The Builders Association performed their show, “Continuous City” last night here in Champaign-Urbana. I was intrigued by the publicity, since it was supposed to be about cities, social networking, and theatre all at once, and how cool is that? The funders also touted the “boundary-pushing” and “cross-cultural” understanding of interdisciplinary art productions like this one. […]
YES!
Jane Rendell wrote in 2000: …[A]rchitecture takes inspiration from other spatial arts. Architects can learn possible tactics and strategies from the work of feminists in dance, film, art and writing, as well as those artists operating in the public spaces of the city, for example, Niki de Saint Phalle, Maya Lin and Suzanne Lacy. I […]
Active History
There’s a conference coming up in the Fall of 2008 in Toronto called “Active History.” I have been having email “conversations” with several colleagues about the roles that history plays in contemporary art practice, in design studios, and in community settings. Nick Brown reminded me of a couple of efforts in Pittsburgh and in Toronto […]
The Audacity of Desperation
The art exhibit, “The Audacity of Desperation,” curated by Sarah Ross and Jessica Lawless left Urbana’s Independent Media Center and opened last weekend in NYC at PS 122. Congratulations Sarah and Jessica! The closing of the exhibit in Urbana launched the Continental Drift through the Midwest, organized by the fantastic folks of the Radical Midwest […]
Community as Intellectual Space
The 4th annual Community as Intellectual Space symposium was held June 13-15. I will be chewing on all that transpired for some time. For now, let me express my pleasure at meeting Josue Pellot, an artist who did a neon project in a storefront on Paseo Boricua. I look forward to talking with him more […]
Control: A State of Agreement
There is a new film available, either on the web or as a DVD, called “A State of Agreement,” about the work of artist Stephen Willats. Charlotte Ginsburg directed it, with Andrew Wilson as the interviewer. There are some great views of Stephen’s flat full of clocks and lamps in London. Also, Wilson and Willats […]
Cesar Chavez Digital/Mural Lab
Together with UCLA, the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), founded by Judy Baca in Los Angeles 28 years back, runs the only lab that creates community-based digitally-generated public art for murals, the Cesar Chavez Digital/Mural Lab. SPARC also works with folks to create banners, websites, performances, video and public monuments. “The Great Wall […]
Mali Intersection, Urbana Crossroads
Isn’t this cool? What a way to mark an intersection! Here’s what artist Janet Goldner writes about it: The Association Segou-Laben, a group of artists in Segou [Mali] including bogolan artist Boubacar Doumbia and sculptor Amahiguere Dolo, invited me to collaborate with them to create a steel sculpture for a traffic circle on the major […]
The Elusive Urbana Public Arts Commission, Part Two
This morning I wrote another letter to the members of the Urbana City Council. They are to discuss the proposal to create a Public Arts Commission on Monday night, after tabling it two weeks ago. Money is the sticking point. I am always concerned that I sound like an academic (which, of course, I am) […]
The Elusive Urbana Public Arts Commission
On Monday March 10 the Urbana (IL) City Council tabled consideration of creating a public arts commission. This was somewhat discouraging for the public arts task force. At least the Council didn’t vote it down. For what it is worth, here’s what I wrote to the Council about the importance of supporting the arts in […]
