“The American Dream”

Summer update for “The American Dream” reflects engagement with the community

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the smells of sunscreen and hot dogs are filling the air. All of this means summer and TEMPOart’s summer programming are in full swing.

Here is what we have accomplished so far:

From July 11th to July 15th, Oak Street Studios held their sculpture class as part of its summer camp programs for children. These kids visited the sculpture and made their own totem pieces inspired by Judith Hoffman’s “The American Dream.”

This month and into August, Mayo Street Arts will incorporate the sculpture as inspiration for their RAD! (Reading! Art! Dance!) summer program for children ages 7-11. RAD! improves literacy and encourages creativity through engaging, hands-on learning activities. Mayo Street Arts first visited the sculpture with their class on July 12th and Community Network Television was there to capture this visit and even snagged a few interviews with some of the budding artists. Watch the segment here.

On August 5th, from 5 – 8pm, both the students at Oak Street Studios and Mayo Street Arts will have their pieces exhibited at the park as part of a First Friday Extravaganza. For this, TEMPOart will also be partnering with Greater Portland Landmarks to offer an architectural scavenger hunt of the India Street Neighborhood.

“Rockland and Portland are leading a resurgence of 3D design.”

We are pleased to be included in Portland Press Herald’s review of outdoor sculpture in our state. Daniel Kany, Press Herald’s art critic featured our piece, an “exciting, jangly and teetering 12-foot pile of four single-family homes,” alongside the newly unveiled “Digital Man” by Johnathan Borofsky at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland.

Both of these pieces and all their 3D glory are just the latest in the recent revival of public sculpture in the state. One just has to take a walk down Congress Street in Portland to see Charlie Hewitt’s 25-foot “Rattles,” Robert Indiana’s “7” or the bricks from the Portland Brick Project.

Read the full review here.

TEMPOart Receives Horizon Foundation Grant to Support Educational Programs Inspired by “The American Dream” Sculpture

The Horizon Foundation, based in Portland, Maine, has awarded TEMPOart a $10,000 grant to support public programming associated with “The American Dream” by sculptor Judith Hoffman. The 14-foot-tall steel and enamel sculpture representing typical American homes of different scales, stacked and inverted one on top of another, will be unveiled at 6:00 p.m. on June 3, 2016 as part of Portland’s First Friday Artwalk.

Horizon Foundation supports non-profit organizations that aspire to create and maintain sustainable, vibrant, and resilient communities by enabling children and adults to lead their communities in creative, healthy, and thoughtful ways.

The American Dream is the inaugural project of the privately-funded non-profit group TEMPOart, which selected Hoffman’s work because of its provocative questioning of what the idea of HOME means to our diverse community. The sculpture and TEMPO’s outreach programming are expected to stimulate reflection and dialogue about the fluid meaning of home within the context of the Portland community.

The Horizon grant will help fund TEMPOart’s plans to partner with other arts, education and cultural groups in Portland to reach a variety of audiences over the next twelve months. Collaborations will include:

  • Oak Street Studios’ “Side X Side” program will feature artists leading 160 third graders at East End and Reiche Elementary Schools who are studying Portland history in the fall of 2016. Field trips to see the sculpture will be a jumping off point for reflections about home and map-making that is part of the curriculum.
  • Mayo Street Arts will conduct a Sculpture Study Workshop at the Portland Public Library to connect 40 East Bayside children aged 7-11 with Judith Hoffman’s sculpture as part of its RAD (Reading, Art, Dance) program during June, July and August.
  • Greater Portland Landmarks will offer several walking tours, one aimed at youth that will explore the totemic nature of the sculpture through a hunt for unique architectural features along Congress Street, culminating in art-making projects at Oak Street Studios.

Countdown begins for “The American Dream” installation!

This just in: Judith Hoffman’s beautiful and fascinating sculpture is on its way to Portland. Here are a two photos of the disassembled, finished artwork before it was packed and loaded for shipment.

Mark your calendar to attend the unveiling in Lincoln Park on Friday, June 3rd, during the First Friday Art Walk.

“The American Dream” fabrication update!

TEMPOart has received some amazing progress photos from artist Judith Hoffman for the sculpture to be installed later this month in Lincoln Park—at the corner of Congress & Franklin Streets. Mark your calendars to attend the unveiling on Friday, June 3rd—and celebrate First Friday with us.

Engineering expertise on board for “The American Dream” installation

 

American Dream construction/engineering detailZiggy Drozdowski is a designer and engineer who recently moved to Portland from the NYC area. With over ten years of experience working in custom mechanical sculpture and adaptive architectural systems, he has recently co-founded the company Common Kinetics, which is dedicated to providing design, engineering and fabrication expertise to large scale sculptural installations. He was initially contacted by TEMPOart at Judith Hoffman’s request for local engineering support and has been working with her, the sculpture fabricator in Detroit, The City of Portland and TEMPOart to ensure that the collective vision for The American Dream is realized. Get more info about Ziggy and his company.

Common Kinetics construction drawing American Dream 2016

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Community Launch at Mayo Street Arts

Tuesday, April 26th, was the TEMPOart Community Launch of our inaugural project “The American Dream” by artist Judith Hoffman.

We heard about the importance of public art to communities and their economies, TEMPOart’s goal to bring more beauty to areas of Portland “in transition” and to help raise public awareness and conversation about how change affects our community.

Judith’s sculpture will be installed in late May in Lincoln Park at the corner of Congress and Franklin Streets! Official unveiling will take place on June 3rd, “First Friday,” beginning at 5:00 pm with a celebration to follow. Mark your calendar to join us for this very special occasion.

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