Carolyn Speranza working in Public Art, Media and Community Projects

Tonight I went searching for examples of online support structures for artists and authors; initially looking for something my “Dawn of the Deadened” concept.  The Artist’s Way, is pretty close, although the focus is on writing (understandably so).  Here’s a short list of my findings:

http://theartistsway.com/forums/ Forums where people use the book as a take off point for discussion and supporting each other’s process of creating and re-creating.

http://chicagoartistsresource.org/ A practical resource for artists mostly in chi-town, but applicable to other artists.  The artist stories section is revealing.

http://www.artquest.org.uk An even more practical and (I think) much better resource than the chicago art list.  Some of the information is understandably UK skewed, but much of it is very helpful for all artists.

Yahoo Answers:  How do I get rid of artist’s block?     http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080106192534AADh1hq Great discussion.

About.com  Tips from Painters on Overcoming a Creative Block    http://painting.about.com/cs/inspiration/a/artistsblock2.htm Another one – had no idea these Q&A sites could be so rich.

And this provoking piece, linked to from Rizome http://rhizome.org/discuss/view/46414 was closest in tenor to my own point of view when I stopped making art.

Trajectories: How to Reconcile the Careerist Mentality with Our Impending Doom:  http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?review_id=394 Addresses the ethical implications of continuing to choose the career of an artist in the twenty-first century. It is a manifesto of sorts, written from the personal perspective of a young UK-based artist looking to identify worthwhile reasons for continuing down this ‘self-interested’ path, given that the future we are likely to face as a result of climate change, is so different from how we dreamt our careers might pan out whilst growing up under Thatcher and New Labour. It explores how we should aim to evolve our roles as artists, in light of this, and what form a new ‘reconciled practice’ might take.

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My most recent experience in re-inventing my artistic practice, awakening the deadened tendrils of expression – was a foray into glass painting this past week at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, in a week-long intensive. For a number of years I worked in layered transparencies, painted, printed, colored gels – using frosted, colored and clear plastics, all backlit with lightboxes – or neon. But in terms of public art and getting commissions I did not have a permanent approach to working with materials. So I thought glass painting and the application of printed material onto glass would be a perfect match! How arrogant of me, thinking I could learn such a complex approach easily, having developed the former methods over a period of years.

Now where I’m left is in an inquiry. Clearly what there is to do is keep drawing as illuminated brush work, combined with mechanically/digitally made imagery, is where my expression lies. I’m working on not making any decisions too quickly (as I often love to).

Nothing like an intensive workshop for a quick (and sometimes brutal) start-up!

I had the profound pleasure of hearing Michael Kaiser speak yesterday at the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council Year in Review, at the August Wilson Center.  He speaks the language of possibility and transformation.  He turned the paradigm for arts management on its ear.  You could hear the audience’s brains buzzing in the room, and the sense of relief, coupled with inspiration when people began to shift their vision away from “business as usual” and towards reinvention during the course of the conversation.

In case you missed him, or want more Kaiser Juice, here’s a video series of his online:

http://artsmanagerfba.artsmanager.org/video/Pages/VideoSeries.aspx

Hosted by Sandra Gibson, President and CEO of Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and featuring Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser, the Kennedy Center’s Arts in Crisis video series answers frequently asked questions heard at symposia on the Arts in Crisis national tour.

http://artsmanagerfba.artsmanager.org/video/Pages/VideoSeries.aspx

On this page, you will also find links to his blog and a great tour (Google) map of his 50 state tour, assisting and coaching people working in the arts.

Excerpt from:

KWMU: Arts group tries new community funding approach (2010-03-01).

ST. LOUIS (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Around the country arts organizations are starting a new trend in community arts funding. Groups like Feast in Brooklyn and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis are hosting soup dinners where for about $10 patrons get soup, bread and a packet containing proposals submitted by artists. After a vote by everyone at the dinner the proceeds are awarded to the artist with the most votes.

Last week, the first of these dinners in St. Louis, called Sloup, was held at a poetry chapbook shop on Cherokee street. Inside the two-story brick building on Cherokee street a couple dozen people are spread out around the room holding hot bowls of Carrot Leek soup, discussing which art project they plan on voting for.

Maggie Ginestra and Amelia Colette Jones got the idea for Sloup after attending a dinner at Incubate, an artist’s residency program in Chicago. It was Incubate’s last dinner at their current location.

“So they did kind of a retrospective on what the soup dinner has meant to Chicago and how it spread to different cities,” Ginestra said.”And what projects got funded.” Jones interjected.

“The projects that were submitted to the soup dinner were so diverse,” said Ginestra.

Maggie and Ameilia were inspired by the idea that a small group of people could not only help fund an art project, but be a part of the process and bring artists and art patrons together for a meal and discussion.

Jordan Hicks was one of the artists who submitted a proposal for the dinner.

” Yeah, I don’t really see it as a competitive sort of thing. It’s just a fun night to get together,” said Hicks.

More@ KWMU: Arts group tries new community funding approach (2010-03-01).

That is, embedding video in Google Maps and Earth.  It’s possible to create a clickable tour of a neighborhood in Google Maps and strategically use information bubbles at each location to showcase a video profile of a person, an organization or issue of common concern in that community.  In other words, film and edit a story; link it into a map of the particular region you are working in, and then embed the entire module on a web site.  For an example I’ve made, look here: http://tinyurl.com/mdvygw.

In Google Earth, take that same map module and turn it into a fly-through tour, complete with voice-over and stops across the country –or across the planet that will assist in telling your story, giving a true picture of your community.  This fly-through tour can be featured on your web side as an interactive, clickable tour, or as a narrated video.  Here’s a great example, although with pics, not video, Robert Redford’s voiceover harration just can’t be beat:  http://www.goldmanprize.org/tour

What’s your favorite example of using maps and earth to connect up a community — and broadcast their message?