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Week 4: Class

I led the discussion today about the Creative Placemaking reading. We broke into groups of two based on chapter and talked about the key points of the readings. We then went around the class and had each group unpack their chapter and talk about how it applied to the greater whole of the book, but also to Passion Works and the Athens community.

Ch.1) Gia and myself: the artists role in creative placemaking

Ch.2) Liam & Jessica: town and community, revamping storefronts, enriching community that’s already in place (good bones), investing in partnerships (large investors?)

Ch.3) Delia & Marcus: building culture slowly and inclusively, progression+roots=building together

Ch.4) Emma (Delia pitched in): relationships as the medium, flexibility, high expectations, and mutual respect, government and artists can come together with each of their strengths to build sustainable community relationships

Ch.5) Mara & Belle-Pilar: cultural expectation, budgeting and community (safe space), infrastructure and development (government subsidized housing-->how do cities create space for artists?), hand-made capitalism (trendy-->how to produce locally made product and economic growth rather than outsourced product based on trend?), how to create space for artists that’s no based on capitalistic gain?, economic expectations of artists can hinder success

Ch.6) Rachel & Zoe: Art Place America, organizations need community drive and to reflect the surrounding culture to be successful, importance of sustainability, compromise in outsourcing artists to work with community artists (more partnerships!)

Question: how to organizations based around a specific personality (like Patty) sustain themselves and maintain connections?

Nancy, one of the Passion Works staff, sat and talked with us a little bit about the history of Passion Works and what it was like when Patty had stepped away for about a decade. Once Passion Works partnered with Creative Foundations, they were able to become what they are today. They were able to be open 5 days a week as a main facility and provide transportation for the artists, rather than a couple hour program 3 days a week. HUGE difference.

Kate also gave her visiting artist talk after we helped her work on her project for awhile.

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Week 5: Reading

This week we’re looking at the NEA Our Town Grant application. This grant is the National Endowment for the Arts funding for creative placemaking. It supports projects that integrate the arts through various modes of events/activities that advance the local community. The grant is both place-based and knowledge-based. It is not for individuals or to recognize personal or organizational achievement. In fact, to be eligible, you have to have at least 2 partnerships with either non-profits or a local government entity. The Place-Based goals for the grant are projects that bring new energy, attention, elevation, and connection to a community, its’ history, and its’ infrastructure. It’s for urban, rural, and tribal communities alike. The main goal is the STRENGTHEN COMMUNITIES through positive change and intentional project.

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Week 5: Visit

Today, I went into Passion Works and helped finish up the visiting artist Mary’s projects for the Kennedy Museum exhibit and then sanded down scrap blocks from a local business for the artists to utilize. I was present when the person dropped the scraps off and it was great to have a conversation with him about their partnership with the studio. I love being able to watch the way everyone interacts with one another, good days and bad, and how I can fit into such an environment. There are some days, like the beginning of my visit today, that I feel like a burden. Because I’m unfamiliar with how everything runs at the studio, I can’t just walk in and get to work. I need to ask and be shown a task. But that’s something you deal with when starting anything new: the feeling of being an outsider. But as my time there passed, I quickly felt like they made room for me. I couldn’t help but think kind that was. And frustrating at times. We all bring our own baggage to the table, but it’s not about me. It’s not about my insecurities. It’s about showing up. Humbling yourself. Being okay with feeling uncomfortable. Today, I just felt very human.

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Week 4: Visit

Today, I worked on painting the ‘flesh cells’ that Kate, a visiting artist and longtime friend of Passion Works, had our class make 2 weeks ago for the upcoming show at The Kennedy Museum. It was a fairly quiet day, what with the flu/cold that’s been going around. Most of the artists were sitting and working as well. Jade from our class joined me in painting the little paper-machè creations. It felt refreshing to make loose and responsive marks on something. To have fun with it. I forget what that’s like sometimes what with being in grad school and always being “on”. I really enjoy my visits outside of class at Passion Works: to be able to walk through the door and just be there. I find the way that everyone interacts with one another to be so important: there’s no placating. 

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Week 4: Reading

How to do Creative Placemaking (National Endowment for the Arts, 2017). 

I read the first chapter in this reading, which was based around five key lessons and one case study:

1) Artists play a key role in community planning due to their creative thinking, community awareness, inclusivity, expressive nature, and diversity (aka community driven)

2) Equitable creative placemaking cornerstones:

-recognize and respect cultural ‘dark matter’ as a community asset (understand why/how a community works)

-engage artists and community members from the beginning

-art and creativity aren’t magic, they’re science

-centering cultural practices in community development process serves equity and access

3) We can use art/artists in understanding the community and fight inequity

-art brings mindfulness forward in working toward equitable development

4) artist as advocate

-building bridges and speaking for unheard (rethink, repurpose, reinvigorate)

5) Creative placemaking through performace

6) Case study: Dance Exchange, Maryland, NH

Although this part of the reading made some valid points, I have issue with how it categorizes ‘the artist’. Are all artists supposedly leaders? Networkers? Active creative minds ripe for the picking for whatever creative activity you throw their way? It speaks about artists as if they’re all one type of person. I think that the more accurate way to describe what the author is discussing is ‘creative thinking’.

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Week 3: Class

Today was a shorter and quieter class because it was the Friday and first day of the Paw Paw fest, which Passion Works plays a key part in. We had class discussion about the reading and about what each of our experiences were with festivals. After researching the surrounding area, I found the amount of festivals in Ohio incredible. The most astounding one to me was Mound Fest, which situates itself near the Native American burial mounds in the area but doesn’t respect their histories. It’s the outright celebration of colonialism. It was nice to have some extended discussion today to unpack a lot of the reading and work we’ve been doing about Passion Works. I really enjoy critical dialogue and analyzing the structure and models at hand, as well as the hands on works we do there.

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Week 3: Reading

Karen de Bres and James Davis, "Celebrating Group and Place Identity: a case study of a new regional festival," Tourism Geographies (2001): 326-337.

This was an article related to the Paw Paw Festival that’s going on over the weekend. It discusses the importance of festivals to a local community and creating a sense of place. It defined festivals as ‘formal periods or programs of pleasurable activities, entertainment, or events having a festive character and publicly celebrating concept, happening or fact.’ The article goes on to talk about the festival as a reflection of the town’s culture and history. However, I think the article glosses over a lot of various affects a festival can have. It also is talking specifically about a smaller, rural(ish) type of festival, whose attributes don’t necessarily extend to the urban setting. I do think that the concept of a community event bringing people together and enriching the local economy is a positive one, but I wish the data was a little more honest and wide reaching.

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Week 2: Class

Today, we discussed the Creative Abundance Model from Patty and Susan’s book. We broke down the twelve steps, which are 1) Granting permission 2) Funding 3)Staff acceptance and implementation 4) Your waitress doesn’t eat your food 5) Power to the people 6) Community partnerships 7) Culture shift 8) Expectations shift 9) Environment 10) Continuous evolution of discovery 11) The nature of attraction 12) Share the abundance. I was part of group number 7 & 8, which discussed the before and after affects of care and how it’s institutionally distributed and discussed.  

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Week 2: Readings

Patty Mitchell and Susan Dlouhy, Upcycling Sheltered Workshops (Ohio University Press, 2015).

This was a great reading about the model that Passion Works Studio itself runs on within the Athens community. It helped me understand what the studio is based on and how its service model came it be. It’s written in an uplifting and optimistic manner, breaking down the steps in which service is provided into twelve parts. The author’s talk a lot about the before and after of care within the community of people with developmental differences. It was critical to understand how this type of care is typically done in comparison to the way Passion Works embodies it. And the results of the shift in mindset. It’s an inspiring read.

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Week 2: Visit

Today, I spent 3 hours at Passion Works, getting to know the artists and other volunteers. I painted lasercut pawpaw pendants for earrings and necklaces that Passion Works then sells at the annual Paw Paw Festival in Nelsonville, OH. I love doing meticulous detail work and design, so this task was a perfect fit. It allowed me to sit in one place and interact with the people around me. Just being present there allows me, as an artist, student, and individual, to step outside myself and remember what it's like to serve. Admittedly, it's not something that I've done in a long time. Pursing a master's degree, especially one in art, is a somewhat selfish pursuit. But it doesn't have to be. Passion Works reminds me that my view of what art is and how it's made can be narrow, but there's always room for growth. There's no sense of ownership to the work being made there; everything is collaborative. It's the volunteers' job to facilitate and pay attention to the strengths of individual artists and provide an environment that enables creativity.

I just started my reading for the week, co-written by Patty Mitchell (the director) and Susan Dlouhy, Upcycling Sheltered Workshops (Ohio University Press, 2015). I'm excited about it. I'll let you know how it goes.

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Week 1 Readings

Readings from this week:

Janis Timm-Bottos and Rosemary Reilly, "Learning in Third Spaces: Community Art Studio as a Storefront University Classroom", American Journal of Community Psychology (2015)

Barbara Brown Wilson, "Conclusion: Toward Design Justice", in Resilience for All: Striving for Equity through Community Driven-Design (2018)

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30 Mile Studio

The Updated blog. This is my first entry on this forum but I’ll be transferring my information from my previous blog setup in chronological order.

SO. Back to square one.

What is 30 Mile Studio?

Last Friday, August 31st, was the first meeting of the 30 Mile Studio, a class run by Sam Dodd at Ohio University which partners university students with a local community organization. This fall, we'll be partnering with Passion Works Studio, which is run by Patty Mitchell and is a collaborative arts center in Athens, Ohio that supports artists with developmental differences.

I'm one of five graduate students who are participating in this project, with another seven undergraduate students. I feel privileged to be able to contribute in any way we can to Patty's vision of this community model and to the people who are involved with it.