Hello everyone,
This post is to update those of you who have shown an interest in supporting the newly formed Arts Initiative group and the 2013 Downtown Arts Festival (Block party). As the winter months turn to spring, volunteers will be needed for a number of proposed Arts Initiative projects for 2012. These will be smaller events aimed to raise public awareness of the Visual Arts and also lay the ground work for the 2013 Arts Event.
Here is a list of events and projects planned for 2012:
Puppetry work shops offered via the public school summer courses curriculum for all student age groups. This also includes artists and University students as well. These will be large scale puppets created from recycled materials and paper maiche. A parade and party is planned. This would involve working with the La Crosse Main Library and the Children’s Museum.
Large scale historical photos printed on sign material and mounted on buildings downtown. These images would show historic street scenes matched to existing sites. Great for tourism and combined with the following “Ghost Galleries”, this project would create the largest “outdoor” gallery in Wisconsin.
Although the “Ghost Galleries” had some limited success another approach is to jury artwork that would be enlarged (3’x 4’) and printed on vinyl banner material. Each store front or vacant space would host one or two pieces that would be hung close to the glass. This would create a “gallery” effect. The pieces would not be affected by temperature, humidity or weather. The original pieces would be advertised for sale and could be seen at the Pump House or other galleries.
An Arts Initiative Logo needs to be developed in order to identify A.I. projects.
March 14th is Arts Day in Wisconsin. Some sort of spontaneous celebration or party downtown would be great. There is a project afoot, produced by high school students that could possibly be posted on You Tube that day. We’ll know more this week.
There will be a meeting for mid to late March that all interested parties should attend. Date, place and time will be announced soon.
Now is the time to come together and make things happen for the visual arts in La Crosse. Our agenda is ambitious and will take time, energy and money to be successful. It is our chance to show the community how important the arts and particularly the visual arts are to enriching life in this region. We’ve gained the unanimous support of the Arts Board in helping us achieve our goals. And now we need your support to make it happen. Here’s to an exciting 2012 in La Crosse!
The Arts Initiative
