Street Art Walking has been invited to quote provide artists as entertainment for an event. The festival is held on 8 October from 11:00 until 18:00 with theme of “Art of Communication”. It’s free for community to attend and ran by council.
SAW is keen to hear from artists who can do live art in front of people. They particularly want to offer an interactive experience so artists that can work with people and facilitate group work would also be great.
Ideas:
Portrait drawing or painting
Live art workshops
Interactive Sculpture
There are three live art elements:
artists live drawing/painting
idea for a interactive sculpture
sensory walk in a marquee
Are you interested to share your idea or learn more?
Have you created live art for events before?
Can you facilitate some interactive art?
Key event info: Date: Sunday 8 October Time: 11am until 6pm (you will need to arrive earlier to set up before open at 11)
If you can paint all day great! But if you only want to paint for 4 hours, that’s okay too. Outline what time you can be available when you send us your EOI.
Email us (as soon as you can!) with an outline of your idea, examples of work, the duration of your live art performance and what your fee will be. Please include all costs or outline anything else you will require to complete the job.
Failure:Lab the USA founded event focused on crushing the stigma associated with failure is coming to Sydney on 28 May 2016. With the theme of ‘The Highs & Lows of the Creative Journey’ this night is filled with successful creative professionals whom are going to erase the negativity associated with the F word – Failure, that is.
Seven creative professionals each share a story of failure, joining Failure:Lab’s global mission to eliminate the fear, stigma, and isolation around failure which, in turn, helps remove roadblocks to communication, innovation, and community.
Failure:Lab is a raw and intimate event showcasing personal stories of failure. With a refreshing environment of openness, it helps pave the way for change by crushing the isolation and stigma around failure. Failure then takes its rightful place as the crucial first step to the next big thing.
Our storytellers share memories of failure in a safe space for mistakes – no lessons learned or talk of who’s to blame! The audience can reflect on Twitter using #failurelab during the moment of reflection between stories.
Performances follow each story to recharge the audience. Electro poetry, spoken word, ‘gyp-hop’, acoustic melodies and oscillating guitar strings will lift the air between stories.
Don’t let the name fool you – while the stories may be about failure, the event is really about courage, determination, and the strength to get back up.
Crush the stigma around failure. Embrace it, learn from it, build on it.
Storytellers (who will have 9 minutes to share their failure story before dropping the mic and exiting the stage!)
Storyteller, Marcus Westbury
Marcus Westbury Marcus Westbury is the CEO of Contemporary Arts Precincts Ltd that is leading the development of the Collingwood Arts Precinct in Melbourne and the founder of the multi award winning Renew Newcastle and Renew Australia. Marcus has been a writer, media maker and festival director and is the author of Creating Cities (Niche Press, 2015) and has been the writer and presenter of the ABC TV series Bespoke and Not Quite Art.
Storyteller, Somaya Langley
Somaya Langley Somaya Langley has a built a career at the nexus between the arts and technology. She has worked for multiple government cultural institutions, broadcasters, festivals and not-for-profit arts organisations as a curator, director, producer and technical specialist. As a creative practitioner, her work primarily focuses on embodied and immersive audiovisual experiences. Her life is equal parts failure and success. Somaya is the Digital Curation Specialist at the State Library of New South Wales.
Storyteller, Jeremy Staples
Jeremy Staples Jeremy Staples’ work is all about creating spaces for community engagement and providing a platform for people to be heard and share their skills. He enjoys questioning, documenting, reading, writing and travel. He’s passionate about inspiring people to think and helping them along their own journeys. Over the past five years, he has been researching the future of radical print media abroad and worked alongside with and met with everyone from Maximum Rock and Roll to Tokyo’s largest English print magazine.
Storyteller, Annetta Mallon
Dr Annetta Mallon PhD Annetta was awarded her PhD in Social Science in 2016, and she specialises in feminism, identity, personal stories, sociology and professional practice. She is currently employed as a lecturer and tutor, with Western Sydney University in the areas of Social Science, Sociology, and qualitative research methods. In addition to her academic pursuits and teaching, Annetta is also a freelance writer & editor, and is currently involved in developing works in both the academic and fiction arenas. Her previous career was as a practising counsellor, advisor, and psychotherapist for over twenty years working in Australia, Italy, and the USA in the fields of injury and trauma recovery, grief and loss, mental health, and personal growth and development.
Storyteller, Chloe Beevers
Chloe Beevers Chloe has over 15 years experience as a creative strategist, collaboration broker, program producer and keynote presenter. As the founder of the consultancy firm Strategic Artistry, Chloe builds the capacity of governments, organisations, industries and communities to deliver creative outcomes.
Storyteller, Adam Monaghan
Adam Monaghan Intermittent breaks from nursing to work in office jobs (not his thing) as well as dabbling in photography. Never quite believed in himself as photographer. Made redundant in 2013 and took another leap into video production. Taught himself to shoot, script, edit, produce and direct. Has grown the business into a six figure turnover enterprise in under three years.
DA Carter DA Carter is a musician & lyricist who’s toured globally on streets and stages from Berlin to Burning Man to the Sydney Theatre, National Young Writers, Subsonic, Regrowth, Crack Theatre & Fringe Festivals.
DA performs his heady mix of beatbox, spoken word & freestyle with a microphone & loop machines.
Performers (who will shift your mood with a 4 minute entertainment piece!)
Performer, Casio Gloria
Casio Gloria “The Kook, The Keys and the Curious. You decide who’s which.” From the grottos of Newcastle to the far reaches of the imagination, this eclectic/ electro performance-poetry explosion will have you sidestepping and your sides splitting. Launching the newest version of their bespoke music software MusicFox for Vivid Ideas Sydney 2016.
The Tinderbox Lullabies The Tinderbox Lullabies are Blue mountains singer /Song writer Nic Alexander, and Sydney soul poet Brent Clarke, also known as B.C. They perform a mongrel breed of roots music and rap delivery, creating the affectionate term on which they’ve grown from, ‘Gyp-Hop’.
Structured on acoustic guitar, sweeping vocal melodies and rhyming poetry, The Tinderbox Lullabies tell their stories through a truly honest dialogue using humour, hindsight, tongues in cheeks and big, dumb hearts on sleeves.
Performer, Spindles
Spindles Spindles is a Sydney-living musician who spins songs about the two things she thinks are most important: love and revolution. Sometimes her feelings about these things become so strong that they demand physical space – for guitar strings to oscillate, vocal cords to vibrate, stereocilia to reverberate. Spindles has spent the summer adorning these spaces with sea glass and cicada shells and midnights and Blue, and you are invited in.
Performers, Ebb Tides
Ebb Tides A tiny town musical duo comprising the abilities of multi talented writer, director, choreographer Erin Brookhouse and childhood friend, poet and rap artist Brent Francis Clarke, also known by the stage name B.C.
Ebb-Tides take their name in reference of the river they both grew up by on the mid North Coast of N.S.W. before moving to Sydney and meeting again later as fans of each other’s work.
Beginning from beautiful melodies Erin would draw from the sounds and songs Brent was creating as B.C, a series of collaborations turned into a project that both agreed to continue, taking shape as the colourful duo. Two friends who truly love creating art together.
Get tickets now whilst you can to this Australian first!
It has been many months (nearly a year!) since I had the opportunity to visit Detroit, Michigan. But as anyone who has spent thirty minutes with me will tell you, Detroit has not been out of my mind (or heart) for a moment. Today, I will start my series of blogs, highlighting my journey from departure to return. With so much time passed since I have returned back to Newcastle, Australia, there has been an interesting chance for reflection upon my visit. The distance from the Detroit moments has helped me identify things that I may not have appreciated whilst in the moment.
So many people asked me, ‘What was the best part?’
My answer has immediately been, the people.
My journey began with the generosity of people and this theme ran through my entire stay. So this post is dedicated to all the hearts and hands that went into making my Detroit visit the wholesome, rich and amazing experience that it was.
First off, are the forty supporters from my Pozible campaign. The feeling of having people believe in your work gave me such a sense of purpose, a very nice way to start a journey like this.
If it weren’t for the campaign (and this local paper article) I would not have had the fortune of crossing paths with Alan and Loraine Stear. Alan and Loraine were visiting Newcastle (from Detroit, MI) whilst I was promoting the campaign to travel to Detroit. Loraine took the time to get in touch via the website, offering to help whilst I was in Detroit. The help from Alan and Loraine was overwhelmingly inspiring and gracious. I was hosted by them, introduced to their friends and family as guest of honour.It was such an honour to be a guest of theirs and I know it helped me see a loving, community driven, side of Detroit.
Loraine and Alan Stear
Their friends Harriet and Alvin extended so much support in helping me see the best sides of Detroit. I was able to stay in downtown Detroit with Harriet and Al, allowing me to walk (although their start of Spring weather is certainly a little different to ours!) to the Project for Public Spaces Global Placemaking Council Meeting.
Al and Harriet
I cannot thank both families enough for the support and generosity they extended to help me feel at home, in their homes. I was able to see and meet so many amazing people through them, which you will all meet in the upcoming posts.
Here is the last photo I took in Newcastle (Cardiff views from the train to Sydney) and the first image I took in Detroit (Michigan Central Station).
Leaving Newcastle – Cardiff, NSWArriving in Detroit – Michigan Central Station
Part II – Project for Public Spaces Meeting – Next
Last year we found out that some of our art and placemaking friends were working on an exciting project for the stairs at Wickham train station. Mark Aylward (who has been a key driver in some great placemaking projects in Newcastle West), had sparked a project online with artists Lu Quade and Erynwithawhy. As we are all pals online, we had seen each other commenting on a photo featuring a brilliantly coloured mural over the face of a long set of stairs. Mark, being the proactive and ambitious artist that he is, decided to find some stairs so that Newcastle could have it’s own version.
Mark sought permission to paint the stairs, sourced sponsorship for paint from Dulux (special thanks to representative Steve Kiem) and mustered up artists Lu Quade, Erynwithawhy and myself to join in. This project was probably the most fun (aside from the somewhat awkward posture posed when painting stairs – it’s hard work!) painting project that I have been involved with.
It was great seeing people smile as we painted the bright colours over the dull concrete. Some people asked, ‘Why?’. To which we would say, ‘Why not?’ or ‘Because we can!’.
The stairs have since been featured in an article by The Herald which you can see here. I would like to personally give a shout out to Shrek for his comment. We agree, this is a first class piece of art, indeed. Oh and my favourite part of the day was when the popo turned up to see if we were vandals. No, sorry. We sought permission.
Unfortunately, most of the photos I took of the two days of painting have been lost after having my phone stolen (boo!). Yet, here are some photos which we shared on Instagram (lucky we have those, I guess).
Yesterday I was lucky enough to share some time with Naomi Hersson Ringskog from No Longer Empty (NLE), a New York based organisation with a focus on renewing and revitalising urban space.
Naomi’s background is in urban planning and it was fantastic to tell her about my home city in Newcastle, Australia.
As anyone from Newcastle knows, we have some seriously divine empty buildings, some of which are of a very large scale.
What kind of buildings, you ask?
Well there’s some heritage ones that come to mind which are the Post Office, two old department stores, local icon The Star Hotel and The Victoria Theatre. Oh, and the Ammityville Terrace house near Wickham Station, plus the big green empty terrace house next door to where I live. Oh, and Pigeon Palace, as I call it in Hamilton. These are such grand buildings (or would have been in their hey day), yet slowly slipping away right in front of the community. Here’s some pics for those who may not know Newcastle, Australia.
Luckily, we have Renew Newcastle supporting the good cause and making use of the spaces that can be matched with an eager creative industry business. This amazing organisation has helped launch over eighty creative businesses in many empty spaces with the heart of the Newcastle CBD.
My work with Street Art Walking has
been looking at the in-between spaces like laneways and blank walls. Or worse yet, grey walls. I’m also particularly interested in how arts intervention into these empty spaces can bolster the communities and businesses together. A good place, filled with art, is so much better than an empty space.
It was great to chat with Naomi about their process of interacting with a site to produce exhibitions or events that not only activate spaces but also engage in important dialogue. The NLE team go through stages of research such as looking at the phstical space, researching the history and interacting with local community groups and organisations to find out what the space means to the people within the area. There is a sensitivity to their process that I feel is perhaps the key thing I will take away from this meeting.
What’s a good place? Well, for me, it could just be a local moment, an event that celebrates the story of an area, it’s people and the history that is important to the identity of an area.
As I’m out and about in the streets doing my research (photographing and measuring up, are usually what I get up to in empty and disused laneways) I always meet someone who is curious about what I’m up to. When I get a chance to speak to them about my vision for what could be in the area, I’m met with such enthusiastic tones and excitement. And there is always a story. Or two. Or three.
One NLE project that resonates with me is Living Walls, The City Speaks which is an annual conference on street art and urbanism in the city of Atlanta.
There’s so many good links, resources and projects coming from NLE that I urge everyone reading this to follow them, if you aren’t already. Email subscribe, Facebook and Twitter follow and if you are feeling generous like I am, why not give a donation. It truly is nice to support a project like this and if I lived in this country I would certainly be heavily engaged with what they do as a punter, volunteer and anything else that I could be involved with. But for now, I shall continue to support this organisation online by clicking through to their articles and sharing with fellow ’empty space’ and arts enthusiasts.
I am inspired to come home and follow the path that I am on in intervening with empty slaves through arts based projects. A term that Naomi used yesterday reminded me of the powerful role we can have as ‘Agents of Change’. I had read the term before but hearing it out loud was validating and confidence boosting.
I realised after sharing my ideas, vision and current processes with Naomi that I am well on track with the revitalisation projects that I am working on. The main areas for me to pursue are now to engage with wider community groups beyond the arts sector such as historical societies, elderly citizens, youth groups and church groups. It’s time to find the mass community and start finding out what stories they have to share, as well as what ideas they might have for Newcastle.
On that note, I am pleased to be a judge for Newcastle2020, a local exhibition ran by young Novacastrians who want to inspire brighter visions for our city, as well as find out what ideas out cities young people have for their place.
I’m confident we (all the various groups and organisations) are well on-track with revitalising Newcastle and look forward to bringing together more people to help lift dreams into realities. We just need to bond and work together a bit stronger. Many hands make light work, as they say.
Thank you to Naomi for her time and feedback on the projects I am involved in back home. I look forward to continue to build on this newfound connection and will happily be a tour guide for NLE, should they find their way to Australia.
Don’t forget to follow Street Art Walking on Facebook www.facebook.com/streetartwalking
and Twitter @streetartwalkin
