Archive for the ‘Museum Initiatives’ Category
What’s in Store for ‘Sodbuster’?
'Sodbuster' in its former home at the corner of Broadway and Main Avenue in Fargo (photo via www.fargo-history.com)
Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen an outpouring of interest over the fate of Sodbuster, a sculpture by artist Luis Jimenéz that once stood at the corner of Main Avenue and Broadway in downtown Fargo. This level of interest is exciting, and it illustrates the point that works of art are memorable and can serve as important community icons. After ten years of the sculpture being in storage and awaiting conservation and repair, people remember it vividly and would like to see it returned to a public view.
So, what’s in store for Sodbuster?
First off, Sodbuster is in pretty bad shape. Made from fiberglass, it withstood twenty years of exposure to UV rays, full sun, rain, snow, heat, cold, vibrations from a nearby railroad track, and vandalism, resulting in severe discoloration and weakening of its coating. After the City of Fargo donated the sculpture to the Museum (it was not purchased, as has been reported) back in 1991, the Museum enlisted the expertise of a conservator and the artist himself to restore the work. After Jimenéz tragically died in 2006, these plans were put on hold. Since then, the Museum has had to regroup around the restoration of Sodbuster, as other priorities have taken center stage.
What is perhaps most striking about the recent resurgence in interest in Sodbuster is that it underscores the importance of public art in a community’s identity. Many Fargoans feel a palpable connection to this sculpture, and it is important that we offer everyone – individuals, businesses, community groups – the opportunity to lend us their opinions on Sodbuster’s future.
We take very seriously our role as caretaker of this valuable piece of art and central visual landmark for the history of Fargo. This role requires that we develop a professional plan for Sodbuster’s proper restoration. The cost of restoration could run $100,000 or more, so issues of funding are also part of this conversation. The successful future of this landmark rests on first establishing dialogue, and we want to have a dialogue with the community and interested parties. What steps need to be taken for a successful restoration? How can restoration costs be successfully raised? What sites might be considered for its future? What does it take to properly restore this piece, one made of unorthodox material and needing expert care?
We’re now putting a plan in place to share information about Sodbuster’s history and current condition, to outline what needs to happen to restore the sculpture, and to invite community input about how to get Sodbuster back on its feet. In November (exact date to be determined), we’ll be hosting a “Sodbuster Summit” at the Museum where you can hear about the issues behind the restoration and voice your opinion on its future. In the meantime, here are some ways for you to lend us your comments:
- Right here. Leave a comment on this blog post. Feel free to comment on others’ posts, too. Comments are moderated, FYI, so they may take some time to appear. All pertinent comments will be published.
- Email. Email us at museum@plainsart.org with the subject “Sodbuster Comments”.
- Facebook. Leave us a note on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/plainsartmuseum.
- Twitter. Tag us with @plainsartmuseum and/or tag your comment with #sodbuster.
- Snail mail. Send us a letter at PO Box 2338, Fargo, N.D., 58108.
- Museum staff will also be appearing on local talk radio shows to talk about Sodbuster, field questions, and hear your comments. We’ll announce those appearances through Facebook.
Thank you in advance for your comments, and we’ll see you in November!
Notes from the CCLI Informational Meeting
A couple weeks ago, the Museum hosted an informational meeting regarding the Creative Community Leadership Institute (CCLI), a program administered by Intermedia Arts, a Minneapolis-based multidisciplinary organization whose goal is to foster community growth through the arts. CCLI provides its attendees with comprehensive, professional-level training and support for local community-engaged artists and community developers. A CCLI session is coming to Fargo next spring.
In his presentation to the two dozen or so in attendance, CCLI faculty member Bill Cleveland stressed that communities in the 21st century require creativity in order to survive and be sustainable. Further, arts and community leaders must be at the table in order for broad initiatives to succeed. CCLI provides those people with the tools and relationships within their respective communities to ensure that community initiatives do, indeed, work. In the Twin Cities, dozens of CCLI alumni form a core group of active community artists, organizers, and developers who have this understanding and this vital skill set in place.
- Curious about CCLI? Please consider applying if you want to improve the community and already have active community relationships, have experience in community organizing, or work in the economic development, health care, or education sectors. Also, be prepared to work: CCLI demands a commitment 100+ total hours over the course of 4 – 5 months and requires plenty of research, writing and research. At the same time, sessions are plenty of fun and use active arts-based learning (singing, dancing, etc.) in addition to rigorous study.
- Want to learn more? Click to download a CCLI Info Sheet (PDF).
If you’d like to keep up with CCLI plans as they progress, email me at kkerzman@plainsart.org and I’ll add your name to an email update list for future informational meetings.
Jack Becker Presentation, Part of Go 2030
Jack Becker, executive director of Forecast Public Art, will give a presentation this evening at 7 p.m. in the Fargo city commission chambers on advancing and strengthening the field of public art. Becker is a dynamic speaker who has also served as a public art consultant since 1994, helping connect the ideas and energies of artists with the needs of communities. In 2007 he received Public Art Network Award of Excellence from Americans for the Arts for his contribution to the field.
Becker’s presentation is part of a series of talks and community meetings, Go 2030, being held by the city of Fargo in advance of its 2030 comprehensive plan. Currently, the city is in the exploratory phase of the plan and is gathering public input through these events. (Learn more at the Go 2030 website and get updates through their Facebook page.)
Advancing public art initiatives has been a focus of the Museum’s mission through the Defiant Gardens program and a variety of other efforts. The Museum is working closely with city officials in Fargo and Moorhead, artists, community members, and art educators to demonstrate how communities can be strengthened and quality of life improved through such initiatives. We encourage you to attend today’s presentation to learn more about public art and the 2030 comprehensive plan.
Mark Dion’s Suprising Designs
Mark Dion has built a career presenting alternative arrangements to the current dominant theories of social organization through inventive, and often humorous, small buildings and installation pieces that find alternate ways of ordering everyday objects and questioning the interaction with those objects. He will present a few of his ideas in a lecture at NDSU’s Renaissance Hall on Monday, November 15 at 4:15 p.m. Dion will also work with students and faculty to develop ideas for a “Wintergarden Fern Grotto,” his Defiant Garden idea.
The above photo comes from the inside of Neukom Vivarium, a cross between a sculpture, an architectural project, and an art object placed in the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle. Neukom Vivarium involved removing a large log from a forest and placing it in a specially designed greenhouse where its decomposition – and the new life that began to take hold – could be carefully observed.
- Mark Dion was featured in the PBS series Art:21, where his Neukom Vivarium design was prominently featured. Visit the Art:21 website to view videos and slideshows of Dion at work on the project.
- View other work by Mark Dion at artnet.
Dion’s visit to Fargo is co-sponsored by Plains Art Museum, NDSU Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, NDSU Department of Visual Arts, and MSUM Department of Art and Design.
Planting Ideas: Design Proposals for a Moorhead Power Plant Defiant Garden
Tuesday, September 28
6:30 p.m.
Moorhead City Council Chambers – 500 Center Ave, Moorhead
Back in July, artists Rob Fischer and Kevin Johnson got acquainted with community members in the Woodlawn neighborahood of Moorhead and listened to their input for a future public art project – a Defiant Garden – at the Moorhead Power Plant site.
Fischer and Johnson will return with proposed ideas to implement at the site and would appreciate your involvement, opinions and ideas. Community members, neighbors and gardening enthusiasts are urged to attend and all members of the public are welcome.
Defiant Gardens is an ongoing project working with artists, landscape historians, landscape architects, writers, curators, and city planners to develop public art projects that inspire the community.
The project at the Moorhead Power Plant is supported by a generous grant from the Lake Region Arts Council with contributions from the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
Image: Britta Trygstad, Reflection #2, digital photograph, 2010.
Moorhead Power Plant Meeting Wrapup
On July 21, representatives of the Museum, representatives of the City of Moorhead, and interested citizens gathered along with artists Kevin Johnson and Rob Fischer to go over ideas for artistic improvements at the site of the Moorhead Power Plant which will be decommissioned next year. This project, still in its infancy, is part of the Museum’s Defiant Gardens initiative, which advocates for the creation of artistically-inspired green spaces in the FM community.
The evening began with a short introduction by Museum Director Colleen Sheehy. Johnson and Fischer gave a short presentation to introduce their work and to the audience. Both artists are native to Minnesota and both currently reside in Brooklyn, N.Y. They focus their work on spaces and use environmental sculpture, native grasses, and pieces that are inspired by natural phenomena in order to give a space greater significance. Johnson, for instance, has been an artist-in-residence for the health care industry and has created and installed healing gardens, outdoor areas that provide patients and family members respite from the more intimidating areas of a hospital. Fischer alters large found objects that are, as he puts it, “informed by history,” becoming new objects that evoke old forms.
Sheehy discusses the concept of a Defiant Garden while Johnson and Fischer look on.
Afterward, meeting moved the over to the power plant itself. Audience members were able to inspect the grounds and, ultimately, go inside for a peek. Here are some photos:
Johnson discusses the power plant site with a member of the Woodlawn neighborhood.
Outside the plant, with some interesting concrete features visible.
Inside the plant.
The plant currently houses a backup generator and is also used for storage.
For more photos, please visit our Flickr page.
The meeting then moved to a concrete slab outside the power plant. Moderated by Moorhead Public Service General Manager Bill Schwandt, roughly two dozen interested residents weighed ideas on the best purposes for the space outside the plant and ranged from the broad (creating a “sanctuary”) to the specific (creating a berry garden). Some in the group advocated for creating an element to the location that would bring in revenue (like a bistro or a community center), while others proposed improvements to the space that would simply make it a nice place to sit. The conversation was lively and all involved seemed excited to have input into this process.
The next phase of this project? Johnson and Fischer plan to revisit the area in October and will present a proposal to Moorhead officials to implement. We’ll keep you posted on any developments and, if you have any ideas for the site and were unable to attend the meeting, please leave comments.
