Urban Art by April Cromer, photos by Jim Grant
By Jim Grant
As I drove down Sunset Cliffs yesterday afternoon in the light rain with a squall line approaching from the west, I noticed the street sign at Monanco and Sunset Cliffs had been decorated. I thought, “how cute” – since I take lots of photos and even get them out to the public on occasion I thought this might be a photo op.
It was drizzling now and getting blustery and I was getting wet. I shielded my camera, got out and walked over to the sign for a better look.
“Holy Hell these are men’s neck ties!” I said as I laughed out loud.
I snapped a few shots, and as I did, I noticed this blue car parked 40 yards away. A woman got out and started walking towards the “Tie One On” pole. I asked her if she lived around here and she said, “yeah in OB.”
We chatted about the pole and I told her I am a little bit of a photog and this would make a great story.
She finally confessed it was her art work.
April Cromer, a designer, tied on ALL the mens neckties in the traditional knot none the less. I have a hard enough time tying one on in the mirror… but she tied a 100 with great knots on a pole!
I asked her, “What was behind the idea?”
She simply said, “I wanted to get people to think.”
I told her well it worked for me…. She asked what popped into my head when I saw the Urban Art Pole.
I responded, “The first thing I thought was somebody had retired and after wearing neckties for a lifetime they were sending a message to the world that they were done with ties!!!”
April wants people to add to her urban art if they feel so inclined!! ONLY IN OB huh?
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
The ties that bind? :)
Good photo-op and nice article – it’s a relief to read something that doesn’t raise the hackles on either end of the dog…thank you Jim !
Good clean fun and nobody is pissed off WOW !!! …the story is on CNN right now on the web page…They told me a producer may run it live as well over the next few days !!
Workers of the world untie!
Kinda cool…and haha to anna! I haven’t had any use for my ties the last year or so, might go down and tie one on as part of the traditional ‘tying one on’ for New Years tomorrow…
Dave- maybe there’s a tradition waiting to happen as OB ties one on for New Years. Poles and poles of ties…. I love the thought of it! That’s even better than festivus!
I LOVE OB in all it’s eclectic glory!!
Hey Jim, I’ve looked all over CNN’s web site and haven’t seen the story. What section is it under??
Go to the search bar….try tie “one on in ocean beach”
google tie one on pole ocean beach….comes right up.
great way to tie one on for the new year. no dui, no arrests, simple knotty fun! wonder if the $2 thrill has any ties laying around that may be up to the task?
I have a sewing project that calls for a lot of ties, and I am drooling!
Hey Abby, I have at least a half dozen or so I can donate to your project. Hit me up if you’re interested.
Anyone else got some ties to donate to Abby’s project?
Hey Abby, what is your project and how do we get our old ties to you?
I want to make a dress like this one: http://www.instructables.com/id/Steampunk-Necktie-Corset-Dress/ (sans goofy hat).
If anyone wants to donate they can bring them to the next meeting I guess, or drop them by my place if you know where it is.
If I get too many I have a few other tie related project they can go to. I love making new stuff out of old stuff!
Ditto the others – do tell! I probably need to keep a couple around in case I get one of those ‘job’ thingies again someday, but I could likely spare a few…
Cool, thanks Jim. I posted it on my Facebook page so my friends all over the world can check it out!
Oh I used to have so many, and I got them all at thrift stores where they are all pretty much $1-3 each.
Now front page news on the U/T, though a little less than insight is provided…
yeah i saw it…i had hoped they would ” at least” use one of my photos for being hand feed a nice local tip !!