A PUBLIC THING NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
In November, Shanai and I were part of collaboration that launched A PUBLIC THING - an experimental civic platform that creates open space, in public and in print, for substantive conversation on pressing societal issues.
The first APT gathering was held at Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis and addressed financial independence and interdependence. Energized by OWS and the 99% Movement, we created a temporary commons where anyone could ask a burning question and immediately make connections with others in the community who had relevant knowledge, stories, and questions of their own. About 50 people showed up, and we had some great conversations! This gathering became the source of a collectively-authored, beautifully designed, print publication that created space for the conversation beyond the event. With help from an awesome team of organizers, contributors, and editors, we printed 2,000 copies of the newspaper and distributed it for free during the holiday shopping season. It’s also available online at apublicthing.org and in print at our new Works Progress office space at Lake and Chicago. (Come say hello!)
We’re looking for a way to continue the project in the spring, and we need your support. If you’ve got a moment, check out our entry to Good Magazine’s 30 Day Challenge on Financial Fitness, and please vote for A PUBLIC THING if you think our idea is a good one! Winning the $500 prize would allow us to host another iteration of APT this spring, connect the program up to the equity work we’ve been doing, and cover our costs for a second issue of the APT newspaper.
There are just 4 days of voting left so we’d truly appreciate it if you help us spread the word! (You can share our entry on Facebook or Twitter directly from the website after voting.) Thank you thank you!
Something lovely to think about -A Machine That Turns a Tree’s Rings into a Musical Score
Loved this project, I still remember when the pictures went up on Lake Street my first year living in Minneapolis.
Also: Wing Young Huie has a blog, very cool!
Every photograph is a self-portrait in some way, reflecting both the person who took it and the person looking at it.
How often do you feel that you are part of what surrounds you? When do you feel apart? I like the moments when both seem true.
Lovely photo Zoe took of Claire (and in the background, some of the rest of the Salon Saloon crew) just before Tuesday’s show.
New obsession: The Epicenter
“The Epicenter is a community-based housing and business resource center, instigating economic progress and creating decent shelter in the town of Green River in the desert of southeast Utah. It is a part of a larger umbrella non-profit organization, which serves the town with a myriad of unduplicated social services including affordable rental housing, a Boys & Girls Club, a soup kitchen, and a thrift store. Epicenter is a comprehensive creative studio. We are young, enthusiastic designers.”
At post-eviction Dewey Square - the tiny tent reads “WE’RE STILL HERE”. Photo by Patricia Remer.
Tiny Tents Task Force // “evict us; we minify”
We’re working with artist Carolyn Swiszcz on a little video project. We’ll be following her to the mall, where she’ll ask visitors to make maps from memory of the malls & main streets where they hung out as teenagers. Earlier this month she tried the project at the MIA. You can see a couple her favorite maps here.
Inspired by Carolyn, I made this map of my hometown main street. It’s a small town, so it fits just right on a post-it.
NOTE: some of the buildings are no longer there or have changed owners & names, so don’t try to use this map to find your way around Palisade, okay?
“Unlike the rare ‘Leonardo’ polymath of the Renaissance, contemporary artists who operate across disciplines employ the expertise of the network: the network, not the individual, is encyclopedic. The Internet has provided unprecedented access to shared knowledge assets, materials, fabrication processes, microfunding, and audiences. This exhibit examines how networked communication and open source culture have contributed to this shift from artists aiding science to doing science, and the impact this imparts on the way scientific knowledge is acquired, utilized and disseminated.”
This exhibition, Intimate Science, looks really fascinating…and is available for touring!
“Until now there have been no federal standards that require power plants to limit their emissions of toxic air pollutants like mercury, arsenic and metals - despite the availability of proven control technologies, and the more than 20 years since the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments passed.”
