A shipping container made into a bus shelter, shadow art on the City Hall Annex building, and a “solar screen” made out of large 3D-printed ceramic bricks are among the community projects selected for funding by the Innovative Plan for Leveraging Arts Through Community Engagement initiative in Youngstown.
INPLACE, funded through a $100,000 grant to Youngstown State University from the National Endowment for the Arts, received 15 proposals for projects. A team of eight people reviewed the proposals and selected five projects to receive $20,000 each.
The five projects will be formally presented to the public from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, March 3 at the Covelli Center in downtown Youngstown. All 15 projects, with video recordings of each presentation, will be on view at the McDonough Museum of Art at YSU, June 2 to July 9, 2017.
The five projects include:
Shipping Container Bus Shelter – A shipping container will be cut apart and reassembled, painted and fabricated as a sculpture to function as a bus shelter. The project site will be a section of sidewalk in front of the Mahoning County Courthouse at 120 Market St. in downtown Youngstown. Project members are Tony Armeni, Ed Macabobby, and Daniel Newman.
Light the Community – Seventh-grade students from Valley Christian School’s Lewis School for Gifted Learning will install a public Shadow Art Stage along Emily Street and project shadow art on the south side of the City Hall Annex building. Project members are Angelo LaMarca, Rick Blair, Kaydin Brown, Vito Colella, Grace Cummings, Pendleton Evans, Gabby Johnson, Pat Kelly, AJ Morris, Katie Murray, Elion Oliver, Ian Scheetz.
Solar Screen – Solar Screen is a curved, vertical surface that will be positioned to follow the path of the sun. Assembled out of large 3D printed ceramic “bricks” that are mortared together; the bricks will have openings that vary in size, allowing light and air to pass through the structure. Project members are Brian Peters, Daphne Peters, Missy McCormick.
The Wedge at Hazel Hill – The Wedge at Hazel Hill will seek to create a serviceable and functional green space connecting the existing barrier between YSU and downtown Youngstown. Project members are Annissa Neider, Courtney Boyle, Joshua Boyle, Sarah DelliQuadri, Gabriella Gessler, Tyler Miller-Gordon, Andrew Boyle, Katy Collins, Michael Pontikos, Stephanie Weigel, Austin J.Hilt, Leigh A. Greene, Julius Oliver, and Brendan Boyle.
Mahoning Avenue Archway – The project site is an abandoned railway arch located along the Mahoning Avenue corridor west of downtown Youngstown. The project seeks to transform the archway into a more inviting gateway into downtown and adjacent neighborhoods. Project members are David Tamulonis, Eric Carlson and Ian Beniston.
Funding support for INPLACE comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the McDonough Museum of Art, the College of Creative Art and Communication, The Raymond John Wean Foundation, The Youngstown Foundation, and Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Collaborators in the project include the YSU Regional Economic Development Initiative, WYSU, the City of Youngstown, the City of You branding and marketing campaign, and Kent State University’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design and Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative.
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