Project 2013: Is Your Plate a Rainbow Plate?
Project 2013: Is Your Plate a Rainbow Plate?
“Rainbow
Plate” is a National Creative Collaborative that is focused on developing
Healthy Communities. It combines Health Education with Visual Art, Storytelling
and Technology.
Project
Description- We ask people to write their dreams on a chalkboard and then be photographed holding them. These photos capture each individual’s current reality and future aspirations.
- Sharing dreams and strategies connects all of us through our shared aspirations. Some dream of being a football star, some dream for better health care. Others dream of finding a job or finishing high school.
The
Project Artists
Caryl Henry Alexander is Creative Director at Big Bang
Banners.com. She conceives and directs visual arts projects with a focus on
creative literacy, community collaboration and arts integrated academic
curriculum. Her projects have been successful with multi-generational,
multicultural and interfaith communities in diverse settings. Her paintings and
installations are exhibited internationally. Ms Henry Alexander is a certified
Urban Farmer and she grows organic veggies for her family. Bigbangbanners.com
Alpha
Bruton
As a teaching artist she has
developed and implemented artist in residency projects for various schools,
neighborhoods, and developed curriculum for various arts service organizations
in Chicago. She was a lecturer/textile artist for ArtScape Chicago at Harold Washington College
Continuing Education, and Department of Aging, independent contractor for
Chicago Public Schools, and is currently listed as a teaching artist in the Illinois
Arts Council AIE, she was part of the Oak Forest Hospital arts in health care
initiative , facilitated programs Shanti Foundation for Peach and Social
Justice, and was a teaching artist for Urban Gateways Center for Arts
Education..
Rainbow Plate has three components.
Project Artists each
conceive, design and create installations that will serve as backdrop for the
participant’s photos.
“Taste
the Arts Hon!” was a photo op installation at the Visionary Art Museum, in
Baltimore, MD. It is a mixed media free standing mural. It’s goal was to
highlight Baltimore culture at the culminating event of the YAMD national
conference. Visitors were invited to create a digital postcard by using their
cell phones to take pictures of themselves with their faces in the mural
cutouts and share their fun at the event.
Storytelling
This is a community collaborative
component of Rainbow Plate. Community participants tell their
stories by using blackboards to write their dreams and
get photographed for the online archive.
“The Inter-dependent Web” was a photo op installation* at the DC
Green Festival. It combined a mural painted by myself, signs make by the
community and technology to create an outreach booth for the UUSJ of the Washington
Metro Region.
Technology
photographs can be cataloged and
presented online for the broader community to curate, by using flicker, Photobucket, or Picasa
We believe that art is an amazing intersection, where ideas,
action and diverse cultures meet to find commonalities.
What’s
involved?
·
People who want to share their dreams
in a photo.
·
Volunteers
·
An installation created by the project
artists.
·
A chalkboard or other sign on which to
write your dreams.
·
A photographer, camera and tripod.
End of todays work
Where
When
How
Why
Our Creative Challenge
·
To bring the power of creative action
to create partnerships with local residents and the local food movement
·
To encourage creative solutions in
creating a NEW NORM with visual messages that encourages healthy lifestyle
choices
·
To encourage community support for
locally based, self-reliant food economies that enhances the economic,
environmental and social health of our community
·
To share the work with our communities
·
To facilitate collective action
Project
Description
We ask
people to write their dreams on a chalkboard and then be photographed holding them.
These photos capture each individual’s current reality and future aspirations.
We
will through this creative engagement support participants in developing a
greater understanding of the role that a healthy lifestyle is a key to
achieving their dreams.
Sharing
dreams connects all of us through our shared aspirations. Some dream of being a
football star, some dream for better health care. Others dream of finding a job
or finishing high school.
Is
Your Plate a Rainbow Plate?is happening in communities around the country.
Making
hand painted yard signs for the public square to confirm that it’s all about
how we treat each other.
We are
a Green project. The signs will be created from gleaned political signs,
recycled cardboard, "ooops" (returned) house paint from local
hardware stores, and other recycled and found objects.
Visit http://creative-currency.blogspot.com/
Creative Currency Pg 2
About Caryl Henry Alexander
Caryl
Henry Alexander is Creative Director at Big Bang Banners.com. She conceives and
directs visual arts projects with a focus on creative literacy, community
collaboration and arts integrated academic curriculum. Her projects have been
successful with multi generational, multicultural and interfaith communities in
diverse settings. Her paintings and installations are exhibited
internationally. Ms Henry Alexander is a certified Urban Farmer and she grows
organic veggies for her family. Bigbangbanners.com
About Alpha Bruton
Alpha Bruton is she is the
chief curator for the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network, where she coordinates
exhibitions in alternative venues for installation artists, environmental
artists, and conceptual artists to connect the arts with commerce.
Rainbow Plate is a next generation
community art project for me as an artist because in the last 2 years I have
been the creative catalyst for artworks in the community that have a purpose.
They are described as follows:
“The Interdependant
Web” was a photo op installation* at the DC Green Festival. It combined a mural
painted by myself, signs make by the community and technology to create an
outreach booth for the UUSJ of the Washington Metro Region.
Rainbow Plate has
three components, Visual Art-Storytelling-Technology. I am requesting funding
for the Visual Art and Storytelling components.
Visual Art:
Research, development and creation of a 10ft x 6ft portable freestanding mural
on the subject of a Rainbow plate is a healthy plate.
“Global Work Day for the Environment” in partnership
with 350.org was a photo op installation that’s goal was to assist the
congregation a DMUUC in Temple Hills MD to define it’s goals for environmental
action in their community. It combined a mural painted by myself, signs make by
the community and hotography. The photographic results became and exhibition
and presentation that documented the ideas of all members who participated.
Storytelling is the
Community collaborative component of Rainbow Plate. These actions will take
place at Prince Georges County Summer Festivals 2013. The project will be part
of the community vending area at the Festival of Nations(May 2013) and the Lake
Arbor Jazz Festival(July 2013) offering attendees opportunity to interact with
the mural.
Their interaction will take the form of writing their own
words on blackboards and taking photos in front of the mural to share with
friends , family and community. By telling their personal stories in reference
to Rainbow Plates and Healthy Hating I will be collecting a visual poll of
where we are and what we are thinking as a community around healthy eating
habits.
“Taste the Arts Hon!” was a photo op
installation at the Visionary Art Museum was a mixed media free standing mural.
It’s goal was to highlight Baltimore culture at the culminating event of the
YAMD national conference in May 2012. Visitors were invited to create a digital
postcard by using their cell phones to take pictures of themselves with their
faces in the mural cutouts and share their fun at the event.
How does this funding impact your
project?
This funding is
important as it supports me as an artist to develop and create an artwork for
the community actions. It will buy supplies, travel expense and underwrite
research and painting.
This funding will
support fees, logistics and materials needed to create the community actions at
the festivals.
“Creative Currency:
Words to Live By” is a collaboration with Chicago Artist Alpha Bruton. Together
using repurposed yard signs we lined the streets of communities with positive signs that “advertize” the
compassion intrinsic in all human beings, and stand in counterpoint to the
negativity that is a constant part of too many human interactions these days!
The signs were created from gleaned
yard signs from recycled cardboard, "ooops" (returned) house paint
from local hardware stores, and other recycled and found objects.
The completed signs
were strategically placed on city streets, freeway on-ramps, neighborhoods, and
other public gathering places.
It is our goal, to
uplift and strengthen our connection to our own humanity through creative
public dialogue and action.
Feb-Research and Develop rainbow plate
mural.
March-Begin painting
mural, seek local farm collaborators for the festival sites, April-Paint and
bring in partners
May-Festival of
Nations July-Lake Arbor Jazz Festival
f. How is this
project unique or innovative?
For our county this
project is a unique innovation on a standard boring artless festival vendor
opportunity. It will bring the visual arts to the community where they are and
ask that they respond on site.
The project takes the
work that is done in an artists studio and at a community gathering and gives
it world stage on an interactive website.
Technology plays an
important role in the project as a website will be created to feature our
collection of photos from the rainbow plate creative actions around the county.
Ideas for curated collections of pics and community uploads are planned.
h. What method of
evaluation will you use to define success?
Success is defined by
completion of artwork on time and on budget, numbers of participants at
community events and numbers of activity within our county and more broadly on
the website.
Contact: Caryl Henry Alexander, carylhenryalexander@gmail.com