No. 6. Case of the Purloined Cupcake
This tiny composite photo, measuring 2″ X 8,” will soon be installed as a mural in West Reading, PA—a mini mural that is.
Artist Michael L Miller of West Reading is organizing a project called West Reading Museum of Temporary Art and Personal Histories. He gathered the stories of 120 residents, from past to present, and matched the stories with 120 artists who will create the tiny works of art to be installed, each on the side of a brick on a building in town.
The story I was assigned involved several teenaged boys, many years ago. They were hanging out on Penn Ave. when a girl with a car picked them up. On her keychain was a key to Van’s Bakery, then closed for the day. Using the key the group pilfered some cupcakes and absconded to Wyomissing Park across the borough line, where they polished off their booty. Van’s Bakery was located where Chatty Monks, an upscale eatery & bar, is now situated.
Here is the little artist’s statement I sent with the piece. “Teenaged boys on the Avenue, a girl with a car, a key to Van’s bakery add up to a bit of after-hours mischief and light-fingered cupcakes. This little story inspired my composite photograph. In all my composites I have used my own photos – up to now. In honor of the purloined cupcakes devoured in Wyomissing Park by the adolescent confectionary bandits, I lifted the one in this composition from the Internet.”