LOUISVILLE: Commission on Public Art launches artist series

First “Ideas Competition” Invites Artists to Get Creative in Public Spaces


LOUISVILLE, KY. (Feb. 23, 2012) – Mayor Greg Fischer and the Louisville Commission on Public Art are unveiling the first competition of its inaugural Artist Event Series. “On The Floor: Cultural Producers Compete For Space” invites six teams of artists to an ideas ccompetition, to study and propose public art in two locally important public spaces.

“Art in public spaces can connect people and communities, contributing to the quality of space and stimulating economic development,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “This first event in the Artist Series will offer a new way of looking at our public spaces, and will raise the bar on what we expect to see as a community when we think of visual art.”

The artist teams, also called cultural producers, were selected from different fields (video art, conceptual art, performance art, photography, furniture design, architecture and media). They started work in January and were asked “What would you do with public art for this space?” The teams are charged with revealing challenges related to siting art in public spaces and encouraging a playful and investigative environment for creating and witnessing public art.


The public spaces being studied are Manslick Road: The Loop Trailhead and Caperton Swamp (photos of sites attached), both of which are city-owned sites, open to the public, and in places generally not used for public art. Manslick Road is in the southwest area of the city, and Caperton Swamp is in the northeast. Both sites are located in park settings crossed by The Louisville Loop.

Presentations by the artists will be made on March 21, 2012, 5 p.m. -7 p.m., in the Mayor’s Gallery in Metro Hall. The teams will split their presentations on Manslick Road and Caperton Swamp. The audience is invited to ask questions about the proposals. This event will be free and open to the public.


The ideas are a way to get artists and the public thinking about art, but they will not be physically built unless funding is secured.


The Commission on Public Art was established in 2010, and is committed to overseeing the implementation and evolution of the Louisville Public Art Master Plan, created in 2009. The Master Plan offers a model in which civic and cultural leaders, city planners and developers, and art professionals come together to advance the importance of public art to the city’s artistic, intellectual, and economic life. The Commission advocates for art in spaces accessible to the public, promotes visual art in these spaces, and conserves existing public art.


THE TEAMS

1. Stephanie Brothers, Matt Dobson, Julie Leidner and Brett Marshall of The Paper
2. Tiffany Carbonneau (video artist)
3. Dan Chaffin and Matt Frederick of Frederick Chaffin
4. Ross Primmer, Roberto de Leon, Lindsey Stoughton, David Mayo of De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop
5. Todd Smith (conceptual and performance artist)
6. Peter Tower and Victor Hicks of Magnolia Photo Booth Co.
   

THE JURY

Michael Speaks (Dean of the College of Design, Professor of Architecture, Univ. of Kentucky) Suzanne Weaver (Curator of Contemporary Art, Speed Art Museum)

Joey Yates (Director and Co-Programmer, Land of Tomorrow Louisville Gallery)


This series has been made possible by the generosity of Brooke Brown Barzun, Marlene Grissom, and Mary Moss Greenebaum.


For more information on the Commission for Public Art and the Artist Series, visithttp://www.louisvilleky.gov/economicdevelopment/CommissiononPublicArt/