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“...this open letter is an invitation seeking sponsorship for my intentions to plan, design, coordinate, and complete a public art project.” - John McDonald

 

 

P  R  O  J  E  C  T      P  R  O  P  O  S  A  L

 

August, 2008

 

Who     What     When     Where     and     Why Not?

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

Summer, 2008: Three years after Katrina. The Coast has pulled itself up from disaster, has begun widespread reconstruction, and is moving steadily forward, recently in a celebration marking the wonderfully successful progress of the bay bridges art project.  Initiated and funded through the Mississippi Department of Transportation, this project exemplifies what can happen given sponsorship and the inspirations of many talented and dedicated artists. Further, there is equal public admiration for both the bridge construction and the inclusion of art. Such a project evidences the continuing and particular need for public art on the coast.  The use here of the phrase “public art” connotes suitable common space such as malls, restaurants or banks for examples, as well as appropriate federal or state properties; “public art” also connotes common interest subject matter and emphasizes a commensurate scale to its architectural context. Although the bay bridges art project was funded by the state, private sponsorship given different circumstances might also be appropriate.

 

In recognition of this public sentiment, this open letter is an invitation seeking sponsorship for my intentions to plan, design, coordinate, and complete a public art project.  Think of it as one of others created by coast artists in a continuing engagement to help celebrate the people and places of the Coast: to portray who we are; to honor what unites and what inspires us. Everyone is aware of the bad hand we’ve been dealt by Katrina; however, as someone said, “Great disasters make great opportunity for great acts of love." For our artist, we have new possibilities in the coast’s reconstruction and revitalization and Mississippians have a unique opportunity to encourage and support public art as our new community infrastructure arises from the disaster.

 

Fortunately, I’ve recently been introduced to a process and material that would make such a project both economically and materially feasible…a price appealing, extremely durable and versatile method for creating large scale (two dimensional) art for either indoor or outside locations. Briefly put, the process begins with the original work, say a painting or photograph, that is then digitally reproduced and enlarged to a desired size and that image is then “fused” into a material such as fiber cement board or even into glass-resulting in a permanent bond.  The imaging process can be done for about five to ten dollars a square foot.  This process, although created for advertising purposes, would have many highly practical applications in a public art project.

 

Here is a list of the many practical advantages of this process over the use of a full scale original:

 

 

I have examined the process, have a sample of the finished product, and after inquiry, I am confident it would meet all pertinent requirements. Further, the process of my project would be a useful model for successive public art projects across Coastal Mississippi.

 

By briefly recognizing an organizing principle and a unique technical process, I am seeking a response from those that can imagine the community enhancing value of art in public spaces, have the ability to pursue making this project viable, and want to have a guiding hand in re-envisioning our Mississippi Gulf Coast.

 

To whom it may concern…               Sincerely, John McDonald

 

 

Note: in 1997, I completed the Promenade mural in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.  Funded by state and local patronage, the mural now stands as a significant landmark and tells the history of a people over the course of several centuries to contemporary times. The approximately 1500 ft.² mural is a resin-based type paint over well prepared brick. The mural did survive hurricane Katrina fairly well; although having been partly submerged in the storm surge the paint film has been compromised.  Putting it very briefly- in comparable circumstances in the creation of a large mural, one could more practically use the advantageous technical method described above.