Over the years, I’ve been asked many times what I would be doing if it wasn’t “this”. Of course, each time I was asked, “this” referred to something different. At one time “this” referred to busking on street corners in NYC. At that time, I would look to the future and answer that I’d be performing on large stages some day. When I was performing on stages, I thought about doing giant installations that were larger than the theaters I was performing in. When doing larger installations, I talked about teaching my art. The questioner probably expected me to answer by describing a more traditional job. But no matter what “this” was, there was always something else I wanted to do, or a direction I wanted to take my art. It might have been a specific installation project, a book I wanted to write, or a country I hadn’t visited. But there was always something. It never occurred to me that the thing I might be doing instead of “this,” would be focusing on the smiles of just a few people at a time by placing artwork on their lawns. It certainly never occurred to me how much fun I’d be having doing these really small installations for individual families.

We keep seeing stories online about the need for businesses to pivot during the pandemic. Airigami is no different. We haven’t been able to travel the world to install multi-story sculptures, or teach our art at Maker Faires. Instead, we’re staying local for now. It took a little bit to get our footing in this new world and figure out what we could do, distanced from our audience. But we think we have it figured out. We’ll just keep making all of you smile by building things to display on your lawns to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, new family members, and other occasions. We’re having fun discovering neighborhoods in our area that we’ve never been in, and meeting people that get excited when we show up with balloons.

Take a look at the online shop to see what we can deliver to your house or to a friend that you want to surprise. If you’re reopening your business and want to draw a little attention, we can help with that too. If you want to send a little cheer to a friend that’s not in Rochester, NY, maybe a balloon twisting kit, a jigsaw puzzle or an Airigami storybook will do the trick. Not sure what to send to someone? Send them a gift card and let them pick for themselves. We’re also working on online streaming experiences, including balloon and STEM workshops as a way to reach some of you that are further away. Let us know if that’s something that would be of interest to you.

“This” may not be the thing I said I’d be doing next. But I, and the rest of the Airigami team, are having fun doing it. Give us a call and let us know what we can do for you. Some day we’ll return to exotic travel and enormous sculpture installations, but we’re not in a hurry. It’s nice staying local and getting to know more neighbors, socially distanced, one at a time.

-- Larry