If you’ve been to Saratoga Springs recently you have probably seen the ballet shoes that are scattered around town. The dance shoes were part of a project called “Saratoga En Pointe”, which was created by The National Museum of Dance. Twenty-four artists were selected and given a five foot tall fiberglass ballet shoe sculpture to decorate.
I recently spoke with Frankie Flores who was commissioned by DZ Restaurants to create Forno Bistro’s “Fettushoenie Alfredo”. I asked Flores how he came up with the idea. “If one can most certainly drink champagne from a shoe why can’t one eat pasta from a shoe?” Flores postulated.
Fettushoenie Alfredo by Frankie Flores
The idea was brilliant and took a significant amount of time. Flores chose to create a 3-D sculpture because he finds outdoor sculptures to be fun and creative. It took Flores 3 months to make the pasta alone. To create the 3-D affect, Flores used industrial glue, rubber, acrylic paint, metal, and a lot of varnish. Although it was a time consuming project, Flores said, “It’s never about the time that goes into a project, but the enjoyment of knowing we did something that was different from the rest.”
The ballet shoes were created to promote The National Museum of Dance and the artist’s creations were unveiled on May 31, 2013.
