Who's Taylor Swift Anyway? Ew.
Cause I've Got A Blank Space, Baby...
And I'll write your name. ;)
Or so goes the chorus of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" from her album 1989.
If you haven't heard the story by now, allow me to bring your attention to it.
Taylor Swift, one of the world's biggest pop-stars right now, announced a tour for 2023, which would cover songs from the 10 albums she's put out over the last 17 years.
Ticketmaster then put her pre-sale on, where fans could pre-purchase tickets to the venue closest to them, and let it go live for everyone in the country on the same day.
It. Was. A. Hot. Mess.
And I was apart of it.
I waited over an hour in the online pre-sale "line," with over 2,000 other people, for a chance to buy tickets to see her in Detroit on June 9th (four days after my 32nd birthday!). My best friend was also in the pre-sale line, her date for Swift's second night in Detroit, June 10th.
Miraculously, I made it through the line and found myself in a state of adrenaline to pick out tickets that weren't going to overdraw my bank account.
After roughly 2 minutes of searching, I found two seats in the lower right side of Ford Field that were under the $300 a-piece price limit I set for myself (if you had told 2015 me that I paid $289 per ticket to see Taylor Swift in the same spot I paid $160 that year to see her for the 1989 tour, she would have died on the spot). I quickly entered in my credit card info, checked out, and was greeted with the sweet, sweet relief of "Congratulations! You got 'em!"
My friend was not so lucky.
She was one of thousands in the country that couldn't get access to tickets, and who's browser crashed before she could check out. (Good news is I got two tickets, so she's still gonna get to see the concert.)
That's when prices for Swift's tour started going up, and even though I would never put my tickets up for sale, the millions they were going for did look appealing. It also came out that Ticketmaster was gouging their own prices; buying up their own tickets and then putting them on the "verified re-sale" list for profits that well exceeded what Swift wanted them to go for in the first place ($10,000 for nose bleed seats? They started at $50 when I signed up as a Verified Fan. Not okay, Ticketmaster).
The news broke out on social media, and that's when the Swifties (fans of Taylor Swift) attacked Ticketmaster. And Swift supported them. Eventually, Ticketmaster put out an excuse...I mean explanation to what had happened, and opened up the presale of tickets to the Eras Tour again for fans who didn't get tickets the first time to try and secure them a second time.
But band-aids don't fix bullet holes, Ticketmaster. Just ask Swift about that one.
Anyway, that's the prelude you needed to know for this next part!
When I agreed to volunteer my time to get this new website up and running, I was told that I needed to set a price to be paid for all my hard work. I sat for days at my computer, in-between work stuff, setting everything up, thinking about a reasonable ask from the League for my service for them.
Then it occured to me: I've always wanted a cool jean-jacket to show off, and Taylor Swift's Eras Tour was coming up (which was a perfect excuse to get dressed up): why not ask the artists to make me some one-of-a-kind art to show off at the concert? After all, I can get money from work. When would be the next time I would find myself in a position to ask for a custom painting from one of the League members?
So I set my price. A painting on my jacket from the Eras Tour poster of Taylor Swift.
It was agreed upon, and to my astonishment, Jimmy Tidwell agreed to paint my jacket (I was extra thrilled, because I love Jimmy's work. It's very vibrant and reminds me of Van Gogh--my favorite painter--with the way he paints movement).
The jacket was brought over to Jimmy's studio, and he began work right away.
He pulled out his projector and got to work scaling her picture to size before quickly outlining her features, doing it in the way only Jimmy can.
At first, she was going to be in black and white to go along with the poster, but in the end I'm glad he decided to go with color for her (she is, after all, known for her blonde locks and red lipstick).
He put it together under a couple of hours, and even thought to include her autograph underneath of it, which I think is just the perfect little flash it needed (because, unless by some miracle she spots me in a crowd of 65,000 people, I don't think I'd get to meet her to actually obtain her signature).
Reader, I don't have the words to say how thrilled I am I get to show this off in Detroit with my hot-pink bejewelled dress I'm planning on wearing.
Thank you, Jimmy!
The jacket is perfect, and an excellent payment for getting this new website together!
I do plan on adding a couple of patches that comemorate my battle in the pre-sale and mark the date of the concert, as well as some glitter and a line from her song
Bejeweled ("by the way, I'm going out tonight") bedazzled on it, but for now, I can't stop looking at the painting on the back.
So, now you know more than you probably wanted to know about Taylor Swift, but hey. She's like a modern Stevie Nicks, and who isn't interested in feminist icons with killer tunes that dominate the radio waves? (If you're not, I suggest you Shake It Off and just enjoy the artwork, lol.)
As far as updates for the Monroe Art League that aren't my super cool jacket with a Tidwell on the back...
Headway on the Angie Terrasi MAL collection at the Ellis Library & Reference Center is still going strong!
There's a lot to get through, but with help from volunteers from the League (and Lou Komorowski, the head of the Reference department--who's one of the best people I've worked with), things are slowly but surely getting to the finish line!
Let's give it up to these lovely ladies!
If you'd like to join in on getting the Angie Terrasi MAL documents filed for the library, feel free to contact us and let us know your availablity! I promise the Ellis Library & Reference Center is a great place to spend an afternoon (and I should know, I worked many an afternoon there for years).
Finally, I wanted to give a quick update on how our classes are going!
On Thursday, May the Fourth [be with you, for all you Star Wars fans], Gladys Drummonds taught the first class in her watercolor series, and it was full of surprises--including two extra people who decided to give it a go!
The class covered everything you could want to know about working with watercolors--from which paints are best all the way down to which type of paper towel is the most absorbant!
I'd say it's on its way to be a wonderful class, with joyful conversation, lots of learning, and a good time in general. You really can't go wrong with watercolors! (And I say this, having taken a watercolors class in college. Honestly, it was one of the best classes I took in all my college career.)
If you have any questions about the watercolors class or want to know more about it, please feel free to check out our classes on the Events page, or contact us. We're always happy to answer questions!
And with this long post out of the way, I'll let you get back to your Cinco de Mayo celebrations (that is, if you celebrate). I'm off to go meet my friend Jose Cuervo and get some tacos! ;)
Until next time: that's my story, and I'm sticking too it!
