Closing Remarks

As the 2010-2011 grant cycle comes to a close, I would like to thank CreateHere once again for funding my MakeWork project. Learning about new techniques, processes and philosophies has been great for my own professional development, and fellow Chattanoogans who participated in the visiting artist events have shared lots of positive feedback.

A final recap:

Tion "Bukue One" Torrence visited Chattanooga last October as the first visiting artist funded by my MakeWork grant. Tion facilitated the "Breathe" mural on Main Street, which kicked off Mark Making's ongoing street art programming ("Urban Heart Beat"). After "Breathe" went up, we heard lots of positive comments from neighborhood residents and Mark Making Facebook followers. The mural stayed up for its intended duration without getting tagged despite concerns and a letter from the city forewarning us that this project would lead to vandalistic use of graffiti.

As for Tion, he was fabulous! We couldn't have asked for a better graff guy. Hope to get him back in town to do more walls in the near future.

Tion's visit generated some healthy discussion about graffiti and contributed to a more open attitude toward street art in Chattanooga. Mark Making has since been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga to fund a series of street art murals on M.L. King Boulevard!

The Masseys' visit in February was also a great success. It exposed me to new ways to make collaborative public art and led to a shift in Mark Making's mission. Since the Massey weekend, we have been hosting open design workshops for all our murals to encourage more professional design input.

During their visit, the Masseys commented that Chattanooga has an abundance of prime real estate for public art: high-visibility buildings with large blank surfaces. With so much muraling space, Mark Making is eager to get other artists and community members painting! People occasionally contact us with mural ideas that are outside of Mark Making's mission. Though we can't take on every good project idea ourselves, we want to inspire other creative residents to make their own marks. To this end, we are seeking community outreach opportunities in which we can create dialogue, liaise, share contacts, and consult with other people who want to make public art in Chattanooga. Facebook has been a great forum for provoking debate, soliciting feedback, and networking with local artists and art enthusiasts.

Another repercussion of the Massey weekend is the Community Statement on Public Art, synthesized from the charrette input and posted here last month (see below). I have since shared it with artists and art organizations, local government officials and other community players. It is a great tool for public art advocacy and is especially relevant now as Allied Arts prepares its Cultural Plan 2011.

In closing, I'll share some videos of the Massey weekend. These were created by UTC videographers Bill Moore, Thomas Ramsay, and Lauren Turner. Many thanks to these students and to their professor Mike Andrews, who partnered with us to make this happen.

"A Creative Experiment with Ed & Bernie Massey": The Camp House, Feb. 26, 2011 (by Thomas Ramsey)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q0P1kj67AM

"Bringing the Public into Public Space": CreateHere, Feb. 27, 2011 (by Bill Moore)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyjpIa68jVM

"Center for Creative Arts: Brainstorm in the Classroom": CCA, Feb. 28, 2011 (by Lauren Turner)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK5Fhkyjgl8&feature=channel_video_title

Community Statement on Public Art

I'd like to use this post as a more thorough follow-up to the Massey charrette. Here's a recap: On February 27, Ed and Bernie Massey gave a presentation at CreateHere, followed by a brainstorming session directed by Pam Glaser. Pam is a Senior Planner with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency. Many thanks to her for facilitating the workshop and helping us synthesize the results.

In the charrette, Pam asked participants to consider the following questions:

1. Why is public art important to the community? What should we as a community ask for in terms of public art?



2. What partners can you identify (at the individual, organizational or business level) that should be involved in the creation and promotion of Community Based Public Art?



3. How should we as a community promote and/or create more Community Based Public Art?

Participants worked in groups to brainstorm responses, and their ideas are synthesized in the statement below. In light of Allied Arts' Cultural Plan 2011, this statement is especially relevant for our city.

COMMUNITY STATEMENT ON PUBLIC ART

For Chattanoogans, community- based art is essential to the cultivation of our collective identity and enhances our sense of place. It promotes civic dialogue, builds community, attracts attention and economic benefit, connects artists with the community and enhances the public’s appreciation of art.

Public art impacts a community visually, economically, and educationally. At its most basic level, it brightens neighborhoods and diversifies visual landscapes. Public art projects also stimulate the economy and provide employment for artists and patronage for supporting industries. Further, public art creates opportunities to extend art education beyond the classroom to engage a diverse group of participants.

Perhaps most significantly, public art contributes to a cohesive neighborhood identity, helping residents develop a sense of place within a broad community context.

HOW DO WE ACCOMPLISH THIS?

We can promote and create more community-based public art by:

incorporating multiple art forms (not just visual),

exploring functional art projects,

consulting with experts from other cities,

and tracking our own successes.

In addition, we can create incentives to encourage private giving and work to cultivate relationships with the City, local businesses, and grassroots organizations.

Applying New Techniques

With the two visiting artist weekends behind me, I've been thinking about how I can apply what I've learned to my own work at Mark Making. Though Bukue One and Portraits of Hope work in different community contexts and have different missions than Mark Making, we confront similar challenges in the preparation, education, and promotion stages of public art creation.

One of the most useful lessons I learned is to incorporate input from professional artists and creative thinkers on the front end of a project. The Massey workshop at the Camp House was such a success that I decided to make workshops part of Mark Making's routine planning process.

This creates opportunities for more people to participate in Mark Making projects, helps me approach property owners with a compelling design proposal already mapped out, and streamlines the project scheduling and execution.

I planned Mark Making's first design brainstorming workshop for two weeks after the Masseys left town (see photo above). The priority for the workshop was a new design for the H*art Gallery wall on Main Street, and we considered other future sites as well. The photo below shows some ideas that came out of the workshop.

The workshop was a success, though the set-up needs some fine-tuning that will come with more experience. In the future, I will encourage people to familiarize themselves with Mark Making's mission and past projects in advance. That way participants will be on the same page and ready to collaborate when they walk in the door.

I have scheduled another workshop for this weekend to consider future mural sites on ML King Blvd. I've had a great response so far and am looking forward to another productive session! If any readers are interested in more information, please contact me at frances@markmaking.org.

Massey Weekend Debrief

The Massey weekend was a great success! Thanks to all of you who came out to show your support and enthusiasm for public art in Chattanooga. Your creativity and collaboration were inspiring!

Below is a recap of the weekend's events.



ARTIST WORKSHOP: Camp House, Sat., Feb. 26

Ed and Bernie Massey arrived late Friday night and spent some time touring Chattanooga on Saturday. Their first big event was Saturday evening at the Camp House (2/26 from 4-7 pm). Just over 30 people attended; many came with a background in art, and others were simply creative thinkers with open minds and great ideas! The Masseys started with a presentation, which focused heavily on Ed Massey's independent artwork prior to Portraits of Hope's founding.

After the presentation, participants worked together with their table groups to create models of public art projects. Each table drew a site and artist population out of a can (examples: 40 people in wheelchairs at the Choo Choo, 50 Erlanger employees from the Maintenance Department at the Riverside Drive entrance off Veteran's Bridge).

The photo to the right shows a group designing a mural to brighten South Broad Street. Their population was 50 students from UTC and Chattanooga State's Art Departments.

Each table had an hour to collaborate on their public art ideas. Gerle Haggard played some great music while everyone was working. After an hour, the table groups presented their work
to the rest of the workshop participants.

I was so pleased with the outcomes! It was great to see artists
and creative Chattanoogans collaborating with people they had just met to brainstorm public art proposals!

(Above: maquette of Riverside Drive entrance off Veteran's Bridge)

CHARRETTE: CreateHere, Sun., Feb. 27

On Sunday evening, the Masseys gave another presentation at Create Here (2/27 from 6-9 pm), followed by a charrette/brainstorming session led by Pam Glaser, a Senior Planner at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency.

About 35 people attended the Create Here presentation.

During the charrette, each table group considered three main focus areas: the importance of public art to the community, partners that should be involved in the creation and promotion of community-based public art, and how we as a community can move projects forward.

Groups wrote down their ideas and posted them on the wall for other participants to see. At the end of the exercises, each individual "voted" for their favorite ideas by marking them with stickers.

The notes that came out of the brainstorming activities were later typed into a Word document and will be used to create a community statement on public art.

The outcomes of the charrette exercise will guide me as Executive Director of Mark Making by providing a bank of community input on why and how public art can transform our community. I hope the participants were also enthused and inspired to create and contribute to public art projects in Chattanooga's future.

STUDENT WORKSHOP: Center for the Creative Arts, Mon., Feb. 28

On Monday, the Masseys demonstrated Portraits of Hope's civic education programming by teaching a select group of students at Chattanooga's Center for Creative Arts (CCA). The Masseys' approach was well structured and creative. Their main emphasis was on collective decision making and each participant's personal contribution to society as a whole. The class activities focused on three part expression: group, individual, and vision.

The students broke into groups to collaboratively allocate funding to education, foreign relations, environment, and/or health care. The Masseys insisted that each student take his/her own self-interest into account when deciding which social issues deserved funding and which didn't. Then the students completed individual vision statements that articulated where they see themselves in the next 10 years. Their statements specifically identified how their future positions could be used to contribute to the social issue about which they care the most. Each student then painted a cardboard mini-lifeguard stand to visually express their concern for the social issue.

At the end of the class, the Masseys had a dramatic introduction to Tennessee's weather when the school went into a tornado drill. All was well in the end, though, and the Masseys' flight left as scheduled.


Overall, I was extremely impressed with the Masseys' approach and can't wait to incorporate what I learned from them in my own work!

Invitations are out!

Artists booked, plane tickets purchased, accommodations secured, and invites sent! The Masseys will arrive in just a few weeks.

For those of you who are new to my blog, here's a recap of what I'm doing: As a 2010 MakeWork grant recipient, I'm sharing my professional development experiences with other Chattanoogans by bringing nationally-renowned public artists to town for collaborative weekend workshops.

For the Masseys' visit, I am planning three separate events, each of which will focus on a different aspect of the Masseys' experience and target a different audience.

The first big event of the upcoming weekend is a workshop for local artists at Camp House on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 4-7 pm (see invite pictured above).

Ed and Bernie Massey will begin with a presentation of their work. In particular, Ed Massey will discuss his personal experience as an artist, first as an easel painter and later as a public art collaborator. He will discuss his transition from one professional focus to the other, the reasons for that shift, and the way his perspective on art has evolved in the process.

Participants will then break into groups to brainstorm creative visual solutions - represented by maquettes - to various local issues. It will go something like this: Each table will be given a hypothetical location, population, and budget. Working with paper, playdoh, and other provided materials, participants will collaborate to create maquettes of public art responses to each situation.

I hope to have a local band or musician playing some background music, and refreshments will be provided. Should be a lot of fun!

Pictured to the right is another invitation to a very different kind of charrette that will consider ways to involve the public in what our city looks like. It will take place Sunday, Feb. 27 from 6-9 pm at CreateHere. I'm currently looking into catering options for the event.

Sunday's charrette will appeal to a broader audience of city/regional planners, creative thinkers, educators, art enthusiasts, local businesspeople, and anyone else invested in Chattanooga's future. The Masseys will focus on the value of public art - especially by nonprofessional artists - in city and community development.

In my personal experience as Executive Director of Mark Making, I have found that Chattanoogans value and appreciate this type of art. In a recent survey about the newly-installed Bluff Furnace project near the Hunter Museum, we found that 91% of surveyed Riverwalkers said they would like to see more site-specific, public art projects done by nonprofessional artists in Chattanooga.

Both the artist workshop and charrette are free of charge thanks to CreateHere MakeWork funding, but space is limited. Anyone can register by e-mailing feedthevision@gmail.com. I'll need volunteers to help set up and break down events as well, so any interested readers should also send an e-mail my way!

Finally, I'm planning a class for middle school students at Center for the Creative Arts (CCA) on Monday, Feb. 28. This event will be a great professional development opportunity for me because it will give me a chance to see how the Masseys interact with students in a classroom setting. The class will also focus on civic education: how can we inspire students to be better citizens through participation in the arts? If any local educators are interested in coming to observe, please contact me for more info.

The Masseys will head home after Monday's class. Should be a packed weekend!

Feel free to e-mail or call me with questions and/or volunteer offers. Remember to RSVP by e-mail if you plan to attend one of the events; I'll register people as I hear from them until space fills up.

Frances McDonald
feedthevision@gmail.com
(423) 605-5257

Planning & Logistics

Now that the Masseys have confirmed, we are knee-deep in logistics - flights, accommodations, scheduling, etc. The finalized dates for the visit are Friday, Feb. 25 through Monday, Feb. 28.

I am excited to announce that I have booked the Artists Gallery Residence, owned and furnished by local artist Miki Boni, for the Masseys overnight accommodations. Great downtown location and beautiful artwork - what a fitting alternative to a hotel for our visiting artists! I'm including some photos of the residence in this month's post.

As for flights, I've been watching for prices to drop, and I just found a great itinerary/price combo - waiting for the Masseys approval and then we'll be set to book!

I've also made a Save-the-Date for a charrette (brainstorming session) with the Masseys on Monday, Feb. 28, and that should go out by the end of this week. The event will (of course) be free, thanks to MakeWork funding, and I'll be asking people to register via e-mail. Details to come.

Grosso modo, the charrette objectives are to create dialogue among city planners, social entrepreneurs, public art enthusiasts, and other interested parties about what a re-revitalization of Chattanooga might look like. What do we want the future of Chattanooga to be? How do we further our reputation as a hub of creative activity in the South?

The charrette will also address the role public art could play in our vision for the city's future. I think it will be helpful to differentiate the work I do with my organization, Mark Making, from other examples of public art in other cities - to give Chattanoogans a broader context for the role of public art in city development.

My goal for the Massey visit is not necessarily to create a Massey-style project in Chattanooga. Instead, I want to discuss the "Massey model" of public art and community development in the context of our city, its present strengths, and its future opportunities. The Masseys' visit will allow the thinkers and doers in our city to explore, absorb, and learn from the Masseys' philosophies, teaching methods, BIG thinking, logistics, and marketing.

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