The Visiting Artist Project (or the VAP), the first of its kind for the City of Asheville, supports "the community’s creation of memorable places, the promotion of Asheville’s African American history, and participation by the local community in diverse acts of cultural expression.”

The project was designed to broaden city government’s connection with Asheville’s African-American population + to support efforts to honor and celebrate their past and future in the area.

And here’s what you should know:

🌆There are several opportunities for local community members to get involved, including meet-and-greets with the winning artist, paid opportunities for 2-3 local artists to help out during the creation + installation process and public feedback periods.

🌎 Organized by the City’s Public Art and Cultural Commission, the VAP invited artists from across the nation (including Asheville) to apply last spring, and a special committee of community leaders (including Darin Waters, Brent Skidmore, Viola Spells, Sheneika Smith + more) selected three finalists, who visited Asheville and toured possible installation sites before submitting their final proposals.

🗳The proposed projects are in, and the city wants feedback on which one you think should be a part of the community. Public feedback will be an important part of the committee’s final decision on the chosen artist.

The applicants had to

Show extensive experience in community art
Propose a family-friendly public art project
Celebrate Asheville’s African-American legacy + future
Involve local community members + activate community spaces through the finished work
Propose an open-ended artwork shaped by the artists + community feedback

The finalists, chosen in late July, are:

The Color Dreamers (Amir Shakir + Ivette Cabrera), Art Ecologie (Monique Luck, Flavia Lovatelli and Francisco Gonzalez) and Jefferson Pinder.

Before you pick your favorite on the city’s survey, check out the finalists and their proposed projects.⬇

The Color Dreamers

Amir Shakir + Ivette Cabrera

2 of 4 proposed murals. Source: The Color Dreamers

Portraits of the Future

The Color Dreamers are traveling artists Amir Shakir + Ivette Cabrera. The Miami duo specializes in murals + sculptures that combine abstract + realist design elements.

For the VAP, the Color Dreamers will create 4 public murals and 1 sculpture that will feature local African-American youth. African-American students between the ages of 15 and 20 who are involved in art, dance, music + writing will be entered into a raffle for the chance to win $300 and be the subject of one of the four murals.

In addition to the mural portraits, they will also install a bronze sculpture of an African-American girl meditating. The sculpture will be accompanied by a plaque with a poem written by a local writer.

A deeper dive –

The murals will be painted at the YMI and the Dr. Wesley Grant Center, and the sculpture will be installed on the garden trail on the way to the Stephens-Lee Center.
The murals will be done in acrylic paint and the sculpture will be bronze.
The chosen poem will focus on themes of peace, nature + meditation.
Dimensions of the murals will be roughly 5’ x 6’ and 4’ x 10’, and the sculpture will be 4’ tall, 3’ wide, and 3’ deep.
Community involvement may include LEAF Schools and Streets, UNC Asheville, Word on the Streets, Delta House + more, as well as partnerships with 2-3 local artists + videographers.
Artist partners will assist with the murals, sculpture + installation processes.
The project will be an addition to the city’s planned African-American Heritage Trail and will honor history while also contributing to place-making in these areas.

Jefferson Pinder

From Jefferson Pinder’s work Dark Matter (2014)

Stumptown Hump

The proposed project is an interactive performance event in the 30-acre area once known as Stumptown, a historic black neighborhood in Montford near Riverside Cemetery that is now 80% white, to commemorate the legacy + heritage of the area.

The two-hour performance will be repeated for at least two years, and will include a brass band, youth on bikes, older community members + more moving through the area in the style of a parade or march.

A deeper dive

The event will also include spoken word + moments of silence.
The performance will be captured for video.
An interactive pageant will process down Hillside between Broadway + Murdock Ave and will involve current + former residents of Montford.
Four markers will be crafted from ebonized wood to mark the location + history of Stumptown.
Partnerships + community engagement may involve African-American community members, Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective, DeWayne Barton (founder of Hood Huggers and Green Opportunities) + the African-American Heritage Commission.
Artist partnerships will include local wood- and craftspeople.
The goal is to create an event that will take off on its own as an annual celebration + commemoration of Stumptown.

Art Ecologie

Flavia Lovatelli, Monique Luck + Francisco Gonzalez

Come Sit with Us. Walk with Us. Talk with Us. Welcome to the Block.

Art Ecologie Collective is mixed-media, paint + collage artists Flavia Isabella Lovatelli, Monique Luck + Francisco Gonzalez

The artists will create a cube installation between S. Market Street and Eagle Street across from the YMI building. The cubes will commemorate the the businesses, homes + communities that were displaced by gentrification + city planning, including 1100 homes, 8 apartments, 7 churches, 6 beauty parlors, 5 barber shops, 5 filling stations, 14 grocery stores, 3 shoe shops, 2 cabinet shops, 2 auto body shops, 1 hotel, 5 funeral homes, 1 hospital + 3 doctor’s offices, according to Dr. Wesley Grant.

A deeper dive

The cubes will range in size from 2’x2’x2’ to 4’x4’x10’ and be constructed from steel, aluminum + wood, with interchangeable wood panels.
The artists will lead community workshops to create mixed-media collages that will be incorporated in the final design.
These designs will be imprinted onto the cubes in two tones: sepia for the past, and color for the future.
Metal cubes will commemorate community centers like churches, and wood cubes will commemorate small businesses.
Partnerships may include local schools + community organizations, like Delta House + the Wesley Grant Center, as well as local artists + a local film student.
They hope this art piece will create a space for community members to explore their relationship to the past and their place in rebuilding the present + looking forward to the future.

Why visiting artists instead of local artists?

Applications weren’t limited to local artists in the hopes that as wide a range of projects as possible be submitted. 59 artists applied from across the U.S. + the world, and the finalists were selected by the Leadership Team.

Although none of the finalists is local, a key component of each project is its community involvement, and there will be opportunities for local artists + partners to get involved. Partner artists will receive a stipend of up to $1000 + gain experience in contributing to a major public art project.

Want to get involved?

Here is the timeline for the VAP

October 9th: The VAP Leadership Team will rank proposals and create a recommendation
October 12th: The winning proposal will be announced.
Fri, Oct 19: A VAP proposal presentation will be held at 1 p.m. in the Mountain View Room of UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center
October 22nd-November 12th: Call for Local Artists
January-October 2019: Project implementation

Read more about the timeline + applicants here, and cast your vote here.

As a member of Asheville’s Public Art & Cultural Commission, I’m excited for this project and the way it will give back to our community, particularly the way it will honor the city’s African-American history + future.

And I love how much the community will be involved with this. Not only will the public feedback process gives citizens a way to share their thoughts and make their voices heard, but later on all of these projects will be co-created by the artists + the community, from its leaders to its youth.

Take a few minutes between now and Oct. 4 to give your opinion on which project you’d like to see in Asheville.

Once again, here’s a link to all of the project proposals, and here’s a link to the city’s survey (which only takes a few minutes). Take that, and then share your thoughts with us by replying to this email or leaving a comment on Facebook or Instagram. Which project gets your vote?

– Ali + Stephanie (AVLtoday intern)