Charleston Community Art Project (2017)
This painting was created using 148 drawings submitted by attendees of The Charleston Area Alliance’s Downtown Streetfest block party series. During the block parties, I created an outdoor drawing room, featuring a filing cabinet, a large bulletin board, and curated rugs, desks, and chairs. The installation was stocked with paper, pencils, stamps, and stencils, as visitors were invited to create drawings based on their interpretation of the word, community. All ages and skill levels were encouraged to participate.
All imagery collected in the drawings were used in the painting without altercations. They were, however, arranged and colored at my discretion. The result was a creative expression of the community: how it sees itself along with its hopes for the future. The goal of this project was to inspire new ideas and conversations about the concept of community and to create an environment that values the perspectives and creativity of local community members. The first slideshow below contains images of the painting, while the second contains images of the block parties.
