Luminary Center for the Arts: Saturday, 4 May 2013
The Luminary and Works Progress Present
WHOLE CITY ST. LOUIS
Organized by Works Progress (Minneapolis)
On view May 4 – May 25, 2013
Opening Reception on May 4th from 7-9pm
Whole City is a month-long project by Minneapolis-based public art and design studio Works Progress that will bring an unfamiliar eye to the City of St. Louis - asking inhabitants to talk about its identity as a place, as well as the creative life and aspirations of its residents - beginning with the question, What makes us whole?
Across the United States socially-engaged artists and designers are working with and within communities to shape and shift the experience of urban life. In some cases these social practices are central to building the collective identity of a place, strengthening connections and creating new opportunities for the expression of shared ideas, aspirations and culture. In other cases artists are working in the margins, purposefully destabilizing existing networks and power structures. In both cases, socially-engaged artists are pushing our consciousness in wholly new directions.
While artists shaping the identity and creative life of cities through their work is nothing new, there’s a growing emphasis on the economic and community development impact of artist-led “placemaking” efforts. In some cities, a shift in the focus of arts funding to this type of work has led to new sources of economic support for artists, and new demands on their artistic process and the work they create. Other cities have yet to see these funding strategies take root. In either case, questions remain about the relationships between socially-engaged art-making, community and economic development, and the future of our cities.
Using collaborative inquiry and reflection, Works Progress artists Colin Kloecker and Shanai Matteson will explore St. Louis - specifically, the connections and disconnections that socially-engaged artists are exploring through their work and what it could mean for the future of city life.
Throughout the course of an intense one-week residency Works Progress will get to know St. Louis with the help of local artists and organizations. The variety of perspectives shared through face-to-face conversations, short essays and other artistic contributions will be compiled into a free broadsheet publication distributed onsite and put on display at The Luminary from May 4th-25th, inviting collective self-reflection and fearless dreaming about what could be.
This exhibition and its contents will join a national conversation as Works Progress continues to explore the shifting landscape of socially-engaged art-making and urban development through the Whole City project in Minneapolis, St. Paul and other cities.
For more information about Works Progress, visit http://www.worksprogress.org. To learn more about the Whole City project, visit http://wholecity.us.
WHOLE CITY ST. LOUIS
Organized by Works Progress (Minneapolis)
On view May 4 – May 25, 2013
Opening Reception on May 4th from 7-9pm
Whole City is a month-long project by Minneapolis-based public art and design studio Works Progress that will bring an unfamiliar eye to the City of St. Louis - asking inhabitants to talk about its identity as a place, as well as the creative life and aspirations of its residents - beginning with the question, What makes us whole?
Across the United States socially-engaged artists and designers are working with and within communities to shape and shift the experience of urban life. In some cases these social practices are central to building the collective identity of a place, strengthening connections and creating new opportunities for the expression of shared ideas, aspirations and culture. In other cases artists are working in the margins, purposefully destabilizing existing networks and power structures. In both cases, socially-engaged artists are pushing our consciousness in wholly new directions.
While artists shaping the identity and creative life of cities through their work is nothing new, there’s a growing emphasis on the economic and community development impact of artist-led “placemaking” efforts. In some cities, a shift in the focus of arts funding to this type of work has led to new sources of economic support for artists, and new demands on their artistic process and the work they create. Other cities have yet to see these funding strategies take root. In either case, questions remain about the relationships between socially-engaged art-making, community and economic development, and the future of our cities.
Using collaborative inquiry and reflection, Works Progress artists Colin Kloecker and Shanai Matteson will explore St. Louis - specifically, the connections and disconnections that socially-engaged artists are exploring through their work and what it could mean for the future of city life.
Throughout the course of an intense one-week residency Works Progress will get to know St. Louis with the help of local artists and organizations. The variety of perspectives shared through face-to-face conversations, short essays and other artistic contributions will be compiled into a free broadsheet publication distributed onsite and put on display at The Luminary from May 4th-25th, inviting collective self-reflection and fearless dreaming about what could be.
This exhibition and its contents will join a national conversation as Works Progress continues to explore the shifting landscape of socially-engaged art-making and urban development through the Whole City project in Minneapolis, St. Paul and other cities.
For more information about Works Progress, visit http://www.worksprogress.org. To learn more about the Whole City project, visit http://wholecity.us.
*At an alternate gallery space at
2644 Cherokee Street
St. Louis 63118
posted by Bill Barrett at 1:23 PM
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