Now What?

I do like this blog title and dealing w/ artistic matters around this city Detroit. So I think Im gonna keep it and update news from Detroit artists and artistic items I think would be interesting.

Done

so the class is over and the tasks are done. what do I have to say about all this? I think it's a good course to have, but I wish I more of a creative role in all this. However I met good people and learned about some amazing non profit orgs in the city.

Place Makers

this semester we were asked whether we were actual placemakers in the community. Creating a space in the are that was dedicated to art's role in improving the environment and the overall moral of the people. While I do believe that placemaking is an important aspect of urban living, I did not consider myself as a placemaker. My role in the hospital was logistical. I helped to collect, and display others' art works. I would say that the artists themselves are placemakers. Working to realize an artistic vision is the ultimate goal of an artist.  To have an art piece displayed in a permanent space takes on so many different meanings as time goes on.

The Redford Theatre

It took me a long time to figure out what I was going to choose for the final project. Two weeks ago while sitting in my Video Editing class, I found inspiration. We screened a project titled Detroit J'taime. The project involved finding an aspect about the city that we liked and create a short 3 minute documentary on it.

One groupchose The Redford Theater, which is the headquarters of The Motor City Theatre Organ Society. The MCTOS is committed to the preservation and restoration of pipe organs. The MCTOS is a 501 (c) (3) organization. The Redford Theatre itself commits to showing classic movies in a classic movie house design. Twice a month the theatre shows films for low ticket prices. Located in Detroit, the theatre has volunteer staff that keeps everything running smoothly.

The Reford continually undergoes restoration and is in need of funding to complete its' theatre seating restorations. The Redford received a grant for half of the restorations. The staff has a continuing fund raising drive to complete the project.
The thetre is well worth restoring as a rare but needed institution in the city and I hope to be of help in The Rredford's mission

Art Show

Part of my project was to help install the art for the National Arts Program. The exhibit is located within Children's Hospital. Art featured is donated by patients, staff, family , and volunteers. I really enjoyed seeing the art people brought in. Everyone is so happy to show what they or a family member has done. The one thing about this process is that I see how well everyone responded to seeing art installed in the hospital hallways. I never feel like I'm in a hospital when I walk around picking up artwork. Of course this hospital deals with all types of illness and accidents like other hospitals. But what I see from everyone is that they are there for the children and their families. In future I wouldn't mind volunteering  to work with producing work or helping patients produce work. I'm posting some pictures from the show.

The Project

I finally found out what I will be doing for the project. Our last class I was really interested in what everyone had to do for the class. It sounds like we'll all be very very busy. As for me, I'm helping with the art exhibition/competition for the hospital. Helping to find artists, accept their work, help categorize and hand the work, and help to find guest juror(s). I have some ideas so I'm just going to start from scratch.

On another note I think most of us were caught off guard as far as what we expected to do for our assignments. I think most of us are happy with our assignment. So we will see how everything works out.

Perspectives

I will receive my official duties tomorrow. But last week we played an interesting game that dealt with automatic assumptions and prejudices. We were to rate on a 1 to 10 scale which types of people we would like to trade lives with for one year. There were three rounds and each round we were given one fact about the ten people. At the end of the game. I felt the game was a very entertaining way to learn about personal prejudices and vales. I would love to play that game in other situations to see how people would react to their selections.

First Day

I met with my contact today. Other than me getting amazingly lost getting around DMC campus, I got very excited seeing the place and what I will be doing. When I got there I found out that the partner's needs were a little bit different than what I expected. However, I do have knowledge in working with exhibitions as well as working with hands on activities. We still need to finalized a schedule, but I was very happy with what I saw today. Not happy with getting lost and looking stupid.

The Project

I'm going to paste a description of the course. But essentially, students are sent out into the non profit community and help organizations with a variety of exciting art related projects. The projects can range from simply setting up activities to creating projects that help an organization with fund raising initiatives. The second part of the course is to spend time in the classroom learning about how art can serve a vital purpose in the community regardless of location or social economic situations. Each student is placed with an organization to help with that organization's artistic needs. Each week we report our experiences on a blog. At the end of the term, we present our ideas for art based projects we think would be useful in the organization. We prepare grant proposals for the project.

Overall, it's an exciting class to be a part of. Each partner (participating organizations) has so much to offer and give. They are all truly inspirational and I am happy to help promote their purposes. For my blog, I will be honest, and straight forward in my feelings or experiences. I know this will be a challenge, but I'm more focused on the benefit of helping others. I'll be honest about where I'm going good or bad. Basically, this blog will be my little diary of my experience. I named the blog The Artistic Phoenix because that's what I think of when I think of Detroit. There are thousands of truly talented artists and art lovers in the city who are unrecognized. There are people who want to use art to help uplift the spirit in Detroit, one person at a time.   I hope everyone enjoys the blog, and I cant wait to see what I will learn.

The Partners

We took our tour of the different partners participating in the class. We all jumped on the tour bus and one of the partners was actually with us.

THE ART EXPERIENCE Judy Wilson, Co-Founder of The Art Experience in Pontiac. Their program serves all members of the community who enjoy art or want to  learn how art is therapeutic. As far as the course goes, they had some very interesting opportunities as far as : Programming, Development, Materials, and Outreach. Their website is http://www.theartexperience.org/ I thought this would be an interesting opportunity for me because the program needs volunteers to help with art programming. I have experience with writing lesson plans and planning events. And any chance to help others with a creative outlet is good for me

NSO There we met Janis. This was the most emotional stop for me because I know of people who've used NSO services. I'm very impressed and grateful for the organization and what they do for the community. Janis explained their needs for volunteers in the art program. For me, the most impressive thing was that NSO has major plans for providing even better resources for the homeless and those with emotional/developmental disabilities. Volunteers are needed to  help with set up/cleanup of the work spaces, assisting clients with projects, and helping the clients incorporate art into the Life Choices program. www.nso-mi.org/programs.php

MARINERS INN Kori was our guide for this organization. I think this was one of the most inspirational places I've ever visited. The org focuses on men who've had a variety of social and emotional challenges. As we walked around the building the residents were all polite and testimonies to the program. There are a variety of services for those who are homeless, former drug users, or have some developmental disabilities. Kori needs volunteers to help with getting the Mariners Inn art exhibition program promoted. And help develop activities for the clients. On a personal note, I'd love to see Mariners Inn all across this country. http://www.marinersinn.org/

HEIDELBERG PROJECT This was very interesting visit if only because we got to see Tyree Guyton's workspace. The HP is about to celebrate its' 25th anniversary. It was kind of strange standing in the offices of an internationally known artist. But the HP needs volunteers to help promote the upcoming anniversary activities. http://www.heidelberg.org/

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF MICHIGAN Our final stop on the tour. It was a special stop because we were the audience to witness a small ceremony for Matt, a former student of the class who created a mural that the hospital staff loved so much they are making it a permanent installation in the hospital. I think that was a 'full circle' moment for the class. We could see not only how art is a priority within organizations, and also the potential each student has in impacting our designated projects. The hospital needs volunteers to work with pediatric patients. Volunteers would bring art activities to the children. There is also a need to help conceive an art exhibition for patients and families to participate in creating an art work. Volunteers could also bring activities to the waiting areas for families and visitors. http://www.chidrensdmc.org/

Overall, I think we have amazing partners to chose from. I think it is a difficult decision to decide where to go. Hopefully next week I will have my answer.