Install

Whew ... been so busy the last few weeks have not had time to do more than post a few photos here and there. Today finally I was able to take a few breaths and smile at all the AMAZING work that has been created! Whoot Whoot!! Yesterday, thanks to the help of good friends Tara Fahey, Amber Moore, and Amber PB, all the work of the last month and and half was hung. The exhibit will be up for the next month and I must say it makes me smile BIG! We were so busy we did not get many of shots of the install in progress but, will take some when the banners move to the Juvenile Justice Center. Pictures of the exhibit to come soon!

Studio DAYS

Been Busy! Busy! Busy! in the studio all of this past week getting the banners ready to hang... grommets have been added, paint and marker touch ups finished, title sign painted and backgrounds finished! Everything is starting to look so good... I am excited to see it all hung up!

CHS Progress Photos

Anwatin Middle School Murals In Progress

Paint Station Set Up -  So much Color!

Pillsbury House Photos of Student Drawings

The youngest students working on the 10,000 Things project hail from Pillsbury House Community Center. Students age 5 -10 have been working on the project and their drawings are really amazing! I am particularly enjoying the drawings of the wind!

FAIR SCHOOL PROGRESS SHOTS

What do you know and not know....

Pillsbury House Process Shots

"10,000 Things That We Love that You Might Love Too!

 “10,000 Things that I Love that You Might Love too! - “An Explosion of the Everyday on Parade” a collaboratively created hanging banner allowing prearranged groups of youth to create a bright colorful banner series of the things that they love, to serve as a reminder of what is important in our everyday lives and as an exhibition to increase interesting aesthetics in the public sphere.

Public art has a way of engaging dialogues about our every day lives in non-traditional and sometimes unexpected settings. Through the inventive ideas of Soozin Hirschmugl and the creative aspirations of young people at Fair School, Anwatin Middle School, County Home School and Pillsbury House Community Center, this will occur on the Public Service Level of Hennepin County’s Government Center and then again at the Juvenile Justice Center. Each site has a distinctly different educational mission and represent the diversity of learning styles and learners in Hennepin County.

Students have been working diligently over the past few weeks and will continue to work under the direction of Soozin Hirschmugl, artist and teaching artist, to create these inspiring and engaging pieces of public art. The images will be painted on six to eight, eight foot by four foot hanging banners and installed first in the Hennepin County Government Center and then installed in the Juvenile Justice Center.

Through creative drawing and imaging sessions, involved youth will uncover the values they hold in their own lives and learn to articulate those ideas using images and written reflection. Through the artistic creation and when viewing this work, people will ask themselves “What constitute the everyday things that you notice that bring beauty, joy and importance to your life?”

The Following School or community groups were selected to participate in the, “”10,000 Things I Love” Mural Project:

Site One (M – TH September 19 -29)

FAIR School Downtown.  I am working with Ms. Nikolai’s 9^th grade Drawing 1 Students.  At this site I worked with, 2 classes of 28 students and created banners. 

FAIR school is a K-12 Fine Arts Interdisciplinary Resource School community with two campuses, FAIR School Downtown and FAIR School Crystal. FAIR School is the result of imaginative educational conception, inventive curriculum planning, and innovative architectural design. As part of the West Metro Education Program (WMEP), our school community stretches across urban and suburban lines and is a collaborative effort involving eleven public school districts: Brooklyn Center, Columbia Heights, Edina, Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Richfield, Robbinsdale, St. Anthony-New Brighton, St. Louis Park, and Wayzata.

Site Two (Fridays, September 23 –October 14)

Pillsbury House, I am working with Mike Hoyt, Program Manager, and 15 youth ages 6 -10 in the after-school program.  We are meeting once a week for 4 weeks to create our banner.

Pillsbury House is located in the Powderhorn-Central neighborhood of south Minneapolis.  Pillsbury House provides a diverse range of activities for the community, multiple conference rooms, an industrial-sized kitchen and a large dining room, Pillsbury House also houses Pillsbury House Theatre, Pillsbury House Early Education for children ages 16 months – 5 years, and a variety of after-school programming. Pillsbury House is located at 35th & Chicago Ave.

Site Three (M-Th PM, October 3 – 13)

Anwatin Middle School, at Anwatin I am working with the 30 students in, Ms. Lierwood’s Art elective class.  Anwatin is the home of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme and Spanish Dual Immersion (SDI) Middle School. The Community IB program serves students in grades 6-8 from western Minneapolis who attended elementary schools where English is the language of instruction.. All Anwatin students are taught using the International Baccalaureate Middle Years programme framework. Students who are in the Spanish Dual Immersion program receive part of their instruction in Spanish and part of their instruction in English, while all other students receive all of their instruction in English.

Anwatin consists of a wide variety of diverse cultures including Native American, Hmong, Somali, Latino, African American, Caucasian and more. With those different cultures come many languages too.

Anwatin also has programs for students with varying types of physical, language and learning disabilities. Our special programs individualize instruction according to the student’s Individual Education Plan. These students are mainstreamed whenever possible and are included within the grade level teams.

Site Four (M- Th AM, October 3- 13)

Hennepin County Home School, at the Hennepin County Home School, I am working with, Principal Virginia Nyhus and art teacher Jack Johnson and nine students from one of his art classes.

The Hennepin County Home School is a state licensed residential treatment center for adolescent male and female offenders ages 13 through 19 who are committed by the court. The Short-Term Adolescent Male Treatment Program - STAMP Plus is a 4-6 month residential program offered at the Hennepin County Home School for adolescent males who have been adjudicated delinquent. STAMP Plus provides a safe and structured living environment, quality education through Independent School District 287, and evidence-based treatment interventions that include cognitive behavioral skills, angermanagement, gang intervention, victim impact, family engagement, and chemical dependency treatment. Treatment plans are individualized for each youth based on his high risk need and need areas. STAMP Plus works’ to change targeted behavior of the individual youth through conscious thought processes, reinforcers, and consequences. The youth acquire new techniques and strategies that foster healthier ways of thinking and communicating that ultimately result improved behavior.