If you needed an art fix as one of your Independence Day activities on Saturday, July 3, 2021, the recently completed parklet behind the Aldea Gallery was your spot. To appreciate the full impact of the design, one needs to visit the spot at the corner of Texas and Yankie streets .
Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
Aldea Gallery parquet dedication 070321
Aldea Gallery parklet dedication 070321
Jean-Robert Béffort served as the primary artist and designer of the parklet.
Aldea Gallery parklet dedication 070321
Béffort sitting in the parklet he designed and constructed with helpers.
Aldea Gallery parklet dedication 070321
A detail of the planter, which is also a seating place for meeting friends.
Aldea Gallery parklet dedication 070321
Blake Farley, co-owner of the gallery and the building, talks about how the parklet came to be.
Aldea Gallery parklet dedication 070321
Brand New Silver City Poet Laureate Allison Waterman presents a poem she wrote for the dedication.
Aldea Gallery parklet dedication 070321
The owners and artists of Aldea Gallery, from left are Brent Flenniken, Blake Farley, David Farley in back, Donna Flenniken, and in the middle Angelique Farley.
The gallery, owned by the Flenniken and Farley families, with Brent and Donna Flenniken, the primary artists, had an unused space behind it that had formerly had a fence around it. Blake Farley, realtor and co-owner, said she noticed that Silver City only has a few places where people can find a bench or a place to sit and visit with friends. This seemed like an opportunity. She approached her artist friend, Jean-Robert Béffort of ASpace Art Gallery and asked him to design a planter and benches for the spot, which is nicely shaded by trees. Béffort designed it, keeping in mind David Farley's love of cars. He, with helpers, built the planters and benches also can be found in the location. Silver City Poet Laureate read a poem she had written for the occasion. Blake Farley will also put in a real estate office as part of the redo of the block-long building.