2017 Projects – TEMPOart

Occupied Wall by Christian A. Prasch

Occupied Wall asks us to break down barriers in the hope of creating community. The installation consists of a wall of modular, moveable blocks that can be transformed from a barrier into a gateway that leads to a community gathering space available for all. Join the artist, TEMPOart Portland, and the public at August’s First Friday Artwalk to participate in the transformation of the Wall!

Occupied Wall will be temporarily installed in Post Office Plaza during the month of August. The artist and TEMPOart Portland thank Bard Coffee for their additional support of this privately-funded project.

Prasch’s Occupied Wall is the third project in TEMPOart’s summer series UNDER REVIEW: The American Dream, and follows John Sundling’s Ghost Fence in the Franklin Street Arterial and Christina Bechstein’s Now We Plant: Seeds for our American Dream at the Boyd Street Urban Farm. All three projects commemorate the one-year anniversary of TEMPOart’s inaugural installation in Lincoln Park, Judith Hoffman’s The American Dream. The summer 2017 projects respond to Hoffman’s sculpture by offering ways to understand the meaning of the “American Dream” today.

The Artist
Christian A. Prasch is an artist and design professional who strives to instigate constructive interaction and community relationships through his design, and treats play and experimentation as his most important tools for developing and realizing his work. He has worked in Los Angeles with Michael Maltzan Architects, ProtoHomes, Design Hunter LA, and Kim Lewis Designs, and earned his Master’s degree from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Prasch currently works in the Engineering and Infrastructure Group at the Portland Amec Foster Wheeler office.

#OccupiedWall #TEMPOartMaine

Now We Plant: Planting Seeds for our American Dreams by Christina Bechstein

Community Potluck
First Friday Art Walk, July 7, 5-7pm
Boyd Street Urban Farm
(at Cumberland and Franklin Street arterial)

Please join us in the garden at on July 7th for the launch of this project.

There will be free seed packages and a garden potluck.
Bring a dish to share if you like.

All are invited!

Now We Plant is a collaborative art installation led by Christina Bechstein that brings together gardeners, neighbors, and friends with the Boyd Street Urban Farm and Cultivating Community. Through yard signs, widely distributed seed packages, and community interactions, Bechstein creates a vibrant and diverse exchange of recipes as well as visions of the American dream. In a project rooted in partnership and interchange, the vegetables and herbs–grown here and from the seed packets–become the basic sustenance of community engagement, reminding us of the importance of tending to both our collective environment and dreams.

The Site
Boyd Street Urban Farm, corner of Cumberland and Franklin Street arterial, Portland Maine USA. The Boyd Street Urban Farm is a community garden in downtown Portland that serves nearby Kennedy Park neighbors. In the heart of Maine’s most diverse census tract, BSUF encapsulates the potential impact of agriculture in a culturally rich, economically challenged urban area. The idea of turning city spaces in very poor health into vibrant farms that support youth programs as well as individuals/families who want to work in the soil is essential to the vision of a local, sustainable food system. For more information about the garden, please contact Laura Mailander, Cultivating Community #207.761.4769 ext 855.

‘Now We Plant’ wishes to thank
The Boyd Street Urban Farm and the gardeners, Cultivating Community and it’s Youth Growers, Laura Mailander, Zainab Imran, Maher Al Asadi, Jennifer Muller, Sandrine Chabert, Dara Lestrade, Sarah Marshall, Sister Makings Group, Charles Schreiber, Papa Mendy, Tempo Art, Alice Spencer, Andrew Eschelbacher, Anne Marie Levine, Bonnie Norlander, Laci Hoskins, Skillins Greenhouse, Johnny’s Seeds, The City of Portland and The City of Portland Public Art Committee, friends and neighbors to the garden.

The Artist
Christina Bechstein is an artist and mother who has taught in art, design, and architecture programs across the United States. Bechstein’s record of international exhibitions and lectures include Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain; Bates Art Museum in Lewiston, ME; Harvard University in Cambridge MA and more. She has studied at Cranbrook Academy of Art and Skowhegan School of Painting and has been the recipient of fellowships and awards from places like the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the New England Foundation for the Arts, The Graham Foundation and Weimar Jena Akademie. Her creative practice is interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature, encompassing and overlapping such fields as public art, sculpture, textiles, community based art and activism. In her landscape based projects, she investigates the role of art in place-making and community-building. These projects, like ‘Now We Plant’, convene diverse neighbors of all ages and backgrounds around a creative project, food, sharing and imagining to co-create the places we call home.

#NowWePlant #TEMPOartMaine

Ghost Fence by John Sundling

TEMPOart Kicks Off Summer Artist Series with
Ghost Fence by John Sundling

Ghost Fence, a temporary artwork by Portland’s John Sundling, will debut in the Franklin Street median at the corner of Congress and Franklin Streets as part of the First Friday Art Walk on June 3, 2017. It will be the first of three summer projects by Portland artists commissioned by TEMPOart Portland, the non-profit organization dedicated to energizing Portland’s public spaces through temporary art installations.

Sundling’s piece utilizes the visual language of surveying and construction, using flagging tape, simple wood poles and plastic sheeting to create a “ghost fence” that outlines the original boundaries of Lincoln Park.

In the late 1960’s, the City of Portland razed existing communities to create the Franklin Street Arterial and make the area more “functional” and “modern”. Sundling is interested in this lost physical and social space and wants to “create a simple and effective reminder of both past and present, as well as a place to envision the future.” “My goal is to create an awareness of the past and a place in the present to gather, share stories and create positive memories,” said Sundling.

Sundling’s June project will be followed on July 7th by Christina Bechstein’s Now We Plant: Seeds for our American Dream at the Boyd Street Urban Farm, and Christian Prasch’s Wall.., opening August 4th (pending City of Portland Permit) in Post Office Plaza. All three commemorate the one-year anniversary of TEMPOart’s inaugural project, Judith Hoffman’s, The American Dream, the Lincoln Park sculpture that will remain on view through the summer, and each new installation responds to that first sculpture by offering ways to understand the meaning of the “American Dream” today.

The Artist
John Sundling is an artist and designer, working in diverse disciplines including floristry, set design, sculpture, curation and custom fabrication. Recent work includes miniature sets for puppets in a feature film, and co-directing a “no-profit arts disorganization,” the Institute for American Art. His sculptural work has been primarily large-scale, often outdoors, with an emphasis on the effects of time and nature. The artist’s set design work has grown to become more environmental and sculptural in response to this exploration. Sundling is most interested in the blurry edges of his practices and how they inform each other.

TEMPOart Portland
TEMPOart energizes Portland’s public spaces through temporary art installations – engaging residents and visitors, enriching its creative community and enhancing Portland’s reputation as a world-class city. We provide opportunities for artists to experiment with new mediums, highlight current issues and engage a wide public audience. We partner with other on-profit educational and cultural institutions, using each project to inspire innovative learning opportunities for all ages. TEMPOart is a privately-funded 501-c3 non-profit organization and is administered by a Board of Directors.

#TEMPOartMaine #GhostFence

ANNOUNCING OUR SUMMER 2017 ARTISTS!

TEMPOart Portland is thrilled to announce the three artists who were selected for UNDER REVIEW: The American Dream. Artists were asked to respond to the relevance of the “American dream” in today’s socio-political climate, and to commemorate the one-year anniversary of TEMPOart’s inaugural project in Lincoln Park, Judith Hoffman’s The American Dream, which will remain on view through the summer.

Christina Bechstein, Christian Prasch, and John Sundling were selected based on their innovative project proposals by the TEMPOart board, and local arts professionals Stephen Benenson, Rachael Harkness, and Justin Levesque. The installations will launch at successive First Fridays in June, July and August (all projects are subject to approval by the City of Portland).

JUNE: JOHN SUNDLING
John Sundling will address the original boundary of Lincoln Park, as it was before the existing communities were razed to make way for Franklin Street. Sundling is interested in exploring these lost physical and social spaces via the visual language of temporary sculpture and ephemeral materials.

Sundling is an artist and designer, working in diverse disciplines including floristry, set design, sculpture, curation, and custom fabrication. His sculptural work has primarily been large-scale, often outdoors with an emphasis on the effects of time and nature on the pieces. Sundling is most interested in the blurry edges of his practices and how they inform each other.

JULY: CHRISTINA BECHSTEIN
Christina Bechstein will collaborate with gardeners, neighbors and friends from all over the world at the Boyd Street Community Garden and Cultivating Community. She will gather drawings, recipes, and growing patterns from diverse voices to create an aesthetic landscape to remind us of the importance of tending to our earth and our collective dreams.

Bechstein is an artist, mother and educator who has taught in art, design, and architecture programs across the United States. Her art practice is interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature, encompassing and overlapping such fields as social sculpture, large scale community-based public art, activism, sculpture, textiles, film and performance.

AUGUST: CHRISTIAN AARON PRASCH
Christian Aaron Prasch will install an interactive sculpture in Post Office Park that occupies the space as either a wall or a community gathering space. The artist will create an arena that spurs us to consider together how we should utilize our resources.

Prasch is a design professional in the Engineering and Infrastructure Group at the Portland Amec Foster Wheeler office. He has worked in Los Angeles with Michael Maltzan Architects, ProtoHomes, Design Hunter LA, and Kim Lewis Designs, and earned his Master’s degree from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Prasch strives to instigate constructive interaction and community relationships through his design, and he treats play and experimentation as his most important tools for developing and realizing his work.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE DETAILS!!

CALLING MAINE ARTISTS!

CALL FOR ARTISTS

UNDER REVIEW: The American Dream

TEMPOart Portland invites Maine artists to submit proposals for temporary projects to activate Portland’s public spaces during Summer 2017. Up to three artists or artist teams will be awarded $1,000 each, and the submission deadline is February 28, 2017.

The full Call for Artists, including how to apply, can be found here:

TEMPOart 2017 Call to Artists

TEMPOart awarded $7,500 from the Morton-Kelley Charitable Trust

The grant from the Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust will go to support future education programming like last summer’s sculpture workshops at Oak Street Studios and Mayo Street Art.

TEMPOArt is pleased to be the latest recipient of a grant from the Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust, a foundation supporting conservation, preservation, culture, and education in Maine. Past grant recipients have included Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, Portland Museum of Art, Greater Portland Landmarks and Bowdoin College.
The grant will support administrative support and ongoing educational programming related to Judith Hoffman’s The American Dream.

Thank you to the Morton-Kelley Charitable Trust!