 Hi, welcome to CTN member highlights. I'm Leslie McVane and my guest today is Bonnie Norlander the Organizer for the temp to perm public arts conference. Hi Bonnie. That's right. Thank you Yeah, thank you so much for talking with me today about the conference. Well, let's talk about What it is first of all, what is the this conference, right? So Temp to perm is basically the name of it is Alluding to the fact that there is temporary art in this town and there's permanent art in this town and the conference itself is an investigation of both the opportunities for artists to be commissioned for public artworks as well as do community building with public art and Also for administrators to do some professional development. So really anyone interested in Public art in Portland or Greater Maine is very much welcome And you've got quite a lineup of people doing the workshops and speaking Do you want to just mention a few of of the artists or yeah community members who are involved? Sure well, I was meeting just this morning with Elizabeth from space gallery and she is going to be doing a workshop Really getting into the details of the kindling fund which will be a great opportunity for artists to learn What exactly it takes to access that opportunity and I think that'll be a really informative session We'll also have breakout session at Creative Portland and that will be sort of a way to share Both what you might be able to offer that community of public artists or As an artist what you need to accomplish your projects and so it's a little give-and-take opportunity in terms of presenters we have a full morning schedule of local experts related to public art and that's both administrators and Artists and then at the end of the day we'll have a panel of people discussing different projects around town and We'll have a closing speaker who is not from Maine but she has some great lessons for us about Strategically engaging with diverse communities and diverse representation So I think we'll have some great lessons from her That's a that sounds actually actually fascinating. Yeah, because Portland has become a much more diverse city and to bring That wonderful new energy into this public art is just very exciting Absolutely, and that was really the inspiration for this event in general I am fairly new to Maine and when I came here I came with an interest in public art and was curious what was happening here and what I learned was There was a lot of excitement for art in the community well actually multiple communities around Portland and throughout Maine and That this energy was also happening and this excitement was happening as a lot of changes were actually happening whether it's new leadership at different arts organizations or new ideas or even new manors and it felt like an opportunity to really do some professional development and Look at other examples Nationally internationally as well as really see what's happening here and how can we make it better? Right, and it has it's just taken on really in the last few years There there has been some public art For a long time, but it hasn't seemed to have grown and all of a sudden we're seeing Public art pop up everywhere and now when people are planning Reconfigurations of neighborhoods and streets. They're that's part of the the consideration absolutely and one organization I can mention which is a new organization is tempo art and They're on that temporary end of public art where they're offering opportunities for people to make timely artworks and Exhibit them around town and I think that's great because it keeps the public space vibrant and Of course, I love permanent sculptural work and monuments and we definitely have to take care of those but I'm Keeping new fresh artwork in the community is also a great asset. Well, and it keeps everyone wondering what's gonna be next, you know Exactly and and and let them know that this is just temporary So you have to embrace it and love it while it's here and get ready to let go of it too as it moves on Absolutely, and I if I may I think it's also something that really is When I say public art I don't mean just art that's in a public space But it also tends to be funded with public money and sometimes people have an opinion about how that Might go and I think what's important to understand is public art is for The local community it really is it's a gift to the local community to make this a space that they want to be in and want to live in and So I hope that people can embrace that as something that's for them And they'll be able to come to this conference on June 3rd. How do they find out more about it? Absolutely so all of the information is on our website, which is temp to perm M e mm-hmm for main mm-hmm and You can find out information there. You can also follow us on Facebook But all of the details are there tickets are available online and The full schedule of speakers is listed there as well, and it will be held at Mecca. Yes Creative Portland and maybe some other breakout places. Yeah, we'll meet at Mecca And the bulk of the programming is there. We'll have a breakout session On Free Street just behind Mecca and Creative Portland, and it'll be followed by a private event at Space Gallery It sounds wonderful, and I hope you know people better get their tickets soon because I think it's going to be a sell-out Thank you for being here to tell us about it. Thank you very much. I am really excited about it myself and This is something that is really a one-time thing It's not an ongoing program So I hope people do join and really get something out of the dialogue. Thank you. Thank you