Mural research

To conduct research for the mural and the Corn Hill, Plex, SWAN and other local Rochester area history we have been using the Special collections at The University of Rochester. The librarian there have been very helpful. They know a lot about the neighborhood having lived there.

We have looked at many photographers works from the 1950s and read a collection of articles from that time period.

William Bub documented via photo events that occurred during the race riots within the neighborhood. Two boxes worth of articles from paper such as The Ganett and Times Union. Some of these articles even document what was going on here but were printed in papers from LA.

Paul Hoeffler who photographed the live Jazz scene has 11 boxes of catalogued photos in the U of R collection. He photo documented musicians at the Pythodd club. The Eastmen School of Music, The War Memorial and other locations as well. He shot many many, photos of Chuck Mangione, the trumpet player, and gives a rather personal account of his life in photos.

We also spent some time looking at photo shot by Rocky Simmons depicts some scenes of local history in the 1950's and shows images of ELKs club members.

Soup can wind chimes

So I have been saving these Campbell's soup can lids for awhile. We eat a lot of soup. I am partial to the Campbell's Chunky soups. I like to use recyclable materials in my art.

We also pick up trash in the neighborhood we we go out to walk the dog. There is a lot of it in our neighborhood and I like to do my part.(Don't worry we pick up after her too.)

So I found this rim the other day.(For some reason I find a lot of those. I decided to use it and the soup lids to make a wind chime. It makes a nice sound!I may still add more lids and paint symbols on the lids. But there it is so far.

All the jobs

The five different jobs I had posted is actually more like 6 sometimes more

1. AM morning program before school ages 5-10.
2.Substitute teaching in 8 different districts primarily for art.
3.Running the Etsy shop.
4.Teaching children's art classes and coordinating the summer camp.
5.Occasional after noons at an after school program for children
6. Working on the mural

then we have ongoing studio work, submitting to art shows,applying for teaching jobs then ,eating and sleeping.

Magnolias at Highland

The magnolias are in bloom at high land park. inspired by their beauty the other day while walking the dog we went back with the camera and took some shots.I will let the photos say the rest. I want to print some t-shirts inspired by these.

Impermance

On Friday while I was coordinating the students were to understand impermanence in art.I was not the teacher, I got to learn from what the teachers shared with their students. They did yoga and learned mudras. They looked at and talked about the meaning behind Buddhist art.

I learned more about Japanese costums and various versions of the Buddha myth then I had known previously.

When I do labyrinths walk or other forms of meditation I other see a flower Whig looks similar to a louts blossom. Here I have made one out of clay. The children did not fire their clay pieces, They focused more on the process then product. I have always been inspired by earthworks and wanted to make tiny clay installations in public gardens for people to find.
Here I have placed my clay flower in the garden outside our house to share with others and allow to return to the earth. I will photograph its process of decomposition each day and see what new things it will become.

mural update

I have been spreading the work about the Commnity mural project to be painted on the Flying Squirrel. I have made phone calls, posted flyers and had many emails.

Here are some images of my progress with the sketch.

Artist trading card collbaration

I have been looking at artist trading cards for a number of years. I enjoy making small works of art. I used to work at an art supply store and we were selling these pre cut cards there. I made a few as samples.

I had some left over matte board scraps and some chip board scraps that I cut up to create Artist trading card size pieces from. I will admit they are not all cut perfectly square or to the correct Artist Trading Card size but we are experimenting after all.

I went to my friends house for brunch this last Sunday,we sometimes try to spend our days off together taking photos or doing other creative things.Most of my friends will tell you that if you are inviting me over you should expect bags or bins of art supplies to come with. Rarely do I come over to hang out without bringing a project with me. This is even true when I go out to eat.

So my friend invites me over for brunch and I have all these cards cut.

I started to add something to each card then passed it on to the next person to add one thing to it. Our boyfriends joined us as well.My boyfriend Ed, is meticulous with detail and does not always work well on the spot. My friend Erica's boyfriend work randomly and often works with found objects and photography.He is runs a computer repair shop so he added some drawing and computer parts from a recycled mother board he had.Erica,my friend is a photographer and a trained visual artist. These days she works as a florist so this was a great chance for her to get out some of her old college art supplies.

More MS Paint creations

This was made by one of the same two kids as the last post on this topic..I think they are learning!

using MS Paint

So at my morning job we have one day a week that we are in the computer lab. The kids mostly play games. I am trying to encourage them to create art in MS Paint. They seem to like it but it takes awhile to figure it out. Above are today's experiments.

Mural questionaire

This is the questionnaire I am using to get feedback on the flying squirrel mural that was funded by Arts and Cultural council of greater Rochester,The New York state Council on The Arts and the New York State legislature.

You can print this form and fill out your paper copy at the Flying Squirrel on Troupe and Clarissa. or email it to me at sculptresslink@yahoo.com. Please I would like all results by April 15, 2010.

Mural Questionnaire

Please answer the following list of questions. Feel free to write additional commentary in the margins or on the back, with a citation to the question being addressed. Provide a sketch of imagery you wish to be included, if you so desire, on the back or on a separate sheet of paper.

For depictions of the local history, what would you rather see? Cite examples below.

A. Historical figures

B. Relevant places and events in the area

C. A combination of both

Examples:

For images that represent the Flying Squirrel, what would you rather see?

A. Personified squirrels

B. Silhouetted people

C. A combination of both

In each of the following subjects, what representation would you prefer to see in the mural? Fill in the letter that most applies and comment on your choice or provide an example.

A. Symbols

B. Figures

C. Events

D. None

Please answer the following list of questions. Feel free to write additional commentary in the margins or on the back, with a citation to the question being addressed. Provide a sketch of imagery you wish to be included, if you so desire, on the back or on a separate sheet of paper.

For depictions of the local history, what would you rather see? Cite examples below.
A. Historical figures
B. Relevant places and events in the area
C. A combination of both

Examples:



For images that represent the Flying Squirrel, what would you rather see?
A. Personified squirrels
B. Silhouetted people
C. A combination of both





In each of the following subjects, what representation would you prefer to see in the mural? Fill in the letter that most applies and comment on your choice or provide an example.
A. Symbols
B. Figures
C. Events
D. None
Letter Comments
Diversity and equality _____
Peace and nonviolence _____
Cooperation and community _____
Participation in government _____
Open, unbiased, and uncensored media _____
Sustainable, environmentally-conscious living _____
Workplace democracy _____
Knowledge sharing _____



What role should text play in the mural? Circle all that apply.
A. None
B. Identify people and places
C. As poetry
D. Other ______________________________________

For the following three questions, circle all answers that apply, cite others that may have been omitted, and write any comments you may have.

What places of significance in the community do you wish to see on the mural?

St. Mary’s Hospital (first hospital in Rochester)
Bull’s Head Tavern (first business and historic travelers post in the west)
St. Monica’s Church (historic architecture)
Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (first African American church in Rochester)
Lunsford Park, or Caledonia Square (circle in Corn Hill with historic architecture)
St. Joseph’s Church Gazebo (now in Lunsford Park)
William Reynold’s Seed Nursery (started the Flower city)
Corinthian Hall (lecture hall of the 1800s)
Clarissa Street as “Rochester’s Broadway” (entertainment district)
Greek revival architecture
Clarissa, or Ford, Street Bridge
Corning Hill Landing Bridge (Troupe-Howell) Bridge
Race Riots of 1964
Speech of Malcom X at Corn Hill Methodist Church in 1965
Others: ____________________________
____________________________
Comments:



What people of significance in the community do you wish to see on the mural?

Nathaniel Rochester
Benjamin Campbell (early flour miller and Troup Street resident)
William Reynolds (seed salesman and Athenaeum founder)
Susan B. Anthony
Frederick Douglass
Emma Goldman
Malcom X
Others: ____________________________
____________________________
Comments:



Name (optional): __________________________________
Email Address (optional): ____________________________

Would you like to be added to a mailing list to receive updates on the progress of the mural and information about future meetings and work parties?

"Other Worlds"

First Friday gallery crawl. I ran into so many people I knew and work with at First Friday openings. I teach on Sat. right next to John Kastener who had an opening at ROCO. His work was being showed along with sculptures by Paul Knoblauch whom I have heard talk about his work when I was in college.John images are 2d renderings in Gauache and, pencil and ink. He repeats several thematic images in his work and combines realistic looking images and extremely detailed cartoon renderings into a landscape of neatly organized chaos. Personified Images combine with mechanical objects. A line of text brightly colored stylized text in each image slightly explains what is going on in each images.To read more about the show andd se examples of John or Paul's work go to
http://www.rochestercontemporary.org/otherworlds.html

One of my favorite part of first Friday event is accidentally finding your way to artists open studios.We stumbled above Chas Davis's studio and followed the A frame sign from Alexander.Very very large scale painting brightly colored in abstract.Some as large as 8ft tall. the roll of canvas in the corner was impressive and he was explaining to the little boy that it starts out as big as a football field.

To find out more about Chas go to:

http://www.chasworld.com/