The UnConvention was a non-partisan collective of citizens who came together to create a forum in which to promote the democratic and free exchange of ideas on important issues. It existed as a counterpoint to the highly scripted and predetermined nature of the contemporary presidential nomination process and convention. Through a series of projects initiated by participating organizations, The UnConvention sought to umbrella the myriad of artistic and educational activities that took place during the lead-up and staging of the Republican National Convention in St.
Profiles - Projects
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The W83rd Street Project
Cleveland, OH
In July, 2011, MOD{all}studio presented “The W83rd Street Project,” a collaborative urban therapy installation of art and architecture at 2040 West 83rd Street, which marks the rebuilding of the West 83rd Street community after a January 25th 2010 gas explosion rocked a neighborhood yet helped bring a community together.
The World As It Could Be: Human Rights Education Program
San Leandro, CA
Since 2006, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as its guide, The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program (TWAICB), http://www.theworldasitcouldbe.org, has worked in collaboration with community arts and social justice non-profit programs, schools, universities, school districts and their agencies, and teacher training programs to develop and use creative arts and standards-based learning models and youth-led original dramatizations to inspire youth and adults to value the importance of human rights for
Brooklyn, NY
Theater of War is a project of Outside the Wire, a company that uses theater and other media to analyze and confront the social issues of various communities. Combat-related physical and psychological issues are not easy topics to approach with the general public. Theater of War seeks to broach some of these controversial issues by wrapping them within the stories of the Greek plays of Ajax and Philoctetes, which depict similar themes.
Whitesburg, KY
Thousand Kites is an ongoing national storytelling project that uses performance, web, video, and radio to open a public space for incarcerated people, corrections officials, the formerly incarcerated, grassroots activists, and ordinary citizens to have dialogue and organize around issues related to the U.S. criminal justice system.
Columbus, OH
TRANSIT ARTS is a youth arts development program of Central Community House (CCH), the Columbus Federation of Settlements, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council. TRANSIT ARTS includes art-related activities in Settlement Houses and other community sites in Columbus, along with summer job and internship opportunities, touring performance productions and entrepreneurial opportunities in the arts. Professional artists guide and learn from young people, ages 12 to 21, through a variety of interactive, multi-disciplinary arts workshops in hip hop and other creative forms.
Chicago , IL
The 1920s building located at Garfield Boulevard and Prairie Avenue has been renovated for the University of Chicago’s Arts + Public Life initiative. Envisioned by artist Theaster Gates, the Arts Incubator is a space for artist residencies, arts education, community-based arts projects, as well as exhibitions, performances, and talks. Arts + Public Life builds creative connections on Chicago’s South Side through artist residencies, arts education, and artist-led projects and events.
United Kids "Exposure"
Baltimore , MD
United Kids was started in 2009 in Upstate NY by Eeinna Akers. In the beginning United Kids was United Girls, with 4 little girls. Within two weeks from the first meeting which met weekly at The Harriman United Methodist Church the program grew to 20 girls, and branched out by the end of the month to include United Boys, and United Teens.
Urbano Fellows Program
Jamaica Plain, MA
The Urbano Fellows are an exemplary group of program alumni who have participated in Urbano’s programs for at least two semesters. Ten to fifteen Fellows meet year-round, serving as peer leaders. These youth artists work with a lead artist and McGregor to host events, research and conceptualize new ideas, and produce artwork, often in partnership with area organizations.
Los Angeles, CA
UTOPIA/dystopia project activities engaged both long standing and new area residents of Skid Row--including the homeless and formerly homeless, the working poor, immigrants and their families, and the area's burgeoning loft-living population--in performances, art installations, and public events to inform and broaden the public discourse on development in the city of Los Angeles. In recent years, civic policy in Los Angeles has generated the twin towers of utopia and dystopia: Bunker Hill, the redeveloped high rise financial center, and below it Skid Row.
San Francisco, CA
Victory Gardens is a gardening project initiated by artist and designer Amy Franceschini in the Fall of 2006. The project took its inspiration from the historic “war gardens,” but reinvented its concept to a contemporary context. Victory Gardens initially began as a proposal and has now become a project that supports the transition of backyard, front yard, window boxes, rooftops and unused land into food production areas.
Washington, DC
Against the backdrop of historical moments of social change, Walk With Me is a feature-length documentary that follows three women who use theater to inspire, stir and animate our democracy. While at work in prisons, schools, and community centers, the film reveals that one person – one artist – can make a difference. Producer/Director: Tanisha Christie & Ellie Walton Featuring: Lisa Biggs, Rebecca Rice, Anu Yadav and the work of the former Living Stage Theatre Company (a venture of Arena Stage)
Washington, DC
Against the backdrop of historical moments of social change, Walk With Me is a feature-length documentary that follows three women who use theater to inspire, stir and animate our democracy. While at work in prisons, schools, and community centers, the film reveals that one person – one artist – can make a difference.
Fayetteville, AR
The Student Volunteer Corps is a Walton Arts Center Learning program and a volunteer opportunity for high school students, ages 13-18, who have a strong interest in arts and arts presenting. Participants are selected through a competitive application process.
In this semester long program, participants get a behind the scene look at Walton Arts Center and increase their awareness of the arts and arts presenting business through real-life experience. Camp War Eagle is a Walton Arts Center Student Volunteer Corps project partner.
Student Volunteers:
Renton, WA
Lorna Jordan’s Waterworks Gardens is the first environmental artwork of its kind to combine classical garden design, wastewater treatment infrastructure, and habitat restoration. The project functions to naturally treat storm water, enhance the onsite wetland, provide five garden rooms, and create eight acres of open space for public use. With the garden as a conceptual framework, the project communicates a story about the purification of water.
Ridgewood, NY
We Got Issues! is dedicated to cultivating a new brand of feminine centered leadership and social political activism. WGI! empowers young women who seek to use their creative talents and expression to better themselves, their communities, and society as a whole through leadership training, the performing arts, authentic dialogue, and civic engagement. The We Got Issues!
Kansas City, MS
An original 40 minute documentary giant screen (IMAX) film about the founding principles of American Democracy created in collaboration with National Archives, Smithsonian Institution, and Kansas State University. The film is narrated by Morgan Freeman and Kenny Rogers.
Brooklyn, NY
Welcome to Camp America is a conceptual documentary photo book and touring exhibition combining vivid, unexpected imagery, original government documents and first-person texts to convey the absurdity and disorientation of Guantánamo Bay, America's extrajudicial offshore prison paradise. Drawing on her 12 years practicing as a civil rights lawyer, artist Debi Cornwall employs empathy and dark humor to engage audiences and provoke new questions about choices made in the name of our satefy since September 11.
San Francisco, CA
The collaboration with 16 youth from Literacy for Environmental Justice and seven, environmental and socially conscious artists, has culminated in the creation of an interactive installation in the newly opened EcoCenter, San Francisco’s first off the grid public building and environmental education center. The Multidisciplinary Artwork was created between 2008-2010 and explores environmental and social justice issues facing the community of Bayview Hunters Point (BVHP), as seen through the youth’s eyes.
West of Lincoln Project
VENICE , CA
Documents life growing up in Venice, CA and the powerful insights that come from street smarts.