Course Description

Perhaps at no time since the inception of the Arts and Environment minor in 1997 has the capstone course been more aptly named than this year. Envisioning Environmental Futures really is what this year's class is about. Our goal is to generate a strategic plan for expanding and sustaining the devlopment of public art in Meadville and surrounding communities. In sharp contrast to a crude bumper sticker suggesting bad things just happen, art doesn't just happen. To make public art requires persistance, money, a lot of labor, patience, reliable and supportive partners, and good ideas. To make good public art also means expending a considerable amount of energy getting to know history, culture, the people, and ecology of our region.

The Arts and Environment Initiative in Meadville has an extraordinarily successful history. Many of its concepts have reached fruition.

Greening the Gateway (1998)	Green Room (1999)
Signs and Flowers (2001)	Read Between the Signs (2002-2007)
Market Alley Renovation (2005-2007)

The challenge is to keep this momentum going and to build upon its successes. The course will run as follows:

We will work as a team to develop a strategic plan for the Arts and Environment Initiative and individually you will each develop a proposal for a public art project within the community. The proposal will involve a written description of the planned project as well as a model and drawings, a budget, and materials list. You will also write two 3-5 page papers, discussed below.

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Schedule and Topics

I. Introduction to Meadville

August 26: Intro to Meadville: Economic History and the Arts and Environment Initiative

Read the CEED webpage on Art and Environment by going to the CEED home page and then clicking on projects and selecting Art and Environment.

II. Weeks one and two - What is Public Art?

September 2 T:

Discuss Readings:

• Americans for the Arts, December 2000 Monograph, Public Art Funding, pg. 2, What is Public Art? (purchased)
• Bach, P.B. 2002. Lessons Learned: The past informs the future. Public Art Review: 5-11. (in Booklet)
• Making Art Public, a twin-cities, Minnesota, non-profit that promotes public art.
• Lippard, L.R. 1997. The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society, The New Press, New York, pp. 261-292. (in Booklet)

September 4 R: Maya Lin Video

September 9 T Assignment: Write a five-page paper describing the role of the arts in community revitalization with at least ten references. DUE: September 23.

Discuss Readings:

• Lacy, S. 1993. Mapping the terrain: The new public art. Public Art Review: 14-17. (Handout)
• Dissanayake, E. 19xx?. Why public art is necessary. New*Land*Marks: 26-34.
• Select two articles in Miscellaneous section of booklet to read. Use this info to inform our discussion.

September 11 R: Field trip to Crawford County Industrial Park, Outdoor Learning Center, French Creek

III. Week Three: How do we ascertain a sense of place? A sense of our place, Meadville?

September 16 T:

Discuss Readings:

• Bakken, K.N. 2003. Place Matters: Cultivating Commitment to 'Local Soil and Local Memory'
• Lippard, L.R. Year?. Looking around: where we are, where we could be. Chapter 6 (in Booklet)
• Lacy, S. Year? Debated territory: Toward a critical language for public art. (in Booklet)
• Jacob, M.J. Year? An Unfashionable audience. (in Booklet)

September 18 R: Field trip to Meadville Public Library, Market Alley

IV. Week Four: Strategic Planning (Mission, Goals [Locales], Partners, Funding, Criteria for Acceptance, Timetable)

September 23 T: What is a strategic plan and why bother?

• The Alliance: Raising the Bar on Quality: FAQs is a web page that lays out what needs to be included in a strategic plan.
• U.S. EPA. 2002. Community Culture and the Environment: A guide to understanding a sense of place. pp. 9-19.
• Americans for the Arts, Special Report. 2003. Building Creative Economies: The Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Development. 15 pp.
• Point State Park Planning Committee. 2001. Comprehensive master plan for Point State Park. pp. 1-12.
• Americans for the Arts is a clearing house for arts information.
• Cruikshank, J. and Korza, P. Going Public: 14 - 49.

September 25 R: Funding the arts - possibilities

Assign presentation groups for meeting on October 3

Discuss Readings:

• Wetenhall, J. 1993. A brief history of percent-for-art in America. Public Art Review (Fall/Winter): 4-7. Purchased.
• Wickersham, C. 1993. Percent-for-art: variations on a theme. Public Art Review (Fall/Winter): 8-11. Purchased.
• Americans for the Arts, Special Report. 2003. Public Art Funding: Developing Percent-for-Art Programs. 10 pp.
• Kilroy, M. 1993. % Public Art fot he Nineties: Re-sharpening the Cutting Edge. Public Art Review (Fall/Winter). Purchased.
• Stodola, B. 1992. Public Art Works: The Arizona Models, Chapter 4 (in booklet).

V. Week Five. Preparation for Stakeholder's Meeting

September 30 T: First Draft Presentations. Continued planning with class. How to reach class goals of developing a strategic plan and geneating ideas and proposals for new projects.

October 2 R: Second Draft Presentations.

October 3 F: Stakeholder's Meeting 3:00 - 5:00 P.M. in conjunction with Steve Onyeiwu's Economics 240, Introduction to Managerial Economics

VI. Week Six and Beyond. Debriefing Stakeholder's Meeting and Project Planning.

Readings to help with Project Planning.

• Gallagher, J. 1995. Community Aesthetics. New Statesman & Society 8: 32-33.
• McAvera, B. 1998. Site Sensitivies. Art Monthly 215: 35-37.
• The International Sculpture Center has a very robust website

October 7 T. Debriefing Stakeholder's meeting.

October 9 R. Project Planning.

October 14 T. Fall Break

October 16 R. Project Planning.

October 21 T. Project Planning. Presentation of Project ideas.

October 23 R. Special Meeting 3:00 - 5:00 P.M. in conjunction with Steve Onyeiwu's Economics 240, Introduction to Managerial Economics. Our class will present their plans for projects. Onyeiwu's class will present strategic plan for Tool and Die Participation

October 23 - December 4 Final Project Planning and Strategic Planning

December 4 (tentative) Stakeholder's Meeting 3:00 - 5:00 P.M. in conjunction with Steve Onyeiwu's Economics 240, Introduction to Managerial Economics

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The audience for the papers you will be writing, and designs you will be preparing, in addition to us, will include the

• Mayor of Meadville,
• Meadville's City Council,
• its city manager,
• its historian,
• members of the Meadville Redevelopment Authority,
• the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
• several business owners, and ultimately
• thousands of residents in and visitors to downtown Meadville

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Criteria for a Good Site Proposal

(generated by students in this class.)

1. Strategic Plan
- location/site identification - particular purpose of project
- funding sources - who is willing to donate
- artist selection - development of call for proposals
- committees/groups involved - contribution support
- permission - red tape - city council - business owners
- definition of goals
- reason for plan

2. Research - solid information for presentation

3. Actual proposals

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Grades will be based on class participation, two short papers and contributions to site proposals and the strategic plan.