Thoughts about art and community.
Most of you know that I teach. A majority of my artist friends teach. We for many reasons, in many ways and in many roles. We teach K-12 with a rolling cart, we teach in colleges and universities, we teach in community spaces, we teach in our studios, we teach online. Today I’d like to focus on how two fabulous artists who teach: painter Annie Guldberg and fiber artist Jean Haley.
Read MoreI can think of no one who’s a better and more generous community-builder than Derek Covington Smith, my friend and fellow artist from Brookhaven, Mississippi.
Case in point…
Read MoreLast summer, I had the good fortune of connecting with Annie Guldberg, an expressionist oil painter living in Mount Pleasant, Iowa (pop. 9724). She humored me by showing her incredible home studio and answering tons of questions over a lunch of Cuban sandwiches at The Grange Public House in downtown Mount Pleasant.
Read MoreIf I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked that in the last 12 months, I could probably take a pretty nice weekend somewhere. It’s one of those questions that I never have a decent and coherent answer to, and in the spirit of self-betterment, I thought it was time to hold myself accountable.
All of the following are true. Some are true more days than others.
Read More“Without the foundation of the wheel, it would be difficult to produce movement. It was the wheels of those wagons that propelled the Poor People’s Campaign forward, and those wagon wheels will now be parted permanently along the Mule Train Interpretative Trail”, Katrina Rankin, Emmy Nominee, “The Mule Train: Poor People’s Campaign Continued” Documentary.”
Read MoreHey, can we start Community New Years Resolutions? Is that a thing? Can we make it a thing?
And more specifically, can those community resolutions be geared on your local art community? Sound good? You with me, here? Great. :)
Behold. 13 Tips to Better Support Your Local Artists.
(I’ve made it easy for you. One for each month, plus a bonus.) And May I suggest you bringing a couple to your next civic meeting to brainstorm? Y’all can do a lot with a little focus.
Read MoreI’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 MoreA few weeks back, I had the opportunity to publicly talk shop about intersections of art and conservation in Iowa with two ISU Extension and Outreach colleagues: Catherine DeLong, program manager, Water Quality, and Adam Janke, assistant professor and extension wildlife specialist. As a once avid hiker, I’m embarrassed to say that I’d never really considered the parallels between natural resource conservation and art until meeting Adam and Catherine.
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 MoreSay what?
Artist who?
In a sentence, Artist Relocation Programs attempt to lure artists to live and work in their communities, knowing full well that artists can transform places.
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 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 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 More
