Yearly Archives: 2011

H20 â€“ Preview: Fritzie Urquhart

April 27, 2011Green Public ArtArtists Portfolios, Arts Degree, California State University, California State University San Marcos, Diego State University, Fritzie, Garden Spaces, Heavy Duty Zippers, Memorial Hospitals, Ohio State University, Polystyrene, Public Art, San Diego Artists, San Diego Ca, San Diego Embarcadero, San Diego State University, Sculpture Garden, Synthetic Turf, University San Marcos, Water Conservation Garden

This post comes to you from Green Public Art

On May 6, 2011, H20: The Art of Conservation, at the Water Conservation Garden, San Diego, CA, will open to the public. Green Public Art reviewed over 1100 artists portfolios before inviting 14 San Diego artists to participate in the exhibition which offers San Diego homeowners an artistic alternative to incorporate water conservation into their own garden spaces. Green Public Art awarded each artist a mini-grant to develop their site-specific sculptures. In the weeks leading up to the exhibition opening the artistâ€™s concepts will be revealed on this site. Questions? Contact Rebecca Ansert, Curator, Green Public Art at rebecca@greenpublicart.com.

CONCEPT: Topichairy is a 5â€™x 4â€™x3â€™ whimsical chair that was created with 32 square yards of synthetic turf and filled with 30 cubic feet of polystyrene beans.Â The sides are secured with heavy duty zippers that are locked in place. The concept behind the sculpture was to be playful with the idea of seating and topiary. I wanted to create a giant green shrub that doubled as a chair. It is environmentally friendly and inviting, and allows visitors to interact with it. I find humor in the possibility of a sign that directs visitors to â€˜walk on the grass or sit on the topiaryâ€™.Â The Topichairy is very durable and safe and requires no maintenance other than the occasional sweeping.

ABOUT: Fritzie Urquhart strives to create art that communicates humor, irony and truth with materials that are unconventional and unexpected. She graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree and Masters of Arts degree from San Diego State University. She has exhibited her sculpture installations at California State University, San Marcos, the San Diego Embarcadero, Scripps Memorial Hospitals in La Jolla and Encinitas and the Carlsbad Sculpture Garden. Currently Urquhart works out of her studio in Carlsbad, creating sculptures and paintings.

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the masterâ€™s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public artâ€™s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.

Go to Green Public Art

Animation of Public Space through the Arts: Innovation and Sustainability

April 26, 2011Conferences, Open CallsArt Commissions, Artistic Practices, Artistic Workshops, British Columbia Canada, Cities Community, Coimbra Portugal, Community Sustainability, Creative Education, Creativity And Innovation, Cultural Administration Training, Economic Sustainability, Kamloops British Columbia, Leading Question, Public Engagement, Share Experiences, Social Sustainability, Thematic Area, Thompson Rivers University, University Of Coimbra, Utrecht School

28-30 September 2011

Centre for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra

Coimbra, Portugal

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

The Centre for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra, Portugal, together with the Utrecht School for the Arts, Utrecht, Netherlands; the Small Cities Community-University Research Alliance at Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada; and the European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centres (ENCACT) thematic area on â€˜Urban management and cultural policy of the cityâ€™ will organize a second annual symposium on Animation of Public Space through the Arts: Innovation and Sustainability.

The leading question of the 2011 symposium is how innovative artistic animation of public spaces can contribute to building more sustainable cities. Community sustainability is viewed as encompassing and intertwining environmental, cultural, social, and economic sustainability and resiliency. The forum will explore and advance arts-based approaches to sustainable city building, public engagement, and animation of public space by bringing together interdisciplinary researchers, students, and practitioners to share experiences and insights.

Among the discussion themes are:

Animation of public space through artistic practices
Sustainable use of public space
Urban-nature interactions
Community change, public engagement, and social sustainability
Community transitions and sustainabilities
Heritage and memory in the context of cultural sustainability
Creativity and innovation for sustainability
Sustainability and creative education

In the framework of the symposium there will be a special presentation and event with artists involved in Coimbraâ€™s 1976 â€œWeek of art in the streetsâ€ and special art commissions organized by CÃrculo de Artes PlÃ¡sticas de Coimbra (CAPC), a Centre for Contemporary Art.

The symposium topics will be also explored in two artistic workshops (Friday, 30th of September 2011):

Theatre workshop â€˜Animation of Public Space through Innovative Artistic Practicesâ€™: Sustainable Lifestyles Project
Eco-cultural Mapping workshop â€˜Artistic Approaches to Reengagement with Natural Public Spacesâ€™

Other partners for the Symposium include:

University of Coimbra â€˜Cities and Urban Culturesâ€™ MA and PhD programmes
University of Coimbra Department of Architecture â€“ Architecture; Design and Multimedia programmes
CÃrculo de Artes PlÃ¡sticas de Coimbra (CAPC) â€“ Centre for Contemporary Art, Coimbra, Portugal
O TeatrÃ£o, Coimbra, Portugal
Pier K, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands
STUT Theatre, Utrecht, The Netherlands

If you are interested in presenting at the symposium or within one of the workshops, please send us a proposal on your research, artistic project, or other initiative. Please include the following information:

Full contact information
Title for presentation or contribution
Intended delivery context, i.e., at the Symposium, within one of the Workshops, or Other
Format, if not a presentation
Key themes addressed
Abstract about your presentation / project (200 words)

Deadline for submissions: 15 May 2011

Proposals will be reviewed by the Organizing Committee for the Symposium.

For additional information, please contact the coordinator of the event, Dr. Nancy Duxbury, Centre for Social Studies (CES), email: duxbury@ces.uc.pt

2ND KUMASI BIENNIAL SYMPOSIUM: COMMUNITY ARTS IN FOCUS

April 26, 2011Announcements, Conferences, Open CallsAfrican Artist, Art Galleries, Artistic Practice, Arts And Craft, Biennial Symposium, Curio, Disconnection, Film Screening, Group Submissions, International Contemporary Art, Local Schools, Musical Performances, Nearby Village, Participatory Arts, Rural Community, Social Architecture, Social Concerns, Symposium Addresses, Widening Gap, Work Registration

Date: July 16 -August 6, 2011 Venue: Kumasi and the Nearby Village of Abetenim in Ashanti Region of Ghana

The problem the symposium addresses is the widening gap between contemporary African artist and the community in changing times. There is an obvious social disconnection; yet, the fine arts and craft are viewed the same by the general public, including deep in the village. How can we meaningfully engage the rural sub-Saharan population in the contemporary artistic process? How can we broaden the scope of the Curio Kiosks project of the first Kumasi Symposium that was a successful attempt to bring international contemporary art to the general public who might not normally come to art galleries and museums?

In light of these questions and social concerns, the 3-week event will focus on community arts practice, as a response to the growing problem. We define community arts, also known as “participatory arts” or “community-based arts,” as the world of artistic processes and forms made by, with, or for a community setting that may emphasize community involvement and collaboration. Most often, it involves engagement with the issues and practices for communal bonds and empowerment for grassroots social change. We will use Kumasi City-Abetenim rural sites such as market places, local schools, village centers, and others as laboratories for workshops, artistic interventions, site-specific installations, lectures and other community-based approaches from around the world.

Registration for the 3-week event will be $520 / â‚¬395 / Â£328 in Ghana or equivalent in local currency; and early registration is $466 / â‚¬350 / Â£305 (till April 17, 2011). Participants are responsible for the costs of travel and materials; and we will provide you with a letter of candidature for your sponsor. Hotel accommodation or homestay for cultural immersion can be arranged within your budget. Dinner will be by cooperative kitchen in which we all work together in sharing the planning, cost, shopping and cooking; the estimate is $7-9/day. It has been more of a dinner party, a time to come together to sample national cuisines, have fun at the table and bond as a community. The symposium opens with a 2-day seminar. It will close with a Community ArtsFest, which will involve two days of exhibitions and screenings of project results along with food and performances by indigenous music and dance troupes from surrounding villages. Prizes to the winners of the â€œGHANA: 2011 OPEN ARchiTecture CHALLENGEâ€ (International art+architecture Design Competition) will be awarded at the closing banquette.

Grand Prize Winning Entry

(Design Team: Mitsuru Hamada, Architect, Tokyo, Japan)

Second Prize Winning Entry

(Design Team: Giuseppe Calabrese, Architect, Sydney, Australia)

Third Prize Winning Entry

(Design Team: Claire Taggart, Architect, London, UK)

Interested individuals and collaborative groups should apply by submitting the abstract of your paper (200 words maximum) for the seminar or project proposal in English with a brief biography (200 words maximum) of the presenter to info@nkafoundation.org. The submitter should include title of the contribution and author(s) information such as name, affiliation, address, phone contact, and e-mail. Upon acceptance, author(s) can decide to publish the full text or only the abstract in symposium proceedings. The deadline for the full text submission is July 1. If submitting full paper (6,000 words maximum in APA format) e-mail it to info@nkafoundation.org and/or nkaprojects@gmx.com. For additional information go to www.nkafoundation.org

(Press Version)

2ND KUMASI BIENNIAL SYMPOSIUM: COMMUNITY ARTS IN FOCUS

Date: July 16 -August 6, 2011 Venue: Kumasi and the Nearby Village of Abetenim in Ashanti Region of Ghana

The 3-week event will focus on community arts practice, as a response to the growing problem of widening gap between contemporary African artist and the rural community. We will use Kumasi City-Abetenim rural sites such as market places, local schools, village centers, and others as laboratories for workshops, artistic interventions, site-specific installations, lectures and other community-based approaches from around the world. Thus, we invite individual or group submissions for community theatre, media arts, readings, film screening, slide shows, open studios, visual activism, musical performances, community design, social architecture and others to allow the rural community to become acquainted with international contemporary artistic practice. Project is open to only serious applicants. For additional information or registration e-mail to info@nkafoundation.org and/or nkaprojects@gmx.com. Project web site is www.nkafoundation.org.

KUMASI CURIO KIOSKS II

(Arts+ Architecture Social Experiment)

Kumasi Curio Kiosks II is a part of the 2nd Kumasi Biennial Symposium that will run from July 16 – August 6, 2011, as a response to the growing problem of widening gap between contemporary arts practitioners and the broader public across the sub-Sahara. As arts+ architecture social experiment, project is to bring together arts specialists, architects, and social interest groups from diverse parts of the world in a transnational platform to trade in cultural capital with the local public who might not normally come to art galleries and museums.

In the project, we will use Kumasi City-Abetenim rural spaces such as market places, local schools, and village centers, as empirical sites for curio kiosk workshops, artistic interventions, site-specific lectures and other community-based approaches from around the world. Each participant or collaborating team will created own curio kiosk; the size/design is open to the subject-specific needs and site-specific necessities. We use the term “curio kiosk” in anticipation that the outward design or content will invoke curiosity and bear special attraction to the public.

Thus, we invite individual or group submissions for community theatre, media arts, readings, film screening, slide shows, open studios, visual activism, musical performances, community design, social architecture and others to allow the rural community to become acquainted with international contemporary artistic practice. Project is open to only serious applicants; submissions will be reviewed until July 8, 2011. Submit your curio kiosk proposal (sketches/description) to info@nkafoundation.org and/or nkaprojects@gmx.com. Project web site is www.nkafoundation.org. And we seek as we go, nominations for the Project Curator and an expert in filmmaking/media arts, to do the DVD and create the e-publication.

Photos from the 2009 Kumasi Curio Kiosks

Slipper Kiosk Project by Patrick Tagoe-Turkson, Ghana

Portrait Shop by Brigitte Mulders, The Netherlands (portrait painter)

For additional information on the 2009 Kumasi Curio Kiosks, see:

(1) http://www.artinprocess.com/Kiosks this is a 05:56 minute video on Curio Kiosks Project.

(2) Photo Documentary, 500 photos on Flickers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/artinprocess/sets/72157621992680241/ and

(3) http://www.wandsbektransformance.de/news.html to download the Artists’ Catalogue.

H20 â€“ Preview: Lea de Wit

April 25, 2011Green Public ArtArtists Portfolios, Corning Museum Of Glass, Corning New York, De Wit, Deer Isle Maine, Falling Rain, Garden Spaces, Glass Artist, Glass Water, Hand Blown Glass, Haystack Mountain School Of Crafts, Patio Cover, Patio Garden, Precious Commodity, Rare Occurrence, Red Deer College, San Diego Artists, Wall Hangings, Water Conservation Garden, Water Droplets

This post comes to you from Green Public Art

CONCEPT: Precious, 21 hand-blown glass pendents. Water is a precious commodity that is often taken for granted. In our desert-like environment, rain is a rare occurrence, one to be celebrated and revered. It seems only fitting to create a piece that not only mirrors the preciousness of water as well as pays homage to the importance and beauty of rain. For this exhibit, I will create a series of hand-blown glass water droplets. Glass is the chosen medium as it is inherently precious because of its fragility as well as, ironically, it is in a liquid form when the pieces are first formed. The piece is to be installed as a canopy of pendant glass droplets suspended from the patio cover in the Patio Garden Exhibit to echo the pattern of falling rain. There is seating below the installation that will invite visitors to sit and ponder the value of water and how everyone can play a part in the conserving of it.

ABOUT: Glass artist, Lea de Wit, creates sculptures, wall hangings, and vessels that delight and inspire. She has received instruction at Scuola del Vetro, Abate Zanetti, in Murano, Italy, at Red Deer College in Canada, at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. She received a scholarship to study with Mary Van Cline at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. She has studied under Italian glassblowing masters, Pino Signoretto, Elio Quarisa, and Davide Salvadore, and renowned glass sculpture artist, Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen. Her work is part of art collections at Marriott International, Inc., Rady ChildrenÊ¼s Hospital, City of Vista Civic Center, Professional Hospital Supply, Inc., LÊ¼Auberge Del Mar, Aveda Corporation, and Vistage International, Inc. as well as other corporate and private collections nationwide.

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the masterâ€™s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public artâ€™s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.

Go to Green Public Art

CSPA Quarterly FIVE

April 25, 2011newsAddress, Emily, Global Issues, Holden, Impressive Projects, International Initiatives, Jb, Mendelsohn, Moe, Quarterly Issue, Roberta, Shinji, Spotlight, World Forum, Yamamoto

Our fifth issue is available now on MagCloud. Â We’ve given spotlight to some impressive projects that address global issues.

CSPA Quarterly Issue 5: Issue FIVE

Our fifth issue of the CSPA Quarterly called for work related to International Initiatives. Contributors include ARTPORT, Arts in the One World, Forum for the Future, Moe Beitiks, Roberta Holden, JB Kyabaggue and Emily Mendelsohn, and Shinji Turner-Yamamoto.