**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**
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| Making some templates for sketches |
I promised I'd offer updates on my New Mexico Arts Project, so here's the first! If you didn't read my initial post on the McKinley County Courthouse Rotunda project, here's a quick summary. I'm one of five finalists for the project, and I have to present a proposal to a committee on November 8th. The project has as $100,000 budget and is part of the New Mexico Art In Public Places (AIPP) program. The theme is: "Culture of Place."
I'm doing the easy things first: using the logical half of my brain to decide what materials to use, how to install the finished works, and what it will cost. For the past few weeks, I've been seeking information from framers and installers. Why don't I do these jobs myself? I've decided that my true expertise lies in two fields: making the art, and managing a big project. (I have managed several over the years, some in the art business, others in IT.) As for all the other tasks the project requires—mounting the artwork and framing it to AIPP standards, and hanging it on curved walls, with some locations being 12 feet above the floor—I want people who know what they are doing. Oh, and I need a plaque maker. AIPP requires little brass plaques mounted on wood blocks for each work. I've never had a brass plaque before.
(You might ask why I'm doing all this work first, before having fully fleshed out the concept. Figuring out the physical constraints of the project—the materials, the sizes—will help me cut the concept to fit. Maybe it's just me, but it's the way I go about creating art: Okay, here's a 9x12 panel, now what part of the landscape will fit on it?)
In addition to presenting a budget for the project, I will need to present samples of materials to be used. Originally, I'd planned to create oil paintings on aluminum Dibond. But I began to think I might want to include digitally-enhanced photographs, in the way of prints on metal. I liked this idea. Then my next thought was, Why can't I reproduce my paintings and put those on metal, too? This would allow me to make smaller paintings—I was starting to find the idea of creating a series of 4-foot by 6-foot paintings a bit intimidating—which I could then have enlarged. Enlarging the images won't be a problem. Because the paintings will be seen from a distance, I can accept a certain amount of loss of resolution. And because of the distance, texture—an important part of any oil painting—will be lost, so why bother? This lightning bolt of inspiration filled me with joy and relief. With all this in mind, I've ordered samples of the product, printed with an image of one of my paintings, to show.
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| Some metal print samples |
(If you're concerned about longevity, my research shows that the images will be "infused" into the surface of scratch-resistant metal with reasonably lightfast inks. The inks will last over 65 years without noticeable fading. Better yet, the exhibit space is completely shielded from direct sunlight.)
I am now at the point where I am trying to finalize the concept and its presentation. This is, for me, the most difficult part because it's the non-logical, artistic part of my brain that now needs to jump in with something that makes sense. I want to include the cultures present in the county: the Zuni and Navajo tribes and the ranching community. But then there's also the mining industry and the railroad, the latter of which has had a huge impact here over the years.
There are so many details to think about. For example, will the Native Americans be insulted if I present images of their landscape? Do I need a permit to go onto their lands for photography? (Turns out they won't, and yes, I do.) The more I research and think and sketch out ideas, the more I find important things I would like to include.
What once seemed a huge space to fill now seems to be not huge enough. I need to decide what's most important. And isn't that what we landscape artists do, anyway? I can do this.
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| Sketch of the rotunda interior walls |
