Urban Jacksonville

Terry Lorince from Downtown Vision emailed me yesterday letting me know artists spaces downtown are now open. We talked about this extensively on Urban Jacksonville Weekly last week. Listen to our conversation here.

This is a great opportunity for artists to get studio and display space downtown. Thanks to Downtown Vision, The Cultural Council and Jim Draper for helping to put this together.

There is a process for getting a space, so get started filling out your application. Downtown Vision hopes to receive applications by August 31st. Send your completed application to terry at downtownjacksonville dot org.

Attached please find information on four spaces that have become available by property owners. This information will tell you the overall condition of the space, whether it has electricity or is simply raw space, and the monthly amount needed to cover utilities. Please remember that most of these spaces are on a month by month lease. You should also expect that in each case you will need to provide liability insurance (estimated at about $600 a year), and sign a lease with the owner.

Download all documents in Word Format

The Application

Creative Community Space #1
Near Main and Adams Street. Approximate size of storefront (sq. ft) 1,700 sq. ft. Approximate space dimensions 10”x13”

Creative Communities Artist Space #2
Near Hemming Plaza – Third Floor Space. Approximate size of storefront (sq. ft) 10,000 sq. ft . Hard wood floors, brick walls, few windows. Approximate space dimensions Very large – more conducive to an artists cooperative.

Creative Communities Artist Space #3
Laura and Independent. Approximate size of storefront (sq. ft) 2,000 sq. ft .. Approximate space dimensions Very large – secure space.

Creative Communities Artist Space #4
Off Laura Street. Approximate size of storefront (sq. ft) 2,000 sq. ft .. Approximate space dimensions Very large – secure first floor retail space in office building . Great street level visibility.

http://jaxpublicart.blogspot.com/

Serving begins around 10:30. $5 frozen drinks all night.

photo credit: Varick Rosete

Thief in the Knight was the gold standard when it came to innovative Art Walk shows. Of course, this assertion is my personal opinion and has everything to do with my personal taste, however I can also point to public endorsement based on the sheer number of people who frequented and stayed at each of the shows.

When the venue was shuttled last July the space organizers searched for different locations with no luck and slowly it faded away. It’s no surprise, most Art Walk venues are temporary at best, making use of unused store fronts and bombed out buildings. That was the intention all along but when something special like Thief in the Knight hits the scene you HOPE to see it stick around for a while.

Enter The Old Library Basement

photo credit: Varick Rosete

I’m glad to announce a new contender has arrived on the scene equally as raw, inspiring and fun as Thief in the Knight: The Old Library Basement (OLB). The name isn’t as catchy, but the OLB has now ascended to the top ranks of Art Walk destinations.

5 Reasons Why It’s the Best New Art Walk Venue

1. It’s Big. With space to grow and air to flow The OLB is about three times the size of Thief in the Knight. The exhibitions can be as big or as small as they need to be. While there is no AC (that I recall) the larger space and underground location will keep it a little cooler than normal.
2. Talented Staff. Clay Doran, who I’ll call the chief organizer, has put together amazing show after amazing show. He also has a great pool of talent around him to pull from.
3. Venue Support. This is probably the most important aspect of it’s current success and any future success. OLB has support from the landlord, something I get the sense was lacking at Thief in the Knight, especially towards the end of it’s life. I have a feeling The OLB will be around as long as Clay wants.
4. Location. Location. Location. We all know the corner of Ocean and Laura is where all the Art Walk action is. The OLB is located right on that block. Situated across the street from the Burrito Gallery and London Bridge, it’s at the heart of Art Walk (if there is one).
5. Public Access. By and large most of the shows have been open to public contributions. With a space this large, Clay understands opening it to the public, at times, is essential to producing a large amount of work to display. Granted, many times you have to run in certain circles to know when the OLB is open to public submissions.

Some Past Shows

Monster Show (photos)
I’m Board Skatedeck Show and Skate Demo (photos)

This month’s Art Walk, February 4th, The OLB invites you to participate turning the gallery space into an open studio. See artists in action and be the artist as YOU contribute to this ongoing project.

Live music @ 7pm Buff Clout & Human Seed. Buff Clout has been personally endorsed by my friend and co-worker Travis Schmeisser so I can whole heartedly recommend them to you.

Haydon Burns Library Basement
112 North Ocean Street

Thanks to Chad for the heads up on this video. An art show put on by Chad Landenberger, Clay Doren and Red Bull. Held in the basement of the old downtown library in Jacksonville Florida during the cities monthly Art Walk held on the first wednesday of every month. Filmed and edited by Chris Jolly.

Complete Urbismus photoset

For people who don’t know what is Urbismus? Are you a crew/collective? Is this your first street art project in Jacksonville?

Urbismus (lat. city mice/urban rats) is mainly a collaborative of 2 artists, but we use help and input from a number of others. This is our first street art project in Jacksonville. We consider it an installation specifically designed to bring awareness to certain troubling issues concerning DT (Downtown) Jax: the vast number of empty, unused buildings.

To me, the style of your current work seems heavily influenced by another prominent international street artist Swoon. Was her style a big influence or does it come from somewhere else?

Swoon’s work is definitely a big influence (along with Judith Supine’s), but most people draw parallels with Banksy which although extremely flattering, doesn’t compare in our opinion. We purposely didn’t want to make a strong political or controversial statement (not yet) for this particular installation. We noticed that although starved of street life, downtown is being closely watched. While many buildings are boarded up and slowly crumbling, graffiti, stickers and posters are removed quickly, so we’re curious to see what the reaction will be to our noncontroversial, colorful, almost pretty figures.

Describe your technique. I think a lot of people would like to know how you get from the idea to getting it up on the wall.

The figures are digital photo renderings, separated in 3 colors, then silkscreened on newsprint. They are glued to the walls using homemade wheatpaste, a cooked mixture of wheat flour, white flour and water. Unlike spray paint, wheatpasting is not permanent (although when dried thoroughly, it can last a long time). We feel that the beauty of street pasteup is its’ changing life cycle. Affected by the weather and the elements it can slowly morph into unexpected, wonderful imagery.

What do you think about the current state of street art in Jacksonville?

As for the general art scene, there seems to be a pretty large artist community but just like the city itself, it’s spread out and lacking a centralized location wordy of a scene. We find street art practically nonexistent.

Do you have any words of wisdom for the masses?

We want to encourage more artists to consider wheatpasting or any form of street art. This sterile city is in a desperate need of any sign of human life on it’s streets.

Complete Urbismus photoset

Note: if you are an artist and I ever feature pictures of your work, hit me up if you are interested in doing an interview. Also Urbismus is featured on the cover of this week’s EU Jacksonvillle weekly