Art in the Loop Reception & Artist Talks, 11/13/14
Art in the Loop will celebrate the success of its 2014 Downtown KC Street Art/Placemaking Project with a reception and artist talks on Thursday, November 13, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Downtown Council, 1000 Walnut, Suite 200. Artist talks will begin at 6 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. Register for the event at https://artintheloop1.eventbrite.com.
Art in the Loop’s 2014 Downtown Kansas City Street Art/Placemaking Pilot Project infused the sidewalks of Downtown Kansas City with innovative, engaging and temporary art. The art was intended to have a positive and regenerative effect on the neighborhood while adding interest, intrigue, and an air of surprise to the Downtown experience. Art in the Loop collaborated with the Downtown Council, Downtown Community Improvement District and local businesses in this tactical urbanism approach, which focused on implementing short-term actions and pilot projects to test new ideas for placemaking.
The pilot project included six two-dimensional installations and six performance art pieces. The projects were installed and took place in and around Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park, 12th & Walnut in Downtown Kansas City. Working with twenty artists to develop projects that respond to the climate, architecture, and composition of Downtown Kansas City, Art in the Loop facilitated a series of works that ask businesses, visitors, and residents to re-imagine the Downtown landscape.
Visual artworks from Mark Allen, Rachelle Gardner, Madeline Gallucci, and Robert Bustamente express new ways of exploring our downtown businesses, generating lively two-dimensional pieces. Muralist Phil Shafer developed a street art-inspired work illustrating identification politics within a robust, colorful aesthetic. Multimedia artist Laura Isaac utilized video, technology, and narrative to envision the Downtown landscape through a dream-like lens.
Performances in Oppenstein Park promoted a relationship between existing public art projects and a vision for further performative practice within this public space. These performances were eclectic in scope, ranging from the experimental jazz of Mnemosyne Quartet, game playing with artists Charlie Mylie and Lindsey Griffith, interactive installation and storytelling with Jose Faus and Emily Evans Sloan, a site- specific night performance by local band Quadrigarum, a video and sound performance installation by Mara Gibson, Caitlin Horsmon and Mark Lowry, and a community engaged performance by Sean Starowitz.
In the words of guest curator, Jessica Borusky, “Connecting local visual artists with downtown Kansas City is a mutual benefit. By creating a relationship between these artists and the downtown community, Kansas City is developing a new type of local visual arts visibility”
For more information, please contact Art in the Loop program director Ann Holliday, 816-979-1072/ ann@downtownkc.org, or guest curator Jessica Borusky, jessicaborusky@gmail.com. Visit http://www.artintheloop.com for additional information about the project and its artists. Register for the event at https://artintheloop1.eventbrite.com.
About Art in the Loop
Founded in 2004, Art in the Loop is an established 501c3 nonprofit arts organization committed to engaging artists in the continued revitalization of Downtown Kansas City. The organization’s strength stems from its unique partnership with three prominent Kansas City entities, the Kansas City Art Institute, the Kansas City Municipal Art Commission and the Downtown Council of Kansas City. Common ground is found in a shared belief that the development of the downtown area and enhancing the cultural life of our city are directly linked.
