New York is an absolute treasure trove of multi-talented people, doing interesting work. Last year, I was volunteering with “Arts to Grow,” a worthy nonprofit that places practicing artists in public elementary school classrooms (a much-needed response to reduced funding for arts education programs). As part of ATG’s benefit committee, I had the opportunity to get to know Katherine Gressel, a petite dynamo with art & arts administration degrees from Yale and Columbia. Like many of us, Katherine wears several hats—she works with ATG, while perfecting her own craft and being involved in numerous community-spirited activities. Through a posting on Facebook, I noticed one of Katherine’s fabulously interesting projects that spoke to my work as a wedding officiant. Katherine drew my attention to a “live art” project—a painting—that she had done during a wedding and reception at a lovely venue in upstate New York. The commissioned work was a beautiful representation of the day’s festivities; it must have been incredibly meaningful gift for the bride and groom.
Seeing Katherine’s piece was something of a “Eureka” moment for me about integrating art and a special moment in life. In pondering Katherine’s gift to the couple, I suddenly thought of dance performances painted by Degas or Leroy Neiman creating abstract art during an athletic competition. I was truly excited by this prospect of “marrying” art and a lovely wedding ceremony.
The notion of bringing an artist to a marriage celebration fits, I think, into an emerging trend. These days, couples are relying less on videography (or may choose to skip it all together) and more on still photographs. Many brides and grooms are not satisfied with the “standard” shots including family members, arranged in every possible combination and permutation. Rather, my couples want innovative, unusual, artistic photos of their big day. An extraordinary painting of the celebration seems a logical extension of this sentiment. While an artist could certainly create an interesting piece of art after the event, based on a special photograph, why not draw the artist into this glorious occasion?
After pondering this idea for a while, I learned that there are artists who specialize in this kind of project, working at weddings, large parties, charity events, and other celebrations. I recognize that this arrangement might be out of the budget of many couples today. But even cost-conscious brides and grooms might consider a younger, less-established artist. New York is certainly full of such individuals—but so is every community in America! And with the internet, the joining of eager artists and creative couples is only an email away.
Whether a couple chooses to add this extra ceremonial flourish to the wedding day or it is conceived of as a once-in-a-lifetime gift, I cannot think of a grander way to commemorate a couple’s “I Dos.”
The location of this wedding was Osborn Castle/Cat Rock in Garrison, NY. For more of Katherine's work see her website.
