The Creative Village

The old Amway Arena was imploded at 7am several weeks ago. I didn’t get up that early to see the devastation, but a week later, I drove past the site as I was weaving my way through side roads to avoid a back up on Colonial Drive. A large banner declared the wreckage to be the “Creative Village” and I had to sketch the ironic sight. The wind caused sheet metal to flap sounding a bit like thunder. Clouds of dust rose and danced among the exposed beams. The four corner structures remained intact with dark red interior stairwells looking like bloody eviscerated flesh.

I enjoyed the Orlando Magic games I saw in this arena. I never understood why an extra large arena had to be built to house a basketball court. But what is done is done. According to a site online, The Creative Village will be a magnet for knowledge workers to live, work, learn and play – a place where high-tech, digital media and creative industry companies integrate with residential, retail, and academia in a neighborhood that is connected to the surrounding community and plugged in globally. Innovative in its architecture, thoughtfully mixing living and working spaces, the Village will be designed to enhance the lifestyle of creative people and become a supportive, business-friendly environment in which digital media and related companies can thrive. Hopefully the Creative Village will live up to its name, but for now, it looks like a war zone.

I had a wrapper from some peanut butter Girl Scout cookies in my art bag. Half way into the sketch, an ant bit my leg. I slapped it off and looked around to be sure I wasn’t sitting on a fire ant mound. I noticed ants swarming around my bag. I pulled out the wrapper which was now covered in ants and I disposed of it. Slowly the ants dispersed but some still chose to bite me occasionally.

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