Webster's Wood photos

I took lots of photos in Webster's Woods. Here is Witness by Judith Bird (far left) and Linger (Sight, Light) by Carolyn Law.

mural opportuity

Hi, Nicole,

Are you getting the RACC newsletter, from Portland area ?? There is a call for mural projects. (I don't know if they are only for portland-area artists or not, or if you have someone there you can team up with).

RACC.ORG

Webster Woods

Went to Webster Woods today and the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center with a high school field trip. There was a great teen exhibit which culminates a six months outreach program through the Center. They go to Clallam County high school art classes and coach and critique kids through making quality work for this exhibit. Plus a small stipend and art supplies are awarded. Then this wonderful show.
In the Woods, I saw Deanna's work--not Coyote Condo, not yet, but another twisted pvc pipe bench and white "tree". Also many other wonders on a beeeaautiful, warm day. So amazed with this whole string of warm days--lulled into leaving my car windows open and my wash on the line all night.

Deanna, you must come drink sangria in my garden.

Narrative statement

To all G3s on the contributor list--are you presently working on your narrative statement? Is it possible to make it just 5 pages long? I keep going back and remembering obsessions, interests and projects that lasted not much longer than 1 semester. It feels like I have so many partially finished projects--then the next semester begins and a whole new plan of study takes over.

Short Adventure to Farmer John's

Maybe you have seen the documentary "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" or read his book,
"The Real Dirt on Vegetables." Well, Thursday - following another interview - I talked my sister into driving 15 minutes out of the way to go by the Learning Center of Angelic Organics.
www.angelicorganics.com It was quiet...no workshops going on...

Flour Bed revisted

Today I made Flour Bed again but in clay and then, in the evening when it was cooler and we knew the clay was firmer, I put mold rubber on it. It will become an aluminum casting like Saltine Bed. I brought Flour Bed air dryed clay and stamping ink version to the residency. This new metal casted version will be part of a trio of work I plan to offer as public art proposal.

Visuals

Hello All, I have uploaded a few more pics on my practicum project if you're interested. We began the day with a Farmer's Market Booth to promote the event. The other 2 pics are of the evening event itself. It was swinging party, like some hot NYC art loft party...everyone lingering and crowding with a wineglass in their hand. I saw so many PT bigwigs. The building was an old victorian with wide hallways and huge landings where we arranged the work, used various lighting sources and decorated with kids' art. Somehow it seemed elegant in a casual, west coast kind of way.

...And Following the Rain

The Chartreuse Canvas of Concrete Proportions

Taking a break from online applications and writing a memorial for a friend's service, I went out to play on the sidewalk here at my sister's place. The Maples are discarding the coverings for the little twin-seeded whirlybirds that will spin down shortly. They shed a green covering that invited action. Mercury went retrograde today, heavily impacting some communication around here, so I needed the hope provided by the remembrance of spiral pathways.



A young mother and her baby in a stroller rolled right through the sidewalk spiral, but the cars are going around the street spiral so far.

Chair Affair afterward

Seitu will see a 6-page reflection of the Chair Affair. Here, I will summarize.
There were about 300 people who streamed in throughout the night. We made about $4000, which is good for around here. Deanna and Jessica came to the event. It was a great party. The jazz trio was hot. We served wine and lots of food, which didn't run out though there was only bread, cheese, herb tea and sparkling water left at the end. We sold 25 chairs and tables, including my daughter's, which sold for $100. I think I am still tired 4 days later. --Sarah

My progress or lack of it!

Hey Gang,

I hope you all are well. After encouraging us all to keep in touch via the web, I was the one most delinquent in doing anything to set it up, sorry I've been so lax in communicating with you. 

Thanks to Sarah for sponsoring this blog and for noticing the little mention of my drinking fountain project in "Public Art Review". Sometime this week I'll attach new images of that project.

All of you all are progressing well. Your work is very strong and you all will have much to share when we all get together latter this summer or early fall. Any issues or challenges you want to share?

May is a crazy month for me. I've got three big deadlines, with two dedications a day apart at the beginning of June.

Deanna asked about my boat project. I'm building the boat with students from Gordon Parks High School in St. Paul. I'm including some photos of the students and the two pontoons that will form the platform for the shed I'm building. 

Chair Affair practicum

Here is the poster for my practicum which is as a coordinator for an annual fundraising event called Chair Affair. Showing also are some of the chairs and tables gathered so far. The event is this Saturday night. I do a lot of e-mailing, meetings, and asking for favors. Today, I picked up an unusual chair from a wood worker who didn't have time to deliver. I fill in the spaces in my organizing grid just about daily. I'll let you all know how it went. The event is featured in this week's local newspaper entertainment section and my name was mentioned.

credits: poster by Joel Burns

chairs and tables by: Laurie McClave, Lee Katzenbach & Jesse Joshua Watson

public art review -Suburbia

Several of us are reading Public Art Review, so what are y'all thinking about it ?? Which art do you like best ??

The current issue: Suburbia, has a nice mention -by name- of a certain Seitu and his drinking-water fountain for Minneapolis.... as an example of progressive public design, and the controversy that surrounded it. Congrats, Seitu !!

I love the idea of the artist's role as one who helps the community find and celebrate it's own meaning.  Beyond the aesthetic and other  benefits for the local community, this could be seen as part of a larger process of engaging the citizens, perhaps even leading toward global engagement. 

For instance, a person who feels disconnected from their heritage or extended family or the land they live on, is not likely to want to engage with issues larger than their immediate concerns (how shall i decorate my house, which box store is the cheapest ??). However, when one feels connected in a local community, one begins to see the health of that community within a larger community (my village, within my county, within my state, within my country, within my Earth...)  

Disconnectedness is a major symptom of the stereotypical suburbanite... can public art help to heal this ??

PS.. I love the Waterworks Gardens treatment plant (pg 29) and the pedestrian bridge shaped like the mountains behind it (pg 30)

smiles, deanna

other Goddard folks

I really hope ya'll don't mind that, as an administator of this blog, I made an executive decision and invited a couple other Goddard students to join. I thought, unless it was more than Deanna and I talking to each other, the conversation would soon end. Deanna and I could afterall meet at the park or the beach instead.

Here are some studio shots of the work on Turtle Island, Puget Sound.

Kristine's art blog

Hi All,
"clicking" on Kristine's name to the right side of these postings, I found her personal art blog. You must go there--it is so amazing. I'm wild about her clay lunch sacks and her whole fixation on lunch sacks and sack lunches as a metaphor for the internal mother.

ecovention

Sarah asked about "Ecovention" . Sue Spaid, author of the book /curator of the exhibit by that title, says the word was coined in 1999 and is "ecology + invention": an artist initiated project that employs an inventive strategy to physically transform a local ecology.

The work in that book is very-science based, lots of focus on reclaiming trashed waterways and lands and habitat. Some of it really pushes the boundaries of "what is art"; for instance, cataloguing deformities in amphibians or experimenting with oyster mushrooms to clean toxins from soil.

She talks about the debate surrounding older works, such as Smithson's Spiral Jetty, etc. I hadn't realized that he was actually consciously anti-reclamation (as in, don't try to 'pretty-up' the degradation caused by industry).

I really love the works that create gardens to clean waterways, or create habitat. I dream of maybe being able to do work like that someday, that really makes a difference, but I'm not sure how to get there (guess that's why I'm here.... )

nicole's mosaic

Wow, it's just beautiful, Nicole. Remind me how big this is going to be, and where it's located.

You mentioned collaboration: interesting topic. Have you had a chance to read the most recent back issue of Public Art Review (springsummer 2008)... the topic is Collaborations, several articles. Romantic partners as business partnerships; big projects gone very bad; community involvement.

I'd love to hear more about your experience and thoughts or questions on collaboration, it sounds like that's a big part of your process. Why do you choose to go that way ??
smile, deanna

coyote condo

Hi, friends,
Here are some images of the model and drawing for
"Coyote Condo",
which will be installed this June in Webster's Woods, Port Angeles Fine Art Center's sculpture park. This is the first time I've made a sound loop, and used solar panels etc; the condo is made from recycled pallets and a real huge fir stump, and the life-size coyotes will be made from papermache and resin. The sound loop will be beautiful howling and yipping, and perhaps some human monologue....
The premise of the show is "Cascadia", the northwest utopia. And what's a utopia for coyotes without lots of yummy little bite-sized bunnies ??
smiles, deanna
PS - feedback welcome: I hope this work functions as a humorous critique of over-development and land-use issues.

thanks, but...

Thanks'y'all ... but no. When I use the comment box (and have tried dozens of times), it just disappears when I click "post". I've cleared my cache and cookies, I'm using a "google account" profile, enabled comments on my own posts ... but even if I try to comment on a post/thread which I started, the comment just poofs away.

There is a button for "hide comments" or "show comments". You've all been able to leave comments on my posts, can you leave them on Sarah's or Nicole's ??

I can start new threads, but it makes the conversations messier .... we want to dialogue.

So sorry for the hassle, please send other suggestions ??
share the love, deanna

Deanna

I don't think I customized the settings to block a comment. You click on "comment" below each post and in that way you can comment specifically on that post. In the same way you can read what others have written in response to your posting and there is a number to tell you how many. Does that help?

Hey guys!  Nice to hear from you.  Great to hear that the work is going well and you're staying busy, Sarah.  Thanks again for setting this up.

I have been working mostly on the mosaic, which is coming along nicely.  As you may remember, local volunteers are helping set stones.  The list of volunteers grows every day...people seem to be really enjoying this project!  I'm still working on the Solidarity Mural in Oly but progress there has been slow and I'm finding the collaboration on that project to be challenging...the way things go with public art, ya know!

So yes, let's post pics of our work on here and I will respond to Deanna's question just as soon as I finish editing packet two!

looking forward to seeing those turtles and new work from Deanna!

nicole

Hello Nicole

Nicole, I'm glad you logged in. What have you been doing? Did you get the link I sent you for the mural in Portland? That was awhile ago.

To all: I am in a great show at Studio West in Eugene, OR. The link is http://www.visitstudiowest.com/Home.html
Also, I am working for the U.S. Census and I walk around a lot. I have knocked on a lot of doors in PT and found neighborhoods I didn't even know about. It's great to get to know this place even better.
Mark and I are going to make an ambitious proposal for a U of Hawaii call for art in Hilo. It may be crazy, but I want it.
I will download photos of the progress of our turtle commission when I have a bit more time. For now, I'm off to knock on more doors. ---Sarah

public art discussion

Hello, all !!
I'd like to have a thread for those of us interested in public art, to discuss our readings and artworks.
I'll start, but feel free to drift the conversation wherever you may.

Already, I am noticing that to say "I create Public Art" is a very broad topic !!! So far, this semester I've read "Landscapes for Art: Contemporary Sculpture Parks" and "Ecoventions: Current Art to Transform Ecologies". Here is my question to start the conversation:

What does "Site-Specific" mean to you ???

thx, deanna

Setting up Seitu's group blog

Hello All,
I have taken it on myself to set up a clean, clear place for us to meet on the compute, just for Seitu's group. Now I have to figure out how to invite you. Susan, did this for our group last semester--some of you already know this--and I enjoyed this blog spot thing so much better than facebook--no ads, no quizes, no new "friends". We can share work and comment on it. It's a little more serious I guess. Now, let me figure out how to get y'all on it.

--Sarah