GAIL CHAVENELLE Project Courtyard Sculpture

Project summary describe the specific project you would like to accomplish with these funds. Include collaborators, medium (s), and what you intend to accomplish. (200 words max) Art Gumbo funding will allow proven- talent high school students in Dubuque Art Centers Master Allies Program to create a courtyard sculpture for Hempstead High. Seniors Brianna Manning and Holly Brimeyer have worked with Gail Chavenelle, metal artist. All participants in this project are women working in a non- traditional medium of metal. Holly and Brianna have already met with their school, art teacher and officials and received necessary permissions and approvals. Gail will lead the team in sculpture design, conversion to computer Cad-Cam, collaboration with Giese - local metal fabricator to laser cut, work with breaks, rollers and other state of the art fabrication tools and techniques to produce a metal public sculpture. Much public sculpture is designed by artists and fabricated with the help of a professional foundry or fabricator. Installation often requires coordination with outside contractors. This project allows the students to have a professional art experience while creating a needed sculpture as a legacy and thank you for the school and system which has educated them. A public metal sculpture project is expensive and could not be undertaken without Art Gumbo funding and support. How will your project impact the Dubuque community? (100 words max) No student sculpture, except in the enclosed cases in the halls, is represented at Hempstead. The students feel this is important to alter. The sculpture currently fronting their school depicts war. Brianna and Holly, as we all, know that Art expresses culture. They do not want their school symbolized by war. They will create a sculpture which expresses Peace, unity, and community inside their school. This would directly impact all the students, teachers, parents, and administration at one of the two public high schools in our city. Thats a big impact. If awarded, how will you present your accomplishments at the next ART GUMBO in 3 months? (60 words) One student has a background in video production. With camera and smart phones, Holly and Brianna will keep a video record of the creation of the sculpture. The final video will include asking other students what they think of the sculpture. These interviews will expand the impact of the project by involving other students. If awarded, how will you use funding (up to $750) towards the realization of your project? Please include details of how the grant will be used. (100 words) Chavenelle is volunteering her time and has/is donating steel, welding and plasma cutting tools for design and maquette creation. Art Gumbo funding will cover the cost of metal, computer CadCam conversion, laser cutting and shop time at Giese Metal fabricators. Funding may also cover final transportation and installation costs.

ART GUMBO DECEMBER 2011 | ARTGUMBODUBUQUE.BLOGSPOT.COM

TIM CONNERY Eastons Article Film Festival Run

Project summary describe the specific project you would like to accomplish with these funds. Include collaborators, medium (s), and what you intend to accomplish. (200 words max) Most people believe that the struggle of arts-based projects end upon the completion of the vision, an observable, listenable, and/or interactive piece ready for the public. However, I would propose that reaching an audience is oftentimes the most costly and difficult aspect of the process, especially when applied to films. Eastons Article is a completed sci-fi/suspense feature film shot on location in Dubuque exactly one year ago. The production was funded solely on a grassroots internet campaign championed by friends and family close to the project. With film festival deadlines looming and funds depleted from an expensive post-production, the film runs the risk of losing steam and never truly finding its prime audience in the film festival circuit. Expensive festival fees, DVD duplication, marketing materials, postage, and many more costs are attributed to simply submitting a movie to a film festival with virtually no guarantee of acceptance. However, I sincerely believe in this film and its story. I believe that when the right film festival premiers it that the dominos will begin to tip over, and we will finally show the rest of the world this unique slice of Dubuque art. How will your project impact the Dubuque community? (100 words max) I think there is an unprecedented opportunity to showcase what Dubuque has to offer to the rest of the world. The film contains scenes that beautifully capture places such as the Town Clock Plaza, the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, the Mines of Spain hiking trails, the Mississippi River itself along with various other landscapes that are unique to Dubuque. The film if successful could harbor an interest in our community on a global scale, particularly as an area that has professional filmmakers and storytellers who are living and working here. If awarded, how will you present your accomplishments at the next ART GUMBO in 3 months? (60 words) Admittedly, submitting to film festivals can be a painstakingly long process. We would hope to announce our acceptance into one or more A-list festivals in 3 months time, however the submission deadlines and the acceptance notifications are usually staggered on a much larger timeline. The art gumbo will however be privy to the latest news regarding our detailed progress. If awarded, how will you use funding (up to $750) towards the realization of your project? Please include details of how the grant will be used. (100 words) The funds will be utilized to cover the various expenses related to submitting to a film festival. If the full amount is received, a rough estimate would put the film in seven new film festivals that we couldn't otherwise submit to ($90 per estimate submission fee, $120 reserved for DVD duplication and postage). Regardless if we receive the funds or not, this is still an opportunity to show a different perspective on the arts in Dubuque. We will show how distribution can be one of the most difficult obstacles, and yet how community support and a good product can overcome it all.

ART GUMBO DECEMBER 2011 | ARTGUMBODUBUQUE.BLOGSPOT.COM

JULIE GREENBERG Dubuque Fun-A-Day in February

Project summary describe the specific project you would like to accomplish with these funds. Include collaborators, medium (s), and what you intend to accomplish. (200 words max) Dubuque Fun-A-Day in February is inspired by similar projects around the country, and is based on the annual ArtClash Collectives Fun-A-Day in Philladelphia, begun in 2004. The basic premise is that February can be a long, cold, dreary month, and that making art (or engaging in some sort of creative endeavor) each day can make the winter a little less bleak. Anyone in Dubuque or the surrounding areas is welcome to participate in this community art project. Dubuque artist Katie Duffy is a collborative partner. Each day during the month of February, participants will create one piece of art (or other means of creative expression) toward a whole that will be exhibited at the end of the month. Usually these consist of individual projects, though groups are also encouraged to participate. For example, a Fun-A-Day-er might write one haiku each day, or take one photograph of their cat each day, or draw a cloud each day, or record themselves humming a favorite song each daythe possibilities are endless. In March, the finished projects will be shown in a gallery-style show. There will also be a Dubuque Fun-ADay blog on which we will post rules, suggestions for projects, and ultimately, the results of this community art project. How will your project impact the Dubuque community? (100 words max) Dubuque Fun-A-Day is unique in its opennessall members of the community are welcome to participate in this art project. In addition to providing a creative outlet for all members of the Dubuque community, Dubuque Fun-A-Day will also give back to the arts community. Fun-ADay participants will be invited to donate and auction their projects at the gallery show in March, with all proceeds donated to a local arts group or charity, with one possible recipient being the DubuqueFest Fine Arts Festival. In this way, Dubuque Fun-A-Day will both engage and sustain the arts in our community. If awarded, how will you present your accomplishments at the next ART GUMBO in 3 months? (60 words) In addition to the gallery showing in March, we will be documenting the Fun-A-Day project on a blog, sharing ideas and images of the participants art. Examples of projects, photos, and the recipient(s) of the gallery show proceeds will then be shared at the next Art Gumbo. If awarded, how will you use funding (up to $750) towards the realization of your project? Please include details of how the grant will be used. (100 words) While Fun-A-Day is a project that is echoed across the country, Dubuque Fun-A-Day is an individual and volunteer-based undertaking. To make this project truly successful, and to encourage as many participants as possible, we will need to advertise our project widely. Funds would be used to create and print eye-catching fliers and to advertise in the Telegraph Herald, Dubuque 365, and other local media. In addition, we will need funds for a space and materials to make the gallery show in March a success, which will in turn fund other local arts projects, paying the community art love forward.

ART GUMBO DECEMBER 2011 | ARTGUMBODUBUQUE.BLOGSPOT.COM

LAUREN SIEBERT A New World in Our Hearts: An Audio and Comics Documentary of Consensus Process in Occupy Movement
Project summary describe the specific project you would like to accomplish with these funds. Include collaborators, medium (s), and what you intend to accomplish. (200 words max) I am extremely interested in the explosion in the number of people using consensus process to make decisions in Occupy Movement. This is the first time that many have used or even heard of this form of non-hierarchical and leaderless voluntary association. I want to find out more about how people are engaging with the process, and what it means to them. This project will use comics and podcasts to creatively document the ways people in Occupy movement have decided to organize themselves through leaderless and non-hierarchical consensus process. I plan to travel to three different Occupy camps and interview participants about how they have structured their general assembly and consensus process, what role they take in Occupy, and what they believe is the value of leaderless, non-hierarchical organization to the movement. From these interviews, I will produce a series of podcasts about the structure of each group at the time that I visited. These audio-documentaries will include interviews, as well as my own observations about the camps. Additionally, I will produce a series of mini-comics that include diagrams of the camps and flowcharts of the consensus process, as well as four-panel cartoons featuring highlights from the interviews. How will your project impact the Dubuque community? (100 words max) For this project, I want to visit Occupy groups in Dubuque, Madison, and Chicago. I believe that these three locations represent distinct differences in demographics, prior engagement with traditional politics and/or activism, and likelihood of previous exposure to consensus process. My project will have both an immediate and historical importance for Dubuque, because it will document the communitys dynamic interaction with the living process of consensus structuring, as well as its contribution to the fluid Occupy movement. If awarded, how will you present your accomplishments at the next ART GUMBO in 3 months? (60 words) I would prepare a presentation of highlights from the podcasts and comments on my experiences interacting with the Occupy camps. I would also provide free copies of the comics to participants, as funds allow. If awarded, how will you use funding (up to $750) towards the realization of your project? Please include details of how the grant will be used. (100 words) Here is a summary of how I would use the funds: $200 Travel to Occupy cities, $300 Professional handheld recorder, $50 USB microphone, $100 Art supplies for creating the comics, $100 Photocopies of mini-comics.

ART GUMBO DECEMBER 2011 | ARTGUMBODUBUQUE.BLOGSPOT.COM

JESSICA TECKEMEYER REPRESSED DESIRES

Project summary describe the specific project you would like to accomplish with these funds. Include collaborators, medium (s), and what you intend to accomplish. (200 words max) My goal is to create a crying feline sculpture. Specifically, the piece will be a life-sized black leopard in an aggressive prowling stance with tears falling from its human-like glass eyes. A micro controller will send an electric pulse to a pump, which will release liquid from tear ducts. Studio assistant Derek Gunderson will make the small device to be hidden in the sculptures cavity. The emphasis of the artwork titled Repressed Desires is the dichotomy between the body language and emotion. Many societies in North and South America have employed feline icons as metaphors to express human qualities and symbolize human relations. Continuing this lineage this piece represents an alpha individual. Alphas are the top social animal in a community. This relates to the animal kingdom and human nature. Human behavior is a product of innate instinctual forces, as well as each individuals particular upbringing. Through translating a human experience into the form of an animal, we are able to look at ourselves from another viewpoint. This grant will support the majority of material costs. How will your project impact the Dubuque community? (100 words max) As an Assistant Professor at Clarke University, I will demonstrate how to mold the leopard form and cast a section for my sculpture students. Using this knowledge, the young artists will make a multiples project. These practical skills have had a lasting impact on my artwork and led to employment with internationally renowned artist Siah Armajani, as well as Tivoli Too, a 3D prop studio in Minneapolis, MN. Additionally, this sculpture will be featured this year at the Quigley Gallery in Dubuque. Each time it is exhibited, the gallery label will credit the Art Gumbo Organization with financial support. If awarded, how will you present your accomplishments at the next ART GUMBO in 3 months? (60 words) At the next Art Gumbo gathering, I will present a step-by-step visual presentation of the process. This sculpture will require enhancing the foam form to further define the anatomy (ears, tail, and musculature), mold making, casting several pieces, joining the cast pieces, surface refinement, and automotive finishing. Plus, the production of the tear-making device. If awarded, how will you use funding (up to $750) towards the realization of your project? Please include details of how the grant will be used. (100 words) If awarded the grant, I will order the materials on January 2nd. Materials needed are a leopard taxidermy form ($400), glass eyes ($20), electronics ($80), synthetic clay ($75), mold-making materials ($115), casting materials ($110), and automotive paint ($100). Total material cost is $900; therefore the grant will fund the majority of the expenses. Construction will begin as soon as the materials are received. Based on past experience, the sculpture will take approximately six weeks of concentrated effort to create. Considering my role as an Assistant Professor at Clarke University with spring semester beginning January 17th, I expect to complete the piece by March.

ART GUMBO DECEMBER 2011 | ARTGUMBODUBUQUE.BLOGSPOT.COM