortable with that, and so are a lot of other people. The problem is that some people are so comfortable with that, that they seek to prevent others from coming in and changing it. someone playing a trumpet on the corner, if kept within a reasonable noise level and not obstructing anyone, does not harm you. There is no requirement for you to stop and listen, no requirement for you to give them money. Yet because it does not fit in as the image you want (you not being you specifically, btw.), it gets outlawed, or at least "dissuaded". Other people may enjoy it. They may not. But you can't argue that you are letting Orlando show it's true identity if you prevent them from letting it show. If Orlando's true identity is not having street burskers, then they will not be around.

One thing I do have to ask, why do we assume someone performing is homeless? It would seem to me, at least from my experience traveling to many cities, that your average homeless beggar is not spending their time playing an instrument. And if they are, at least they are trying to do something to earn the money they get.

[mrh3]

Orlando's schizophrenic political identity certainly does mirror the greater "Culture Wars" that have this nation split into Blue and Red zones. I'm curious as to where Red Star left and returned that he developed such a strong appreciation for Orlando's culture. Being a city that for the most part hit its stride during the Reagan years of the 1980's when there was an all out national assault on the arts and the 1st Amendment (Would be a great name for a gallery btw) it's no surprise that the urban portion of the city developed without an an appreciation for a that doesn't live in museums and concert halls. It's quite obvious when traveling around the world to cities that have established arts communities that this is the case. I would imagine that someone with limited travel experience living in Central Florida would have the exact abhorrent reaction that's so pervasive in this thread. Unfortunately, I think that these are the types of issues that are best settled by attorney's and judges. Thank God for 'Rule of Law' because that is what will ultimately decide something like this. There is of course a chance that the intolerance of buskers will continue, permitted or not and that will indeed be the "culture" of Orlando.

[JRS1]

Street performers in downtown Orlando:

hot ladies in high heels; drunk people as a whole; traffic cops; homeless people staggering about; homeless people asking for money; homeless people in new clothes; homeless people trying to get you to sign a petition;

there are so many street performing freelancers in this downtown its sick. it's like Baywatch meets Shaun of the Dead.

[mrh3]

Come hang out in NYC for a weekend around the holidays, JRS and listen to the music. There is zero reason that Orlando can't duplicate that.

[JRS1]

^^

Lol. NYC is da bomb. Been there; done that; quite a few weekend getaways. Yeah, I agree. There is a taste of that... But I think that the more people move downtown and hang out here more often, that stuff will come. what better way to jump start the process than to build Solaire, Vue, 55W, Dynetech, Sanctuary, Star, Paramount, etc...

[depechecureguyorl]

with the rate of unemployment rising in this city, I'm sure we'll see a lot more street "performers" downtown. Besides, I see street performers all the time downtown...and they're not the homeless. Some people just are looking hard enough, I guess.