ArtsReach Final Report

Prepared by: Kate Schiavi

July 2005

Project: Art Car

Project Summary

The summer ArtsReach project at the Main Library involved a group of participants who turned a 1986 Volvo station wagon into a moving piece of art. Local artist, Scott Scarboro, led this ArtsReach project. Scarboro is the co-founder of the Cinderblock art co-op on Main Street and helps coordinate the annual Kentucky Art Car Parade in conjunction with the Kentucky Museum of Arts and Craft. He also runs a Kentucky art car club. Throughout the duration of the project, the participants were involved in conceptualizing, designing, and creating the details for the art car. The car used for this project belongs to Lisa Sizemore, Manager of the Main Children’s Department.

Over the course of one week participants were able to think about the library in a new way. Scarboro engaged the participants in brainstorming sessions about what the library means to them and what types of things people associate with books and the library. From these discussions, ideas for the art car emerged. These included: eyes painted around the lower trim of the vehicle to represent the use of one’s eyes in the reading process; a book drop installed on the roof of the car where people could return their library books; the library logo cut out of book covers; the base layer for the car which consisted of participants pasting book pages onto the car, covering it completely; and large letters sponge painted around the car.

Throughout the project, participants used and developed a number of skills. Teamwork became a large part of the project, as all of the artists worked to complete the car in one week. As a group, the participants had to come to an understanding of what the car would look like and how they would achieve their vision. There was also teamwork within smaller groups as the artists were broken up into small groups and assigned an area of the car in which to work. From this activity, I observed that the small groups developed an ownership over their area; they were in charge of creating their part of the car. Another skill that was exercised throughout this project was setting goals. Each day, Scott would sit down with the participants to discuss what they hoped to accomplish that day. Similarly at the end of each session, he would talk to the group about what needed to be done the following day. By doing this, the participants had a clear idea of what needed to be done to complete the car and they always had a goal to accomplish. Focus and attention also became a large part of this project. Because some of the participants were doing things they had never done before, they needed a great deal of instruction from Scott. In doing this, he was able to focus their attention on the jobs they needed to complete. They also became focused on completing their tasks as a group. This project also aligned with some of the JeffersonCountyPublic School’s Core Content guidelines (see attached).

This project supports the Library’s mission and values that the Library is a community entity. By offering this project, youth from the surrounding neighborhoods of the Main Library and the other library branches were able to come to the library to have a completely unique art experience. They engaged in discussions about what the library means to them and how people in the community view the library. Also, each participant was encouraged to apply for a library card on the first day of the project and to complete the Summer Reading program. The art car is now being driven around the community and is creating exposure for the Louisville Free Public Library. Numerous comments have been made to Lisa Sizemore, the art car’s owner, about the car. She even had a note placed in the book drop that passersby from Virginia and Texas had left. It read: “Your car is awesome!”

Publicity for this project was high; coverage helped raise awareness about summer programs at the Library in a variety of sources:

  • Television
  • WHAS 11 six o’clock news on June 10 - The participants were putting the finishing touches on the car. The news story highlighted the work done throughout the week and showed some of the artists in action.
  • WAVE 3 on August 5 – morning news show that included several of the art car program participants
  • WHAS 11 on August 4 – noon show to promote KY Art Car Weekend
  • FOX 41 on August 2 – morning news show which featured the art cars
  • Courier-Journal
  • June 1, 2005 – promo piece to advertise program
  • Kentucky Fund for the Arts newsletter
  • Upside Downtown – featured an article about the Art Car Weekend mentioning the Library’s project
  • The Library Art Car won second place in the Art Car competition

Planning and Executing the Project

The planning of this project included developing and revising the grant proposal, identifying a workspace, gathering materials, finding a car, and finding interested participants. I meet with Scott Scarboro twice prior to the beginning of the project and had numerous phone and e-mail conversations with him to work out details. Generally, I followed the planning timeline set up in my proposal with a few exceptions. I failed to create an evaluation sheet for the participants to fill out at the conclusion of the project. In lieu of this, I have visited the community center to debrief with the participants there about the project to get their thoughts and experiences. I will also be calling the other participants to have similar conversations. Another element that I did not work into my timeline was the meetings and discussions I had with the Facilities department. Their staff was instrumental to the success of the project and setting up and going through the details with Paul Bowling and David Atzinger prior to the project’s start was very beneficial. I would estimate that 12 hours of time was spent in planning this project.

When the program began, I spent 2 hours each day (with the exception of the first day which was a 3 hour session) with the group while the program was going on and approximately 1.5 hours on gathering materials and set up and break down of the workspace each day. My total hours of involvement for the week of the project were approximately 18.5 hours.

Participants

Overall, 17 participants took part in this project. They ranged in age from 9 to 14. Ten of the participants were from LouisvilleCentralCommunity Center’s summer program. The remaining seven participants signed up for the project after hearing about it or reading it in the Library’s monthly calendar. All of the participants, with the exception of one, were able to attend each of the five sessions. Participants included:

Dionjae, age 10Tori, age 11

Kam’Ri, age 11Travonne, age 13

Kelvin, age 11O’Tayo, age 11

Jamela, age 14Miranda, age 13

Alexus, age 13Nia (LCCC counselor)

Jasmine, age 10Rebecca, age 10

Simon, age 12Harmony, age 11

Brenna, 10Dylan, age 9

Michalla, age 9 (only attended one session)

Budget Reconciliation

The estimated budget for this project as stated in the original proposal was $1235.00. Below is the budget reconciliation:

  • Artist Fee: 4, 2-hour sessions & 1, 3-hr. session ($30/hour) ...$ 330.00
  • Rental of Art Car suitcase from Kentucky

Museum of Art + Craft ……………………………………….$ 25.00

  • Materials……………………………………………………….$ 45.00

TOTAL: $ 400.00

IN KIND:

  • Librarian presence (at $18.93/hour) …………………………. $350.00
  • 1, 3 hour session
  • 4, 2 hour sessions
  • 7.5 hours of prep time during the project
  • Library planning time (12 hours total)…………………………$ 227.00
  • Use of library meeting spaces…………………………………...Free to public
  • Materials supplied by Facilities …………………… approx…..$100.00

TOTAL: $ 677.00

Reconciled Total: $1077.00

Total Cost Per Child (including in-kind expenses): $63.35

Total Cost Per Child (not including in-kind expenses): $23.53

Community Partner

For this project, the Library partnered with Louisville Central Community Center (LCCC). The Main Children’s Department has had strong partnerships with them in the past, including Lisa Sizemore’s ArtsReach program in 2004. Gerri Woods was the contact person at LCCC and she gladly organized to have the teens in the summer camp participate. Nine of the participants were from LCCC in addition to one counselor. They ranged in age from 10-14. Overall, this was a successful partnership in that Ms. Woods was very easy to work with and dependable. While I feel this was a successful partnership, I had some concerns about the level of participation by some of the teens from LCCC. Unfortunately, the days in which the program was held were extremely hot. I feel that the weather and being outside for an extended period of time contributed to a lack of enthusiasm for some of the teens. I found myself continually encouraging them to work on the project instead of sitting in groups and talking.

The other partnership that was formed as a result of this program was with the Kentucky Museum of Arts + Craft (KMA+C). This organization sponsors the Kentucky Art Car Weekend each year. They gladly supplied the Library’s program with promotional materials for the art car weekend, invited me to speak at television promotional spots, and offered information about the program to other media outlets. I also used their art car educational traveling suitcase that was designed for teachers in support of the Kentucky Educational Reform Act. Ali Shaw and Karen Welch at KMA+C helped to develop this partnership with the Library.

Evaluation of Artist

Scott Scarboro has played a large role in bringing art cars to Kentucky. He helped plan the first Kentucky Art Car weekend and continues to be a part of it. He drives his art car, “The Super-Sonic Space Buggy”, daily and is always eager to respond to questions about the car.

Scott was a very effective facilitator for this project. He has taught children at the WaldorfSchool in Louisville and is schooled in the Waldorf theories of teaching. He interacted with the group very well on many levels. He wanted the art car to be conceptualized, designed, and created by the kids and did a wonderful job in guiding them to a vision and making it a reality. He was very thoughtful in how he responded to the participants’ suggestions so as not to discourage ideas that could be considered unrealistic in the scope of this project and to foster and redirect the ideas into different pieces of the project.

Scott opened each session by gathering the participants together to go over the goals for the day. He engaged them in discussion and problem solving. He also fostered teamwork among the group in helping them work to reach their goal of completing the art car at the end of the week.

Replication of Project

This project could surely be replicated by another library. The major obstacle facing a person interested in doing such a program would be finding a car to use. I was able to secure materials from our Facilities department to help cut down on the cost of the program. If a full-sized car is not an option, small remote-controlled cars or bikes could be used as substitutes.

The value of this experience is found on many levels. Children and teens are getting to interact as artists with a three dimensional canvas. Creating an art car can involve a mixed media approach to artwork that enables the artist or artists to create a purely personal piece of artwork. Also, with a moving canvas, such as an art car, everyone can view the artwork, as it is not sitting in a gallery where only ticket-holders are able to view the work.

Recommendations for Change

One of the most demanding parts of this project was the set up and breakdown. Towards the end of the week I had gathered almost all the materials I expected to use on the project but I was constantly make trips in and out of the library to collect more materials. Because of the location of the project, I had to take the materials on a cart through the North side of the building and down the handicap ramps and down 3rd Street. A checklist of materials would have been helpful in making sure all the items were on the cart prior to starting the project. Also, at times, I felt like Scott and I didn’t communicate very effectively about what types of supplies would be needed. Therefore, if replicating this project, make sure to have a clear idea of what materials will be needed by the artist.

My other recommendation has to do with the time of year to hold such a project. This project ran the first week of June. While I think this week was abnormally hot (above 90 degrees each day), the weather played a big part in the enthusiasm and productivity of the group. The first couple of days we spent outside the whole two hours. Scott and I discussed the languid feeling we were getting from the group and decided to spend the last half hour of each session in a library meeting room watching art car videos and working on projects that could be done indoors. Also, it was imperative that we had on hand cold drinks. If I were to do this again, I would have provided some special treat at the end of the week to congratulate the group and thank them for their hard work. Ice cream would have been the perfect after working long hours in the sun.

While it was wonderful to have a large group of dedicated artists, I felt that the size of the group was sometimes constraining. A group of 10-12 participants would have been much more ideal in working on this project.

Participant Feedback

Overall, I have gotten very positive feedback from the participants in the program. Because I failed to develop a formal evaluation form for the project, I visited LCCC, the community center, to debrief with the teens there about their experience. They told me that their favorite part of the project was being able to paste book pages all over the car. One girl remarked, “I’m going to have to read that book now,” when referring to Walter Dean Myers’ book Slam. I told them that as the car has been driven around Louisville, many people have asked questions about it and given positive remarks. They appeared to be very proud of their work. When I asked if they would be willing to attend the parade and accompany me on some of the morning televisions shows to promote the art car weekend, they were very excited.

I also spoke on the phone with the mother of Jasmine and Rebecca Robey about their experiences. She said that they had a wonderful time working on the car and were eager to take part in other library programs. I have seen them in the Main Children’s department on several occasions following the end of the art car project. Following our first session I saw them in the department after the program ended at 4:00 and they wanted to show me art car coloring pages they had printed off the computer. They both came to two of the early morning news programs that we did the week leading up to the art car weekend events. I spoke with their mother on these two occasions and she again expressed their enthusiasm for the project.

Also, I saw Michalla Brook at a bookmobile site this summer. She was only able to attend the first session of the project. When I spoke with her at the bookmobile stop she had questions about how the car had turned out. She told me that she had really had fun with the project and wished she could have come the rest of the week. I brought her a picture of the finished art car the following week. She also came to the Kentucky Art Car weekend to get a glimpse of the finished car. She again expressed to me that she wanted to have been able to work on the car during the week, but couldn’t. She wrote in the scrapbooks, “I like my art car.”

Other participants who came to the Kentucky Art Car weekend events included: Simon Cambron, Dylan McHale, Harmony Schiavi, and Brenna Schiavi

Community Impact

The impact of this program continues to grow. As Lisa drives the art car throughout the community and to library outreaches people are commenting on the library art car. Lisa shared with me a story of one night when she was visiting the Baxter Avenue Theaters in the Highlands. She was waiting in the lobby and observed a group of about 12 teenagers crowded around her car. When they entered the building they were still talking about the car and remarking on how “cool” it was. I have had people comment to me that they saw the car “around town.” I have also spoken with Karen Welch, one of the coordinators of the art car weekend and she remarked that she has gotten numerous calls of people reporting sightings of the library art car.

One of the truly unique experiences that art cars create both for their owners and observers is that they open a dialogue. The question, “Why did you do that?” is always on the tip of the tongue when you see an art car. Because of this, the library is connecting to the community in a totally different way.