as an artist I even went to art school
but I think we are all artists
creativity is our birthright as humans
we imagine we problem solve when kids
are five everybody draws sings dances
and plays I have time a lot of people
reach high school they’ve decided they
can’t draw by the time many of us reach
adulthood we’ve forgotten how to play
our culture has relegated creativity to
a select few art has become rarefied
something seen in museums and galleries
I find my calling and working with
communities who want to express
themselves through public art I find
community with the community built
Association a professional group of
artists architects and builders who
facilitate community engagement in the
design organization and building of
creative projects for public use such as
parks playgrounds murals and sculptures
we share recognition for the human need
for connectedness and a commitment to
the positive value of communities
creating and strengthening themselves
through cultural action this look this
is the first Street mosaic project it’s
on the walls of a city of Ithaca
Department of Public Works facility
facing the Science Center I’m on a team
of artists I’ve been working with
community volunteers to make this mosaic
for the past three years Charles
Eisenstein
one of my favorite thinker says for a
multitude of reasons we need to need
each other community is a group of
people who form around common needs to
support each other in meeting those
as you know humans are our social
creatures and our relationships with
each other are extremely important to
our health and well-being our sense of
well-being derives from what political
psychologist Robert Lane calls warm
interpersonal relationships certainly
that’s what if I could college hope
would develop when they think crews of
incoming freshmen to help us mortar and
grout in a monetized Society we pay
people to meet many of our needs our
cooking our childcare gathering our food
making our clothes and our entertainment
the people who deliver these goods and
services are often seen as
interchangeable with enough money we
don’t really need anyone without needing
any one we lose natural community
isolation is the unintended consequence
of many of today’s modern conveniences
how can we connect with awareness of the
personal and societal benefits of being
engaged in community many people are
finding diverse ways to cultivate
connection focusing on interdependence
rather than independence whether it’s
community supported agriculture or meal
trained local alternative currency or
clothing swaps cohousing or car shares
people are developing creative ways to
acknowledge and grow these peer-to-peer
support networks community built public
art is an upstream approach to personal
and public health it’s a concrete way to
make choices about the design of your
local environment and it’s a way in
which you personally can engage I’ve
been using mosaics to work with groups
who want to collaborate to change their
built environment that’s Charlie up
there on the ladder he’s the town
supervisor of Richford New York he’s
worked in the building trades for
decades his wife Vicki leads a local
Girl Scout troop he makes most of our
concrete she spearheaded
volunteer coordination for generations
of Richford residents lined up in the
town hall during an April snow storm to
make handprints in Clay
I love how accessible how fundamental
clay is it’s the earth itself in molding
clay we get a very direct experience of
shaping reality bringing something new
into being it doesn’t matter your age or
your skill level you can make a mark and
clay and probably enjoy the tactile
nature of doing it like PJ here and with
the help of his parents made hand and
feet prints each tile is unique and
recognizable to its maker trace made the
trace made the jumping trout and the
fawn Piper and Dara made the hawk Joslin
made the Fox together these distinct
tiles combine to create a more complex
overall composition what a wonderful
metaphor for the way individuals formed
community each voice is important
together much greater complexity is
possible when communities have a chance
to shape their built environment they
see their own ability to affect positive
change right where they live when people
get together to create physical
real-world structures to meet common
needs they build bonds of human
connection it’s empowering and that has
ripple effects through the individuals
involved the larger community and the
physical space last year I was invited
to work with the girls at the Mariposa
Center in Cabarete Dominican Republic
the Mariposa foundation works to end
generational poverty by investing in the
lives of girls in meeting their goal of
empowering girls they knew that
community built public art is a powerful
tool for social change including heal
increased awareness attitudinal change
more diverse and increased civic
participation movement building and
policy change to name a few
how does it work first the people who
participate experience the validating
and often rare opportunity to see their
ideas directly shape public discourse
and design volunteers engage their own
creative nature manifesting ideas into
reality is empowering and highly
practical with a wide range of
applications a sense of pride and
stewardship remain once the project is
complete secondly the act of making art
together builds human bonds it takes
trust to be creative with each other and
builds trust the finished artwork
reflects the identity of the community
that made it and there’s a sense of
belonging in the physical space and
within the group of people who changed
it
Eisenstein says intimacy comes from
co-creation not Co consumption thirdly
there’s a change in perception among the
people who visit visitors get a sense of
wonder and joy at the beauty created by
a group of people with the will and the
power to transform their environment
socially physically and even politically
it’s inspiring to witness a space
transformed by the people who use it
there’s a sense of respect for the art
and the artists that usually protect
this kind of public art from vandalism
watershed wall is made up of tiles
contributed by every school in the
Attica City School District it’s mounted
in an alley on the wall of a parking
garage it’s been up since 2010 and it’s
never been vandalized there’s an
awareness
everyone is a stakeholder in this kind
of public space Lili yay the barefoot
artist says art is a human right
engaging our own creative nature gives
us the power to transform reality and in
doing so with others we foster
relationships which are the most
important thing we can cultivate as
human beings they strengthen our
communities and give our lives meaning I
want to encourage each of you to reclaim
your creative birthright and make
something beautiful with the people in
your community reclaim public space with
collaborative Testaments of roots what’s
the need in your community it might be
making public space more useful
beautiful or safe perhaps at a park or a
playground a bus stop or a traffic
intersection or a vacant lot you can
exercise your power to affect change
with the help of your community for the
benefit of all strong healthy
communities foster health and well-being
among people creating community built
public art is a dynamic way to activate
warm interpersonal relationships and
positively impact your physical
environment please
tap your own creative nature to reshape
the public sphere thank you [Applause]