Moving forward!

With the first grant weekend successfully behind us, I am moving forward with plans for the next visiting artists. I originally proposed 3 separate workshop weekends, but I have talked to CreateHere about modifying the grant to 2 weekends. I spent one third of the money on the cheapest weekend, and I would rather go all out on one other weekend than do 2 weekends half-way. CreateHere is in agreement with me on this, so now the question is who to book for the remaining weekend.

My top choice is to bring in Ed and Bernie Massey of Portraits of Hope (www.portraitsofhope.org). This would be huge for Chattanooga! Their best-known project is Garden in Transit, which started on New York taxi cabs and has grown to include blimps and airplanes. The Massey brothers are currently in negotiations with NASA to send public art into space - too cool!





I am waiting to hear back from the Masseys to see if they would be willing to do the Chattanooga workshops. Below is the proposal I sent them, and it includes a rough outline of my goals for the weekend:

THINK BIG : Meet the Masseys

As a part of Frances McDonald’s CreateHere grant project for professional development in the creation of public art, she proposes the following weekend between Ed and Bernie Massey (Portraits of Hope) and Chattanooga’s public arts community.

Scope and goals

The grant project is designed to develop Frances’ potential as a facilitator of public art generated by nonprofessional artists. This involves not only developing herself as an artist and facilitator, it also involves educating and invigorating colleagues and collaborators—including artists, architects, planners, politicians, educators, and others interested in the creation of nonprofessional public art in Chattanooga. The proposed workshop seeks

· to raise local awareness of and boost enthusiasm for public art efforts, especially those involving challenged populations.

· to promote the exchange of ideas, the why’s and how’s of this genre.

· to explore, absorb and learn from the Massey’s model and their personas: philosophy, teaching methods, their BIG thinking and its logistics & marketing.

Proposed Schedule:

Saturday: Offering the Masseys a crash course on what is Chattanooga: its history, topography, industry, tourism, population dynamics, strengths and weaknesses, and its public art history, collections, and current initiatives.

· Driving, walking, seeing and hearing about the city.

· Meeting local leaders, planners, people who understand and articulate who we are.

Sunday

· More experience of Chattanooga

· Informal session with local professional artists to talk about issues pertinent to public art projects. Questions may include these: why create public art, why create collaborative art, what makes a project successful, what strategies allow successful facilitation?

Monday

Monday will begin with a public presentation of the Masseys’ work and will continue with generative work in how to implement their ideas and techniques locally.

· Formal presentation of the Massey brothers’ work to professional Chattanooga followed by a

· Charette to generate Massey flavored or other public art ideas. Their input on and shaping of our ideas would be of utmost value.

· Classroom time with elementary or middle school students to model the Masseys’ style and content when presenting their exploration of social issues classes.

Now I just have to wait for the Masseys' response. I expect to hear from them in the next day or so. I'll keep you all posted!