Randi Vega is quite sure that her job description never once indicated that she was expected to walk into the middle of one of Baltimore's busiest streets to stop traffic.
But that's exactly what occurred when Vega had to get a clown car full of ballerinas to the airport in time to catch a plane. OK, maybe it wasn't really a clown car, but it sure looked like one.
As Vega's colleague in the Baltimore Office of Promotions & the Arts, festivals executive director Kathleen Hornig, puts it, "So many weird things happen here, it seems like a normal day to us. We always say Artscape should be a reality television show."
Below are sketches of three of Artscape's unsung heroes, and the lengths to which they will go to make the festival a success:
• Kathleen Hornig, 41.
Title: Festivals director. Hornig is in charge of raising the $864,000 that is 2010 Artscape's budget. She sets and monitors deadlines, and makes sure there are enough misting tents, bandages and portable toilets on hand to accommodate 350,000 visitors.
Favorite Artscape memory: "During last year's festival, one of our main generators ran out of fuel, but we had trouble getting a truck into Artscape to replenish it. So I gathered up a bunch of my crew members, gave them the keys to the golf carts and sent them down Charles Street looking for gas stations. They were carrying those little containers people use for private cars. I thought, 'Here we are, the largest free arts festival in the world, getting gas on golf carts.' It was like spitting into a thunderstorm. But they came back with enough fuel to keep the midway going until the diesel truck could get through."
• Kim Domanski, 37.
Title: Public art coordinator. Domanski is in charge of the 29 outdoor sculptures that will be displayed at Artscape, plus the Sondheim Prize exhibits. She has a master's degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and the expertise to curate the show for the 31 semifinalists. She helps the artists choose which works to display and design their gallery space in the college's Fox Building.
Favorite Artscape memory: "In 2008, Virginia Warwick made a sculpture of a giant meatball covered with tomato sauce that was meant to be exhibited outdoors. It's at least six feet tall, and you never know how people are going to react to sculpture. But when we got it up on its platform, people all up and down North Avenue squealed with delight."
• Randi Vega, 62.
Title: Cultural affairs director. Vega programs the approximately three dozen fine-arts events at Artscape in theater, dance, opera, classical music and jazz.
Favorite Artscape Memory: "In 2008, we had the Paul Taylor 2 company. Immediately after the show, they were leaving to perform at Martha's Vineyard. We'd ordered three cars for them from the limo service, but Maryland Avenue was blocked off, the perimeter of the festival was on lockdown and only one car made it in.
"They somehow crammed eight dancers, and all their luggage and costumes, into that one car. Boxes were piled on the roof, and people were hanging out the windows. It was unbelievable.
"There wasn't time to direct them out the back entrance, so I walked into the middle of Mount Royal Avenue and stopped traffic. I got into terrible trouble with the security people. But I told them, 'You can be mad at me later, but this is what we have to do now.' It was hair-raising, but we got them out without killing anyone. And they made their flight."