Volume 124 Issue 4
kansan.com
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
THE LAWRENCE BUSKER FESTIVAL
KEEPING LAWRENCE WEIRD
PHOTOS BY REBECCA DREYFUS/KANSAN
Sword-swallower Thomas Sellectomy wows the crowd at the Lawrence Busker Festival by holding a sword in his mouth as the crowd counts down from three on Sunday afternoon. Sellectomy described how he swallows his swords during his act, but also discouraged the audience from trying his dangerous talent at home.
ABOVE: Cate Flaherty receives money and speaks with the audience after her final act Sunday afternoon downtown at the Lawrence Busker Festival. The money received after acts like Flaherty is what many buskers use as their primary income.
RIGHT: Bending metal with her body, Mama Lou Strongwoman impresses her audience at the Lawrence Busker Festival downtown at 9th and Massachusetts. Mama Lou stressed a feel-good message during her set to the children about being an individual and being passionate about what they did when they grew up.
BRITTANNY CLAMPITT bclampitt@kansan.com
As people mill about at the corner of 8th and Massachusetts streets, a unicyclist passes through the crowd that has gathered to watch Bobby Maverick's escape artist act.
Maverick and other street entertainers, known as "buskers," traveled to Lawrence for the Lawrence Busker Festival, which took place Friday. Aug. 19 through Sunday. Aug. 21 as a benefit for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Many artists performed feats that seem to defy nature in the hopes of receiving money in return for their performances.
"It's just like church," Maverick said, jesting with the crowd, "The more you give the better you feel!"
Founded by Richard Renner, a graduate of the University of Kansas theatre department, the festival has provided the Lawrence community with a unique opportunity to witness quality busking for free since 2008.
"We have the usual guy with the guitar, girl with a tambourine kind of thing, and I thought, 'Oh, we can do a lot better than this,' Renner said. "I wanted to first of all, make Lawrence aware that street performing could be pretty cool here, and then second of all, make street performers aware that Lawrence could be pretty cool."
Linsey Lindberg, Kansas City, Kan., native, also known by her stage name "Mama Lou: American Strong Woman," took advantage of this reciprocal relationship. Lindberg, whose phonebook ripping skills and apple-crushing biceps impress even the most skeptical of men, describes the atmosphere that develops during a performance.
"it's one of the only times when you're standing next to the people
who also come from your community, who maybe you've never met, maybe you have, but everybody stands shoulder to shoulder and laughs at the same time," Lindberg said, "To come into a public space and engage with the other members of the community — that's my favorite part."
The initial inspiration for the festival may have stemmed from the independent street entertainers of downtown Lawrence, but Renner says he was also influenced by the professional traveling acts he witnessed at the University.
Renner spoke of the impression the Royal Lichtenstein One Quarter-Ring Sidewalk Circus left on him during his time at the University of Kansas. Every year, he said, the troupe would set up on campus and he would skip class to see their show.
SEE THE WEIRD
DOWNTOWN
ness school. Renner hopes to start the program in the spring semester of 2012.
Go to www.kansan.com to see pictures of the performers at the local Busker Festival. @
"That is what I kind of patterned the street show after. It looked like so much fun, and then they got paid afterward, too." Renner said.
"I want to have an intern come in and work side by side with me and understand the marketing and the fundraising and the production side of putting on an event," Renner said.
His efforts, along with those of the participating businesses, volunteers and performers, have been well received by both the greater Lawrence and KU communities.
"There's always a lot of culture in Lawrence and this is a prime example," said Chelsea Mies, a
Kansas' presence in Lawrence has impacted the festival in other ways as well. The university is the reason the community is able to support the festival's unusual nature Renner said.
Renner is now giving back to Kansas and its students through an internship program he is hoping to establish.
"I went to school and got a theatre degree but nobody taught me how to run a theatre or how to stage an event so people could perform," said Renner, who will draft a proposal to the theatre department and the busi-
sophomore from Cheney, who stumbled across the festival as she wandered around Massachusetts Street.
Unlike Mies, Brent Kimmi, a junior from Lenexa, deliberately went to see the various performances. "The arts in
The arts in Lawrence and
Kansas City are awesome," Kimmi said, "There needs to be more funding for the arts in Kansas"
The public's satisfaction with the festival and the unique element it brings to the downtown scene is what makes Renner continue with the festival, increasing its size and prominence with every year and "Keeping Lawrence Weird," as it says on the Busker Festival t-shirts.
"I get to that point where I'm like, I don't think I can do this again; and then I'll see how much people are enjoying it at the festival and I just know I'm going to do it again. I just know it. Whether it pays or not."
Edited by Jennifer DiDonato
CAMPUS
New moped parking, also new restrictions
MATT GASPER
mgasper@kansan.com
The moped riders talked, and the KU Parking and Transit department listened. To meet the students' accommodations and demands, the KU Parking and Transit Department installed eight new spaces on campus and rearranged the moped parking locations.
"Last year we had 202 moped spaces, and this year we have 210," said Donna Hultine, KU Parking and Transit Director. "We actually took some of the original spaces out because we determined they weren't being used and we added some spaces in locations that needed them."
Students voiced their opinions last year to the Parking & Transit Department regarding the current position of the parking spaces. After listening to the students recommendations, the department
added 26 new moped parking areas throughout campus.
Some new spaces include an area outside the Allen Fieldhouse parking garage, areas surrounding the student recreation center parking lot, and an area at the shared parking lot by the GSP and Corbin residence halls.
"The Parking Commission made this increase in light of the fact that moped parking is now taking up car stalls", Hultine said.
Parking permits for moped drivers increased from $15 to $45.
Stephen Shireman, Springfield, Mo junior, was alarmed by the price hike in moped parking permits.
"I went to get my parking permit and saw it was $45 and I couldn't believe it," Shireman said.
Moped drivers are concerned about the inability to commute down Jayhawk Boulevard during the restricted hours Monday through Friday. According to the University, mopeds cannot commute down Jayhawk Boulevard because the Parking Commission needs to limit traffic and keep pedestrians safe.
"It makes it harder to get around and adds five to 10 more minutes each trip." Shireman said. "It's really just an inconvenience."
Edited by C.J. Matson
MO-PED PARKING
2010-2011
A line of mopeds sit parked alongside Anschutz Library. The KU Parking and Transit department has added more moped parking to accommodate the growing popularity of the scooters.
MAX MIKULECKY/KANSAN
Index CLASSIFIEDS 9 CRYPTOQUIPS 4 SPORTS 10 CROSSWORD 4 OPINION 5 SUDOKU 4
All, contents, unless stated Jotherway, © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
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