ABRAHAM LINCOLN BICENTENNIAL PROJECT 1809 - 2009:
A commemorative artwork utilizing ceramic tiles, stained glass and other materials were used to create a mural that creatively depicts Abraham Lincoln at various stages of his life and scenes essential to his personal and political development in Kentucky.
The artwork is located in Old Walnut/Beecher Park (located at Roy Wilkins Ave and Muhammad Ali Blvd in Louisville, KY), adjacent to the Beecher Terrace public housing complex. The multi-media mosaic is adhered to the backside wall of a long cement bleacher used by park visitors to watch events on the sports field.
The Beecher Park residents, Baxter Community Center members and Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) participants were asked to join a summer art project that makes history a fun, hands-on experience. LVAA enrolled their help in creating a large tile mosaic for the Old Walnut Park on Roy Wilkins Ave. The project included field trips to learn about Abraham Lincoln's history in Kentucky, and working with a professional artist to design a mosaic illustrating Lincoln's history. Participants explored the history of Lincoln in our area and expressed what his life means in relation to our community and their lives. Many of the young particpants helped create a video about the project. The skills acquired and sense of accomplishment will have a lasting impression on them.
Lincoln Project Partners:
21c Hotel Art Museum -- tour of art collection
The Muhammad Ali Center -- Tour and Presentation
Big Brother Big Sister of Kentuckiana -- participant organization
Metro Parks/Baxter Community Center -- participant organization
Farmington Historic Home -- visit for research of historic background
The Filson Historical Society -- visit for research of historic background
Dr. J. Blaine Hudson - Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, UofL, professor of Pan-African Studies, Fugitive Slaves / Underground Railroad, project planning
Dr Judy Pierce - Western Kentucky University, children's author/storyteller of Abraham Lincoln/Civil War.
Walter W Hutchins -- African-American historian, presenter at Ali Center
LVAA staff and the participant organizations met together to work out an itinerary for the Baxter Community Center kids and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana that would give them a fulfilling and in depth understanding of what Lincoln's time in Kentucky was like and how he was impacted by that experience. The planners designed the project so that visits to museums and historic places, as well as attending presentations by historians would give the participants an opportunity to ask questions, take notes, sketch out ideas and work together to investigate the topic.
For 10 weeks artist Guy Tedesco worked with 15 child participants and 10 adults from both participating organizations on a mosaic mural and clay tablets with inscribed letters to President Lincoln and President Obama. Participants took field trips to 21C Museum, Filson Historical Society, Farmington Historic Plantation, and the Muhammad Ali Center as well as heard accounts of Lincoln's time in Louisville from local historians. The group went through the process of learning about the subject, processing it through various mediums, collaborating on designs for presenting the concept, and working together through the process of creating the artwork and installing it at the site location. Through the entire process, artist Guy Tedesco worked closely with the group to ensure that the ideas were being processed and well understood.
At the end of the project, the participants were asked to fill out evaluations regarding their time and experience with the projects' execution. The LVAA was able to utilize this information to understand the participants perspective on the experience and to learn about what was successful and unsuccessful in their eyes.
It was evident that community participants were proud of a new, attractive, and culturally meaningful mural for their own neighborhood as they would often stop by and admire the work that was being done by the artist and the participants. The work inspired conversations about Lincoln and the area's history.
Videographers William Wallace and Will Kravens worked with participants from Baxter Community Center to create a short film documentary of the community art project. A 5 minute documentary including the footage shot by the participants of others working on the planning and execution of the project, was edited with interviews about the experience and the perspectives that the kids had gained. Each participant was given a DVD copy of the video to keep for themselves, providing them with tabgible documentation of the experience and what they had learned through their participation in the project.
Loading...
1:50
H&M Supply Chain Projectby mehulagarwal2k1715 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)