Thoughts about art and community.
I’m so thrilled to end the year with an interview of Anna Jinja Kees, my friend and all around amazing human being. Anna and I connected this year through our mutual friend, Akwi Nji, and became instant friends. Also Ames-based, Anna’s energy is uplifting, inspiring, and infectious. She’s one of those folks who infuses every conversation, gathering, and organization with connection, creativity, and empowerment. Ames sure is lucky, that’s all I’m saying.
Read MoreI first saw Ames-based artist Kaleb Stevens (known artistically as KUB) perform back in early 2020 at the Black Arts and Music Festival at the Ames Public Library and immediately began following his work. In addition to being a full-time student, and an active community-driven artist, Kaleb also serves as the Planning and Engagement Coordinator for UnEvictIA, a placemaker for Des Moines-based Group Creatives Services, and was most recently an intern for the Center for Artistic Activism, an international organization providing training and support for artist activists. Needless to say, I was really excited when Kaleb agreed to be interviewed as part of For the Common Good.
Read MoreI don’t know how to knit. That is significant for two reasons. First, as a community art specialists and an academic, I’m supposed to know how to do things. Second, and more surprisingly, in 2016, I organized Intertwine, a project involving 125 makers from across the country to yarn bomb ISU Design on Main, a storefront in downtown Ames that was a former satellite studio facility for Iowa State University’s College of Design and included a community gallery space.
Read MoreIf you live in Iowa, you likely don’t need an introduction to Des Moines artist Jill Wells. Her creative impact can be found in communities across the state, from her murals in Iowa City to her Artist X Advocacy mentorship program in Des Moines.
Read MoreJennifer Brockpahler is one of the hardest working people I know. Hands down.
This woman gives of herself tirelessly to our community as the director of the Ames Community Arts Council, which is her second full-time job. (It’s no secret that many nonprofit art positions can only offer funding on a part-time basis and usually without benefits, requiring folks to make sacrifices and work A LOT.)
As the Ames Community Arts Council (ACAC) director, Jen oversees a multitude of community arts projects, mentors interns, and builds creative partnerships across Story County.
Read MoreOn any given day, I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. Still. Seven years in. I’ve learned by doing, screwing up, changing, redoing. From watching other folks way wiser and more experienced than I am.
Read MoreLet’s first establish that the College of Design (CoD) at Iowa State University is a pretty big place, all things considered. Seven departments, multiple degree program, 1600+ undergraduate students, 150+ graduate students, loads of faculty and staff.
Among and amidst all these other folks, I kept crossing paths with artist and architecture student, Rami Mannan. I remember being slack-jawed first seeing Rami’s drawings in both the CoD and at ISU Design on Main. Who made these?
Read MoreIn the midst of any kind of crisis, we don’t have the emotional bandwidth to wax poetic about why artists matter and why we need support. We’re literally trying to get through the next minute or hour without losing our minds. Here’s checklist of what to do when you don’t know where to start.
Read MoreA few weeks ago, I wrote 7 Signs of a Vibrant Community, which is a brief introduction to the concept of the Community Capitals Framework. As a recap, the CCF provide us with seven distinct areas to evaluate to see how healthy our places (and consequently our people) are. While all seven are necessary for having a high quality of life, I’ll defend social capital to my grave as really being the glue that binds everything else together.
Read MoreAbout a year ago, I lived in a lovely farmhouse as an artist-in-residence at the Whiterock Conservancy in Coon Rapids, Iowa. Established in 2005, Whiterock Conservancy (WRC) is a 5500 acre non-profit land trust that balances sustainable agriculture, natural resource protection and public recreation on the landscape.
Read More“If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.” - Catherine Aird
Last week, I warned that I’d be sharing a laundry list of what I learned by participating in Iowa Pop Art, my very first pop-up-art-festival-type experience.
Without further ado….
Earlier this spring, I was invited (thanks, Niq Thomas) to participate in Iowa Pop Art Market, an inaugural pop-up art event at the National Czech and Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids. Being a pop-up and festival first-timer, I jumped at the chance and then scrambled to get myself organized.
Part of that scrambling was trying to figure out what I didn’t know that I needed to know. With that in mind, I’m writing a couple of blogs (and later a toolkit) for those folks who need a Pop-Up Prologue, so to speak.
Read MoreMany blogs ago, I rattled on about the basics of asset-based community development***, including why it’s been so influential to me as an artist and how it’s been the grounding nugget of The What’s Good Project. Each painting that I create is a testament to an asset shared with me by someone with strong ties to that particular community.
Read MoreIntroducing Kristin M Roach, Ames-based artist, author, and entrepreneur. If you live in Ames or central Iowa, you undoubtedly know of Kristin, as her hands metaphorically (and sometimes literally) have been in many, many, MANY creative projects and places.
Read MoreA few weeks back, Paige Kappelman, Story County Conservation’s Outreach Assistant, reached out to me (did her job like a boss) for an informal interview after she saw some of my paintings of McFarland Park on Instagram. Naturally, I said yes and we invited Kyle Renell to join the party. Kyle’s not only my good friend and a terrific Ames-based artist, but she also was the person I interviewed for The What’s Good Project here in Ames. In other words, Kyle’s the reason I painted McFarland Park.
Read MoreI can’t tell you how much I enjoyed and learned from this conversation with Iowa State University colleague and fellow artist, Reinaldo Correa. It was one of those conversations that inspired me for the rest of the week. So much insight and wisdom - this is an interview I encourage you to read over and over, and take some notes.
Read MoreI’m happy to report that I am contacted monthly, and increasingly weekly, by someone in Iowa who wants to begin a community mural project. The smallest community to date was a call from McIntire, Iowa (pop 122). The fact that more and more communities are finding value in community art projects fills me with joy.
Read MoreGot 85 minutes to spare? Listen to me talking shop with friend and fellow artist, Earle Rock. I was delighted to be asked by Earle to participate in this artist interview series. We cover the gamut from my weirdo early life experiences, to painting practices, to the business of art, to asset-based community development.
Read MoreThis year, I decided to expand For the Common Good to include interviews with Community Arts Leaders, many of whom are also artists (but not always), as well as serving in more formal nonprofit or civic leadership roles. These folks have often done the arduous (and often thankless) work of fundraising, navigating local red tape, and building diverse partnerships within their communities, all while supporting and advocating for their local artists.
Read MoreIt’s present day and a child on a field trip walks into a gift store on Pennsylvania Avenue. Immediately, she confronts a wellspring of memorabilia adorned with the president’s name in bold letters and the year “2024” beside it. She is puzzled by the significance of the year. But … it’s only 2020? Bright-red hats embroidered with a popular slogan tower high. Bobbleheads depicting our nation’s leader, with emblematic wavy hair and carrot skin, sit in a row ten figurines deep.
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