THE MEMORIAL

JOHNATHAN MCCUCHEON: tied a close friend's skateboard parts to handwritten passages and placed them around Louisville's Extreme Skateboard Park. His friend, struggling with drug addiction, died during the spring of 2012. Before we had a chance to read any of the passages, Johnathan quickly slid down the ramp we were standing on, leaving us with the choice to follow or return the way we came.

BRIGID WATTERS: created a mock speaker, intending it to suggest a tombstone and placed it outside of what is now a Buffalo Wild Wings Establishment. The venue previously housed BRYCC (Bardstown Road Youth Community Center). BRYCC was a popular place to play and listen to music and was particularly known for its punk and hardcore scene. BRYCC also held bike repairs, car washes and art workshops but most importantly, it provided a space for youth run by youth.  BRYCC  was eventually squeezed out by its current commercial enterprise. Before BRYCC the space was a movie theater. 1055 Bardstown Road, Louisville.

KYLE STEWART: created a clam shell out of found recycled materials and set it afloat on the Ohio River. At the turn of the century the Ohio River was home to 127 of the 297 freshwater mussel species. 11 now are extinct and nearly 50 are endangered. No other group of animals is so gravely at risk. The fact that clams are so resilient but have become incredibly imperiled indicates that there have been significant changes to our waterways.

IRENA TRAN: placed a miniature memorial of origami doves in front of Louisville Fire Headquarters located at 1137 West Jefferson Street. Recognizing the 100 lost lives during the 1890 Louisville Cyclone, Irena's memorial contains a fan at the base of her construction that gently sets the origami doves in motion. 

http://www.filsonhistorical.org/archive/news_v5n2_cyclone.html

AMANDA BATES: took us to a place where something very bad happened to her during her Freshman year. After stating, "It happened there," she invited us all to tie colored ribbons into a wire figure she had constructed to represent a figure in need of completion. Amanda continues to explore new artistic ways to address these issues.

SAM COONEY: spelled out the word "Stigma" with hot red wax while we watched. The suspended and levitating soda can has been stripped of its identity while the others are still readable. This performance occurred on the steps of 1229 South Shelby Street.

OLIVIA PERKINS: stencil-painted an image of Hunter S. Thompson on a shower curtain and placed her artwork by Louisville's Waterfront. Thompson, a writer and journalist was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. Much of Olivia's work is about or near water. As a fan of Hunter Thompson, in this case, the Ohio River River for Olivia suggests transport of one's identity to another place.

BRITTANI ROSIER: created over 50 paper roses and placed them in the garden at the front entrance of Churchill Downs. The petals of each flower bear the names of horses that won races over history. Carefully constructed, it is hard to tell that the flowers are not real. (Brittani is pictured in the bottom right photograph.)

DAVID CONRAD: held an interactive performance in front of the currently vacated Kentucky Wagon Manufacturing Company building. Maintaining a long history of manufacturing in wagons, automobiles and trailers, this structure has survived the recent demolition that several other historic buildings at this location did not. David has been indiscreetly collecting building shards from the site, which he invited his audience to pitch back over the fence as a salute to historic preservation. Located near 3rd Street, between Eastern Parkway and Route 60 (Taylor Blvd).

STEPHANIE JUSTICE: pointed out the loss of green spaces by exhibiting a 3-D stereoscopic photo card in front of Louisville's current Garvin Park. The once-was green space, now primarily asphalt contained by a gate that never opens, is yet another indication of aggressive development.

ADAM MESCAN: constructed a replica of a WWII fighter plane as memorial to those killed during that war. Utilizing the idea of "art as dialogue" he engaged with several pilots at Bowman Airfield. Bowman Airfield was one of the busiest training bases during WWII and became known as "Air Base City." Additionally, this site was a school for flight surgeons and nurses. Before leaving, Adam left the plane replica at Bowman Airfield's museum.

MATTHEW BLANAR: created this wire sculpture and placed it in front of The Kentucky Humane Society located at 241 Steedly Drive at as a way to acknowledge the many lost and unwanted companion animals. Taking a proactive lead, Matthew reminded us of his adoption of his beloved dog Snoopy.

KATIE ETHERIDGE: took us to the top of the Speed Museum Parking Lot to point out the  hastily designed architecture that now covers the historic Victorian homed skyline of Old Louisville. Using a series of hand-constructed stands supporting curtains, Katie covered the new buildings and asked us to remember or imagine what is behind them.

MICHELE MONTGOMERY: created a bed-side shrine and placed it near the entrance of the Belknap Library on University of Louisville's campus. The piece acknowledges the novel "The Virgin Suicides," written by Jeffrey Eugenides by incorporating symbolic Catholic and female teenage relics.

     

KRISTIN WUNDERLIN: created a gigantic pop up card of her former home skyline in Indiana and placed it in front of her new Louisville home's skyline. While the artist has said farewell to many aspects of her formative years, she is striving to create a balance with her new horizon.

SARAH KLENSCH: placed this Tree of Light in front of The Thomas Edison House where he  boarded and conducted many experiments from 1866-1867. The shotgun house built around 1850 is located at 729 East Washington Street in Louisville.

THE GESTURE

SARAH KLENSCH: left quotes at the entrances of neighbors' apartments that she's never met. She wonders if any of them will approach her, questioning the meaning of her gesture... or if things will carry on as normal. Her messages bear slogans such as, "You have to pick the places you don't walk away from" and "Hope begins in the dark."

SAMUEL COONEY: handed a piece of cardboard bearing the word HUNGRY to youth hanging around a school parking lot in Elizabethtown, KY. He intended to create a dichotomy between the homeless we normally see holding such a slogan and suburban youth who are starved for something... else.

OLIVIA PERKINS: suspended umbrellas from the pedestrian walkway over the Ohio River. The umbrellas are available for cover- rain or shine. Olivia is pictured in the bottom right photograph.

STEPHANIE JUSTICE: offered random people during an art trolly hop the opportunity to take an art class with her. The people who accepted her offer stated that they were connoisseurs of art and had very little experience making it. The top photo illustrates those who worked with Stephanie and the works they created that night. Stephanie is pictured in the dress and apron in the bottom photos.

MATTHEW BLANAR: left DEFEND EQUALITY LOVE UNITES flyers under the windshield wipers of numerous cars around the city of Louisville.

KYLE STEWART: made his own Walmart stickers and handed them out to people at the doorway. Upon leaving, he gave a set to the official Walmart greeter.

KRISTIN WUNDERLIN: wrote "Have a nice day" on pink daisies and handed them randomly around the city of Louisville. Kristin is pictured wearing a knit beret in the bottom photographs.

KATIE ETHERIDGE: wrote inspirational quotes and handed them out as gifts to strangers she approached in downtown Louisville. This was a major feat for an extremely shy artist. Katie is pictured in the bottom three photographs (engulfed in the bottom right).

JOHNATHAN MCCUTCHEON: walked down the streets of Old Louisville offering a handshake to strangers walking by. While most people returned the friendly gesture, a few maintained their distance.

IRENA TRAN: gathered with her friends to dance and play music in public while promoting the arts and education. Passers-by were given stickers and instead of writing their names, they wrote phrases they believed in such as " Improve the future," "Remember the arts," or "Don't skip your class!" Irena is the pictured in the bottom photo to the right wearing a yellow jacket and blue glasses.

BRITTANI ROSIER: hand painted a dollar bill and tipped an unsuspecting coffee shop employee with her artistic gesture. Brittani is pictured in the blue sweater.

ADAM MESCAN: (pictured in 2nd photo on left) brought his working class efforts together by bringing freebies from Panera Bread, where he currently works to the car wash employees where he formerly worked, Louisville.

THE DIORAMA

STEPHANIE JUSTICE: The interiors of this dollhouse have been created from various elements of film photography (film canisters, spools, film boxes etc). Serving as a self portrait and a representation of the hands-on manner in which the artist chooses to create art, this dollhouse diorama has been placed at a historic facade located on River Road in Louisville.

MICHELE MONTGOMERY: plans to move to Seattle, Washington to work as a fish monger and live a creative life. Placing her diorama in front of Englewood Elementary in Old Louisville, this artist reminds us of the importance of creativity in public education and the education one also receives by traveling to new places. 

AMANDA BATES: This diorama has incorporated various public monuments onto an architectural landscape as a way to suggest that these structures connect us all globally. Placed in the international food section of a Kroger in Prospect.

SHIRIN BOLHARI: This artist smiles with her grandmother while asking her audience to "take a closer look." The idealism of the white picket fence serves to ironically question what a personal home and space may be to those who have immigrated from another country. Suspended from a tree in the artist's neighborhood, Louisville.

SAMUEL COONEY: Using a guitar case as a diorama, this artist incorporated wood shavings and plant life in it's interior as a way to speak of regeneration. Dust to dust and life renewed. Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville.

OLIVIA PERKINS: Using her fingers to create a puppet show, this diorama brings the importance of solving crime back to light. Artist performed in her front yard in New Albany, IN. 

KYLE STEWART: Reminiscent of dinosaur dioramas created as a child, this artist chose to depict a prehistoric scene combined with contemporary army men figures. Challenging viewers to contemplate the various losses of our natural environment,  the degradation of print generations also serves as a metaphor for lost quality. Wheat pasted to a telephone pole at Bradley by Warnock, Louisville.

MATTHEW BLANAR: Photo Box placed in SAC Building at University of Louisville as a way to encourage curiosity and lightheartedness during test-taking or anxious times. Students and faculty were invited to peer into box to see themselves as a clown as the artist stood nearby to document.

KATIE ETHERIDGE: Painted balloons placed within a public park boundary as diorama space. Artist stated, "If you tear down a forest, you need to recreate a natural environment." Message seen at night via glow sticks.

KRISTIN WUNDERLIN: Altered bunnies placed in natural cove within a park area of Bowling Green's Starry Nights Music Festival. These bunnies have their own ideas.

IRENA TRAN: A diorama recognizing hip hop music with headphones attached around the diorama box and placed in Toys-R-Us, Louisville. 

DAVID CONRAD: Soldered wire, painting and Fortune Magazine clip out. This diorama was influenced by the book, "The Stranger" by Camus. A nebula has been depicted in outer space to encourage us to contemplate our significance. "I never saw a U-Haul in the back of a hearse." Under i65 on Market Street, Louisville.

BRITTANI ROSIER: "All is Quiet on The Western Front" book, carved from the book's pages into a scenic landscape to become a diorama. Placed onto a shelf in the Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville for the unexpecting viewer to find.

BRIGID WATTERS: A diorama created to acknowledge global warming. With the Louisville city landscape seen in the background, this artist placed her polar bears alongside the various cement animals located at Lynn's Paradise Cafe, Louisville.

ADAM MESCAN: Using a trashcan as a diorama, a lit and whimsical scene of toys living inside has been created for residents of downtown Louisville apartment complex to discover. There are many things that we pitch that can be recycled or brought back to life.