Things continue...

You might imagine that with all the crazy of getting the grant applications completed, studio work might fall off. Well you would be wrong!

I decided that the same weekend I was finishing the apps, that I desperately needed to photograph the four drawings from the Soma series, and a few of the Nucleation series. Along with all of that, I will be updating my website this weekend, I have some images from the maquette for the SuperFun(d) show that my friend Wendy Testu is putting together, the Sea Change images and those I just photo'd this weekend.

I am looking forward to getting back to some more of the Soma and Nucleation series, also hoping to put together a maquette of a tree root project I want to do.

Here's the weird thing, perhaps not surprising though, I have not been to any gallery shows at all in ages. Part due to all this work, and part due to the new work schedule. Which I am going to have to address at the end of October. That of course means I will have missed some great shows, including Andrew Schoultz at Jonathan Levine, Christian Maychack at Jeff Bailey, Annabel Daou at Josee Bienvenue, Rebecca Morales at BravinLee, Nicola Lopez at Caren Golden, Stefano Arienti at Morgan Lehman, Janice Caswell at Schroeder Romero, Michelle Forsyth at Hogar Collection, Augusto Arbizo at Roebling Hall (Chelsea)...
Hmmm, maybe I should find some time to go this weekend.

I have continued making connections and keeping Sea Change alive. I now have been talking to the Sierra Club, who just did a project in SF called futuresea.org which taped the sea level predicted if the greenland ice sheet melts. I also am hoping to work with Time's Up to arrange a bike tour of the route.

Anyone else have some interesting projects in the works out there?

Also, if you are on my email list, expect to get one of my very infrequent updates this weekend.

Technical troubles and techno parties

Or something like that. Don't expect a lot of coherence from me, I am really knackered!

Yesterday I got an email from LMCC saying "[we are] experiencing serious technicaldifficulties with our online application, which we've been working to fix for a few days without positive result."
AUUUUGGGGHHHH! No, I didn't lose any information that I had input. And while I had set up an account (and experienced some technical difficulties myself) I had been crafting everything in a word doc first. What this does mean though is that I now have to be concerned with formating and printing and creating work samples with labels etc. etc. It just blows. The real kicker is that things are still dues on Monday (in office), although they offered an extended deadline to Wednesday if you did create an online account. Kinda think everyone should get an extension no matter what. Well I will be doing a lot of printing this weekend, guess I should get some new printer cartridges... and some decent paper...and new labels... (yeh I do have most of these things on hand, its just hard to change course so late in the process. And yes, I am whining....

I also had a great meeting with Chris from Solar One who was really supportive and excited about the project. He is putting me in touch with a ton of great resources for the fabrication, outreach and possible funding. I have Ben Jervey to thank for that. I also got to meet him at the Good Magazine launch party. Which was in and of itself quite a thing. Loads and loads of people (including Al Gore) in the funky Emergency Arts space.

Okay, enough of all that, off to work on the applications, will update with more information soon (probably this weekend while everything is printing out...)

Wish me luck!!

Careening into the deadline

The deadlines for the grants are coming up early next week. My plan is to get both of them out of my hands (one via mail, one via web) on Friday of this week. That way I can spend the weekend in a sort of stupor. That and I can eagerly get back to doing some studio work. (Something very manual that doesn't require a lot of brain activity).

I spent last Saturday running around with a very suspicious looking tube and a jug of water and l.e.d. flashlight. It got me some strange looks, and some gorgeous photos. I also have completed the first draft of the applications (there are actually three different applications), and hope to get those off for review this afternoon. I also got my images off to the awesome guys at GammaTech, where they turn around slides from digital images in lightning fast speed. Will have the slides in my hands by tonight.

I continued the outreach, emailing notes to Two Trees Developers, Salt Marsh Alliance, Battery Park Conservancy, Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment, Neighborhood Open Space Coalition among others. Haven't heard from any of them. On a bit of a whim, I emailed Ben Jervey - the guy who wrote Big Green Apple (my guidebook for living in the city), and he forwarded my information on to Solar One! What a great guy! I have a meeting with them on Thursday and hope to get them on board in any way they might be interested.

I also contacted the Public Art Coordinator at NYC Parks, who was very nice and responded right away with the information that since my installation would be under 2 weeks, I have to apply for a special event permit and that goes through the borough offices. I will have to wait and apply for those when I have a timeline.

Finally, have applied for general liability insurance so that I can get a quote back on that.

Will post the project descriptions next (one for Lower Manhattan and one for Brooklyn).

Links coming soon, gotta go to work!

I think may be losing my mind - or maybe it is just full.
I got the proposal out for a first sound of edits and have gotten back some great feedback and tips. I also contacted a couple of brooklyn organizations (brooklyn center for urban ecology and the marine park salt marsh learning center) and developers (two trees in dumbo and x in williamsburg). I got a quote on the solar powered l.e.d's - too expensive. I have not heard back from fabricators, but did put together a mock piece to photograph for some digital mock ups. Once that is done I can contact the parks department and submit as well as find out about the insurance. I have started writing the parts of the application that deal with location and audience.
Anyone want to help? I could use a lighting expert and someone familiar with fabrication and installation of this kind of thing!
I think this is invading other parts of my life, my head is so full of and busy thinking about the project that i am getting scattered and forgetful. Probably doesn't help that the cat and dog are both sick (maybe allergic to each other?!?) and there are other unexpected things happening to make me feel a bit insane...

A little more background information on the project (or how I got from there to here)

I can't even remember at this point how I came up with the idea, but I remember a while back seeing maps (and even a 3d animation) of the potential flooding of NYC as an affect of global warning. It struck me as pretty powerful information. I also have been interested in bringing my artistic practices and environmentalism together (particularly given the political climate and the actual climate).

The first idea was actually the rooftop greening project, but I knew that was a much bigger undertaking, so when the Sea Change project came to me I decided to pursue that first. The original vision of the idea was for a more complicated semi-permanent iceberg type markers around the city. Then it went to a poster campaign in bus shelters and on walls. Then it morphed, merged and changed into it's current incarnation. I did a good amount (believe me there will be a lot more) of research, and read some papers (Hot Nights in the City, and Sea Level Rise in New York City) to get an idea of just what we were talking about. Then I started researching grant opportunities and resources for information regarding public art...

And I think that pretty much brings us up to speed.

A Community Art Project: From Idea to Reality

No, the post below isn't real (will be one day though!), it's just a tool I use for thinking and writing about my work or a specific project. By writing a "newspaper report " I am forced to do a couple of things which are useful: 1) describe what the work looks like 2) explain the concept of the work in plain English 3) come up with key words and phrases about the project which are catchy. In doing these exercises (which may vary in their level of success) I can develop an objective description of the work.So why did I post that and why am I telling you this?I am deep in the process of making the work "A Sea Change" a reality, and the process can be very involved and time consuming, but also maybe interesting. Given that and the crazy schedule I have, random thoughts on art and going to galleries doesn't really look possible, so instead I thought I would take you along for the magic carpet ride that is community art.Here's what I have done so far:

• first draft of a project proposal (I will post it shortly)
• attended the seminar for Brooklyn Arts Council grants
• met with a BAC representative (we spent an hour and a half reviewing the proposal and budget)
• met with Creative Time representatives through their Open Door program - a question asking opportunity
• identified a few community/environmental groups as potential partners (need more if anyone has any suggestions)
• preliminary quotes on fabrication
• initial research on lighting options
• mapping of Brooklyn topo line
• initial background research

And here's what is coming up this week:

• LMCC seminar
• initial contact letter to orgs, gather census data for neighborhoods
• send proposal to editors (friends good at writing)
• new estimate for fabrication with recycled materials
• initial draft of BAC application
• select images for use in proposal
• build mock up for photographing.

Sounds easy right?

Eve S. Mosher, Greening the City of New York, One Artwork at a Time

Ms Mosher recently completed her first public artwork, a sea change, in which she marked the line of global warming storm surge with a delicate line of light in Brooklyn parks and along streets in such diverse waterfront neighborhoods as Greenpoint, Dumbo, Sheepshead Bay and Coney Island. Her continuing work will have her mapping out the storm surge line along the waterfront of Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island and The Bronx.

Her goal for the project was to bring global warming into the real world for New Yorkers. Mosher says, "New York, with it's extensive coastline is particularly at risk for the affects of global warming - the rise in sea level, coastal erosion, salt marsh depletion, and the increase in the drought-flood cycle." Ms. Mosher was also concerned about being a "harbinger of doom without offering solutions." To offer those solutions, she teamed up with local environmental organizations to develop a public awareness campaign which consisted of a website as well as posters and workshops around Brooklyn. The campaign promoted cheap and easy ways for New Yorkers to have a positive affect on global warming which included simple tips like using compact fluorescent light bulbs, buying local produce and reducing car trips.

Ms. Mosher already has plans for her next project, which she says is an urban take on an infamous earth work in which 10,000 trees were planted in Finland. Ms. Mosher plans to have New York residents greening their rooftops. She says these oases provide not just a wonderful social space (she calls it "the stoop for the 21st century"), but has a measurable affect on the "heat island" affect in New York.