Fits & Starts Project Sites exhibits contemporary art on a front lawn in Kingston, NY. Readily visible to pedestrians and vehicle passengers alike, artworks are on view 24/7, rain or shine, during the duration of their installation. This DIY project invites intimacy and communication between neighbors, community, and artists.

Fits & Starts activates a lawn by transforming it into a site of exhibition and engagement. Front lawns occupy a territory that is neither entirely public nor private; they are a bridge between the vast outside world and exclusive interior spaces. By using this hidden-in-plain-site location, Fits & Starts nurtures a symbiotic relationship between artists and the community. Artists receive a place to grow their practices and connect with new audiences, and viewers receive the opportunity to experience contemporary art in an every day, yet unexpected place.

The project exhibits work by mid-career women and genderqueer living artists to offer these artists a platform for experimenting and sharing their art, ideas, and creativity. Rather than emphasizing the exciting “emerging” phase of an artist’s career, or triumphantly lauding an aging, often female, artist’s work, Fits & Starts celebrates artists who are in the midst of it. Middles can be tricky. They are full of questions, curiosities, wandering… any manner of things unresolved. By emphasizing this particular phase in an artist’s career, Fits & Starts honors the complicated reality of artists' lives and creates a space to make them more visible.

Inspiration
The lawn location is inspired by yard art as well as community-embedded public art sites, including: Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project, Vanessa German's ArtHouse and Sabina Ott's Terrain Biennial.