“The Shoes of Rochester” not only celebrates the city’s significant mill history, but also paves the way for a future in which Rochester is recognized for its talented artists.

The community art exhibit is the first project by Art Esprit, a group of about 40 visual and literary artists who have been planning it for more than a year. Together, they created and decorated 11 over-sized, sculptural shoes, which will double as planters and beautify the downtown area. The shoe styles include a Zodiac brand western-style boot, of a variety once produced in one of five Rochester shoe mills.

From the early 1700s to the mid 1900s, Rochester had a long history in shoe manufacturing. As factories moved overseas, the shoemaking industry disappeared, but the history and many of the workers’ families still live in the city.

The sculptures will be revealed in their various locations around the city at a kickoff event on Saturday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The shoes are arranged in a walking tour, with signs for each one that include a poem relating to it. Brochures with a map can be found online or at many area businesses. “The Shoes of Rochester” will be in place until Sept. 26.

In addition to the start of the walking tour, the opening day events include a signing of the “Army Boot” installation at City Hall by area veterans at 10 a.m. and a shoe art fashion show at 2 p.m. A scavenger hunt for children is also planned. 

Susan Schwake, president of Art Esprit and co-owner of Artstream gallery at 56 North Main St., said the project is a collaboration of artists and a call for community involvement.

The community has answered that call. A week before the opening, Artstream held a workshop for local children to paint real, old shoes that will be displayed in local businesses as planters and expand the theme. Also, there is an art exhibit at Rochester Public Library called “A Really Big Shoe,” which includes shoe-themed artwork by Art Esprit members and runs until mid June.

Rochester’s Poet Laureate, Andrew Periale, is also writing a local history poem to honor the city’s past through the stories of its shoe mills and workers. He is hosting the fashion show, which will be held at Factory Court just off North Main Street, where he may read excerpts from the poem.

Each sculptural shoe represents a collaboration of local artists. They were sculpted by Adam Pearson, a University of New Hampshire art technician, then painted by accomplished local artists including Schwake, Susan Foster Brown, Marilyn Price, Stephanie Piro, Ron and Diane St. Jean, Larry Reynolds, Anne Smith, Grace Youngren, Sally Allen, and Rose Theriault, as well as students from Spaulding High School.

The artists were paired with a poet, who wrote coordinating poetry. These include Periale, Marie Harris, Pat Frisella, Jennifer White, Rick Agran, Neil English, Paul Sprague, Matt Jasper and students from Spaulding High School’s Literary Magazine.

Periale, who is a member of Art Esprit, helped organize the poets who contributed to the project. He also met with Spaulding High students to encourage them to write about the cowboy boot and sneaker that were painted by art students at their school.

His poem was inspired by the red saddle, or cheerleader, shoe and from watching several football games in Rochester, he said in an e-mail. He said the “ritual and mythic elements” were more interesting than the actual games, which the home team usually lost.

Art Esprit developed the idea of the project as a draw to the downtown area and to the city itself. The sculptures are modeled after outdoor elements in other cities, which are often animal shapes made with fiberglass. Pearson created all of the shoes individually from relatively eco-friendly materials. He started with a plywood skeleton, then added concrete and materials that, after the season, are easily removable.

Each shoe is different and original, as is the artwork on them. Pearson said the shoes make an interesting sculpture because everyone can relate to them, yet it’s unusual to see them five feet long or high.

He typically works in steel and found objects to make abstract and sometimes functional sculptures, but he used experience in home construction to make the concrete shoes. In conjunction with the project, Pearson created a fun, but elegant red stiletto using steel. It’s on display as part of the exhibit at the library. 

“The recognition and buzz about the project has been really nice in that people don’t think of Rochester as an art-based city, but they’re rediscovering Rochester or rethinking of it in a different light,” Pearson said. “People may rethink about Rochester as an art hub.”

As vice president of Art Espirt, he said it was important to involve as many people in the community as possible. More than 100 students are taking part in addition to the group and the veterans.

Also, Schwake said, the group hopes for a large turnout at the opening. “We just want a lot of people to come,” she said.

Art Esprit holds informal monthly meetings to discuss ways to support the city’s poet laureate program and raise awareness of arts in the greater Rochester area. The non-profit is selling the shoe sculptures with proceeds going entirely to scholarships for high school graduates. The stiletto shoe painted by Stephanie Piro has already been sold, and Schwake said the group expects to have enough money to give scholarships this year and next year.   

Piro, a cartoonist and illustrator, decorated the stiletto sculpture with humorous takes on famous and fashionable women. These include an image of Eve with only leaves for clothes but red high heels and a female god proclaiming, “Let there be shoes!” There’s also a tyrannosaurus rex in pink heels, saying, “These bring out my feminine side.” She used a bright combination of turquoise for the background of the shoe and yellow on the inside.

Most of the artists worked in an empty room owned by a local bank, but Piro had the shoe delivered to her living room. She said the size was intimidating and there was a lot more surface area than she expected. She usually draws on small sheets of paper and decided to begin that way with sketches. She said she spent hours applying the black outlines in acrylic paint, wiping off the mistakes and starting over. But in the end, she said, she just had fun with it. The result is a truly fun look with funny commentary.

Other pieces include a clown shoe dedicated to the annual Rochester Fair, which will be in front of Friendly’s, a cowboy boot in front of Slim’s Tex Mex Saloon, a roller skate near Union Street Antiques, and a Wellington garden boot near Studley Flower Gardens, which is contributing the flowers.  

Schwake designed a tall garden boot in her current signature style, with whimsical black birds and crawling vines. She said the shoe theme began as a way to honor Rochester’s past, but also has universal appeal. “Everyone has shoes,” she said.

More information on “The Shoes of Rochester” project and a map of the walking tour is available at www.artesprit.org. For more information, call 603-330-0333.

Cheerleader Shoes
by Andrew Periale

saddled with the colors of blood, of autumn,
cheerleader shoes pound the turf at midfield
these are the drums of war

Push ’em back, push ’em back, wa-a-a-a-a-a-y back!

in the stands, girls scream for the Hero
       boys for the pale legs
               mothers for the son’s safe return
the fathers drink beer and forget themselves
Red and White: fight! Red and White: fight!

Red cross on a White field
St. George High battles the Eastside Dragons
tonight blood will flow

Defense! Defense!

to keep our line strong
to keep the field green

the sacrifice of innocence is required
       ritual excusing bloodlust for the common good
       Heroes taking the weight of our sin

in gratitude we will bronze his spikes
       hang her shoes up on a peg