Progress is underway for the multi-media art piece which will be located on the large support structure of a bridge in Openlands Forest Preserve. The project is being created with Chicago Public Art Group www.cpag.net in collaboration with Ginny Sykes, Jim Brenner, and Julia Sowles-Barlow. In this photo I am working on a small element that will be located at the bottom of the piece with various insects and local plants. It is hard to imagine that this huge spider is only a tiny element of the overall piece. I will be sending more progress photos in the future so keep checking the blog!

I have recently begun the painting phase for a new project in Openlands Forest Preserve in Highland Park. The preserve has a series of very unique ravines that lead to the lake (an unusual natural feature given the very flat nature of Illinois). One paved ravine has a large bridge about half way from the parking lot to the lake. On the underside of this bridge a massive public art piece is being created. I am working in collaboration with Ginny Sykes http://www.ginnysykes.com, Jim Brenner http://www.chicagosculptureworks.com, and Julia Sowles-Barlow on this landmark project. The piece is a Chicago Public Art Group project. The multi-media creation will include painted elements that I am creating in studio on non-woven media which will later be installed on location of natural and organic elements of nature and science. Metal and glass pieces will also be included in the piece.
I will be updating my blog regularly in the coming weeks with photos of this great project so keep checking in to see progress shots!

When you think of a place like the slums of Kenya or rural India, the first thought that pops in to your heard is probably children with swollen bellies and flies in their eyes. Honorable agencies like Unisef and Feed the Children are there to provide food and medical aid. The basic needs of these impoverished people are the only thing considered. Rarely are the intangible and psychological needs addressed.

Art can play an important role in the developing world for a number of reasons. It provides an outlet for self expression and fosters hope. It can also be used in the community art sphere to disseminate social messages and activate the population.

Art therapy is a widely accepted form of psychological treatment. Many people find it difficult to express themselves through words alone and the visual and performing arts can provide a means for these pent up feelings to be released. Projects like Born into Brothels http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_into_Brothels, a project where the children of prostitutes in India were given cameras to report their life, allow am means for true expression and give the children a sense of purpose.

Another way that art plays an important role in t he developing world is by informing and educating the public with community art. Large murals and performance art projects in largely illiterate societies allow those who would not ordinarily have access to information to understand it. There are many examples of this including traveling circuses in Ethiopia that educates the public about aids prevention http://www.awassachildrensproject.org/newsletter_intro.asp. Other art organizations work with existing NGO's to compliment their education campaign with public art projects. In El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras Artcorps http://www.artcorp.org/ is creating great social change through this partnering process.