Tag: u.s.a.

October 11, 2019

Collective IMPRESSIONS

project: #14

location: ELKO, NV

date: 26 – 29th Sept, 2019.

type: Collaborative mural. Mural Expo.

JUST OFF HWY 80.

If you drive too fast or get lost in the endless expanse of open desert and far off mountains you might miss it. Most do.

It’s a HWY stop, it’s a rail stop, it’s a stop from the gold rush West on that historic California Trail. And now, as fresh paint has had a few short weeks to dry, Elko Nevada can proudly say it’s an Art stop as well.

As the big coastal cities continue to grow beyond means of land and tradition, the little high desert town of Elko is just getting it’s feet wet. With promise of a simple life where your community has your back the town is opening doors and arms to those brave enough to take Elko into it’s next age of prosperity. The long time locals, who laid the first dusty bricks that grace tourists with old west nostalgia, now yearn for new attractions on grandeur scales. The willingness to share tradition with modern artistic flare has made Elko, NV a new hot spot for public art and a trend-setter for those small towns still trying to find their way into the next century of what is America.

THE ELKO MURAL EXPO.

It all began about a year back…

Art Spot Reno, an art promotion organization, had just wrapped up their first Mural Expo in Reno’s downtown district. The event mastermind’s had a well deserved pat on the back coming but all they could focus on was where to next. With that lingering thought in mind a few letters were written and out of the wood-work came Elko.

Art Spot got some insider help from The Elko Art’s & Culture Board and a kick-off mural was created by Reno Artist Eric Burke… making the entire community sweat with anticipation. As months went and seasons changed the brewing excitement lead to an entire town working together to make this event one to not be forgotten.

Then, as summer passed it’s torch to autumn and a chill brought the morning sun, 40 international and local artists hit the streets with brushes and spray cans in hand. It was a mad creative time-warp… Four days of non-stop painting, live music, culture walks, and creative conversations. A town full of history and stories was now creating the next chapter of their existence.

LAMOILLE MEMORIES.

Alley Art always aims to work with a Community to help showcase what that Community stands together for. So it didn’t take more than a bat of the eye to recall memories of camping and painting in Elko’s iconic Lamoille Canyon as the most impressionable place to start. An unfortunate fire had recently scarred the canyon… leaving ashes and char in the place of the cherished Aspen and Sage which flourished there for generations. The only collaboration that made sense to honor how much the Elko community has done to preserve their region was to have each individual leave their unique mark on a landscape which means so much to each of them. This landscape would only be an impression on a wall… but hopefully through the action of creating, it would leave an inspiring impression on the community who helped create it.

THE TASK.

Leave behind your inhibitions and get back to your creative instincts. Make your mark in the most simple yet meaningful and unique way… a thumb print.

It’s not all so black & white, is it?

Collective Impressions…

As the last thumb marks dried and the artist’s of the expo prepared for a final paint day the clouds rolled in like a J.M.W. Turner Tribute party. All paint covered hands on deck! With the clouds came wind. then snow… and it all seemed to bother nobody, as the artist’s still worked and the patrons still strolled. A surreal moment for all fortunate to witness it.

And as the sun came back to warm the streets the fresh paint glistened…

artists: J.Charboneau,

Artists as part of the Mural Expo: buZ blurr, Erik Burke, Sebastian Velasco, Alain-Derok, Stephane Cellier, Dr. Chip Thomas, Nathaniel Benjamin, Hernan Borrero, Mike Lucido, Joe C. Rock, Bryce Chisholm, Ernie Upton, Eric Brooks, Jamie Darragh, Katy Ann Fox, Edgar Garcia, Gina Holmberg, Justin Johnson, Leslie King, Bill Louis, Arthur Richmond, Seth McCorkle, Anthony Ortega, Matthew McDowell, Colene Paradise & her students, Sage Elementary School Art Dept. Students, Rachel Pittario, Dale and Jake Slingland, Angie Terrell, Simone Turner, VAKA, Simo Vibrant, Derek Yost, Peter Whittenberger, Kela Downs, Phil Nichols. (anyone else I may have missed please let me know!)

contributors: 75+ people of the Elko Community.

Local students creating their own Mural.

detail of @joecrock with an addition from legend @buzblurr

team from Spain, @sebasvelasco1 @alaintherock

the solo work of lead alley art artist, @j.charboneau

we should have helped paint this guy… Note: ‘White King’ is now fully restored!

Alley Art Project #14: “Collective Impressions of Lamoille” 75+ community hands.

alley art facebook @alleyartproject alley art videos

alleyarteverywhere@gmail.com

July 17, 2019

Together WE SEE sparks

SPECIAL EDITION: SEEN ‘ZINE

project: #12

location: The Streets of Sparks. (Victorian Square)

date: 6/23 – 9/20. 2019

type: community newspaper. ArtBike. 1-minute portraits

SPARKS…

A city with 100+ years under it’s rusty & wind blown belt has a story to tell.

With Time, wisdoms and wise tales begin to define what is significant. What should be said? What should be seen? What should be preserved? And what should be the goal for the future?

Sparks is a city with grit, grandeur, and glory days… Only it’s people can preserve it.

TOGETHER WE SEE SPARKS.

“In 2015, the City of Sparks began one of the largest redevelopment projects in its history in downtown Victorian Square. Planned for completion by 2022, a six-square-block area of downtown Sparks called Victorian square will be transformed into housing (apartments and condos) for 5,000 new residents, new restaurants and retail spaces, an event venue, a central plaza, and gathering space. The city’s has allocated funding for a new streetscape plan includes new public sidewalks, planters, curbs, and landscaping. A portion of the streetscape plan allocated a portion of the budget for art.

To leverage the arts, culture, and creativity to help drive this change, growth, and transformation, the city was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Grant in 2016 to create an art master plan for the area. This planning process and the implementation of the plan relies heavily on community input using the creative placemaking model.”

The project is called: Together We See Sparks.

FIND US AT THESE SPARKS EVENTS:

6/23 – sierra Nevada Lavender & Honey Festival. @ Victorian Square
7/27 – Water Lantern Festival. @Sparks Marina
8/28 -8/30 – Best in the West Rib Cook-Off. @ Victorian Square

YOUR TASK.

INTERACT WITH THE BIKE-NEWSPAPER STAND!

Grab an index card and write a story, favorite memory, place of note, or words of Sparks wisdom. **Keep it short and sweet and it could be featured in the Special Edition “Seen” ‘zine!
Get a one-minute portrait done by artist, J.Charboneau
Look at an art book… get an art postcard

artists: J.Charboneau

contributors: City Of Sparks. Sparks Community

alley art facebook @alleyartproject alley art videos

alleyarteverywhere@gmail.com

February 10, 2017

SECRET MOVING MURAL

project: #11

location: The Streets of Reno.

date: 7/1 – 7/31. 2016

type: collaborative sharpie drawing. Scavenger Hunt.

THE SECRET IS OUT.

The biggest little city holds secrets and hidden treasures around every corner. Take a walk around the streets. Pay attention to the walls, the sidewalks, the signs, the people. Pay attention. You just might find something worth looking at.

THE HUNT.

It was the month of hot July. Art was on the minds of everyone. Sidewalks and parks became the hip scene. Melodies and wet paint heightened senses on every corner. As I watched the creativity unfold I realized an artist could blend in with this crowd. I did just that.

The people. The creators. Would not have to search far to collaborate… but they would have to search smart. I was here. I was there. ready for the urban art hunters to get their hands dirty.

THE TASK.

GRAB A SHARPIE AND MAP OUT HOW YOU GOT HERE. USE BASIC SYMBOLS AND LINES. YOU MAY CROSS OVER OTHER’S ROUTES.

LAYING DOWN TRACKS.

The project finished with 4+ Alley Art spottings and creatings. Sharpie’s ran dry and the board was a chaotic mess of direction. But under closer inspection I do believe you can begin to see tracks. Tracks telling stories. Tracks guiding. Tracks following. Look close. You will see the beginning of something.

What? Well, we will have to lay down some more tracks for that answer.

artists: J.Charboneau

contributors: Artown . 30+ Reno art hunters

where it should always begin… in an alley.

artists always find each other in a crowd.

alley art facebook @alleyartproject alley art videos

alleyarteverywhere@gmail.com

August 1, 2016

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

project: #10

location: Reno. Arch District.

date: 5/6 – 5/8. 2016

type: collaborative found art sculpture. Reno Sculpture Festival.

THE REVIVAL.

A new age of art and culture is brewing in the biggest little city. You can feel the impact and the influence at each color-filled corner. Public art is filling in long lost spaces. Spaces meant to be seen. Details frequently missed by busy moving minds.

Metal-works mold the River walk. Artworks stand tall from burns years before. Murals brighten walls with memories and messages. And festivals celebrate and honor the vibrant art and artists driving it all forward.

LARGER THAN LIFE IDEAS.

The idea… collaborate. create big. create fierce. create the impossible.

then… share it with 30,000 people. For free.

The result… Reno Sculpture Fest is a “larger-than-life” art, music, and culture festival spanning across the urban jungle known as Reno.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.

As the people wandered in and out of the giant sculptures that lined the Downtown ReTRAC Alley Art Project #10 awaited their time and interaction.

A simple idea. A bold statement. Most search beyond the ‘box’ for inspiration. This project’s aim was to build the ‘box’. deconstruct it. and finally rebuild it again into something new.

A SINGLE STROKE OF INSPIRATION.

The ‘box’ stood as a giant easel and canvas of scrap woods abstractly attached to each other. As the people wearily approached the piece they were greeted with a brush dripping with wet paint.

A single brushstroke is all each individual would get… but as the crowds filed through the individual strokes began to connect and flow across the uneven surface. The chaotic yet individually precise lines shapes and colors were building something.

WRITE WORDS OF WISDOM OR TRUTH.

An old beaten saw-horse piled high with wood scraps meant for the yard stood next to the easel. A fresh coat of white paint would fast be covered with scribbles in black sharpie ink.

With each new person came reflection over the words others had left. Then, a moment of poetic inspiration would come and a new wisdom would be etched in among the others.

MERGING AT DAWN.

Sunday. A final festival dawn of hazy grey skies and subtle mists of rain or inspiration. I stripped the thoughts and color from their original places. To reinvent. To revive. For it’s when we merge our words with our actions that we can create new and inspired ideas.

GIVE THE PEOPLE BACK THEIR VOICE.

Just as the early morning coffee drinkers and book readers settled into their lazy Sunday routine I stood back from the newly constructed scrap wood canvas of three dimensions.

‘The People’s Philosopher’. As old of an idea as the wood grains he was created from.

Created by the hands and words of the Reno Citizens. Reconstructed by the artist, J.Charboneau. Art for the people, by the people.

– Take back your words. Take back your ideas. create. create. create. –

artists: J.Charboneau

contributors: Reno Sculpture Fest . 100+ Reno community members

AA-19 — Alley Art is pretty good at finding interesting alleys.

AA-2 — set-up for the giant orange octopus took a giant fork lift and a long wet afternoon. sculpture by Peter Hazel.

AA-3 — Alley Art Project #10. start creating.

AA-12 — excited for her single inspiring addition to the working collaboration. another smile worth the journey.

AA-11 — making their unique -out of the box- mark.

AA-4 — REno Camping sculpture. By Chris Wyatt Scott.

AA-14 — The addition of the umbrella was a last minute thought. A kinetic sculpture by Kai Prescher.

AA-15 — snowflakes are more functional in the spring. Sculpture by Jessi Sprocket Janusee.

AA-21 — She is strong as stone. Sculpture by Mischell Riley Wrecking House.

AA-25 — day two of creating. reaching for spots untouched.

AA-28 — there will always be wisdom found and shared on the journey.

AA-24 — A lesson in welding. Sculpture demos from Mountain Forge Inc.

AA-17 — they have arrived. Sculptures by Vinnie Lucido.

AA-16 — create the walls if you have none to paint on. Art and sculpture by Joe C. Rock.

AA-29 — a think inside the box moment. Sculpture by Chad Rice.

AA-30 — as the sun sets… the final touches by the community are complete.

AA-42 — Alley Art Project #10. complete.

alley art facebook @alleyartproject alley art videos

alleyarteverywhere@gmail.com

November 1, 2015

board meetings

project: #6

location: Minneapolis @ NE streets, sidewalks, and alleyways

date: May – Sept, 2015

type: collaborative board paintings (3 part series)

ROOTS.

Even the wildest and most untamed souls have roots. Roots that ground and stabilize. Roots that flourish from familiar soil. Roots that remind us that as much as we grow and reach outward we also continue to grow and learn from our beginnings. It was time to wander back to my roots.

WET HOT MINNEAPOLIS SUMMER.

Summer in the land of 10,000 lakes comes short and sweet. If you are not quick enough it blows by with the brisk autumn air before you even step out the door. Catch those blissful sunny days of summer and count on endless entertainment. Artwalks. Artfairs. Sidewalk Tours. Festivals. Neighborhood street parties. Parades on bikes, blades, boats and feet. Music by lakes, by rivers, on rooftops and open alley stages. This is wet hot Minneapolis summer.

MINNEAPOLIS BOARD MEETINGS.

Not your average board meeting. Not even close. 3 meetings over the course of 5 months. 7 Boards. And an estimated 200+ meeting members. Topics of ~~discussion~~ action… interactive art and collaboration.

BY DEFINITION.

Interactive art “is a form of art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose.”

Collaboration is “working with others to do a task and to achieve shared goals.”

THE TASK COMES IN THREES.

May to September boards of 4′ X 6′ were primed, placed, and painted on the streets of NE Minneapolis. Three local artists did the instigating and the fine-tuning while the community of Minneapolis did the coloring and creating. The first “meeting” was held in conjunction with Art-A-Whirl. The second, joined forces with Open Streets NE. And the third held it’s own… leaving crayons for the street wandering crowds of Labor Day weekend.

A CREATIVE BATTLEFIELD. LEAVE IT IN THE STREETS.

Each “meeting” (as they became known) gave the paint soaked swords to the people. No blood was to be shed… these swords were meant to strike to the heart of creation. To give power and potential to the many hands of the city. With no shields to hide behind the creative community of Minneapolis left their paints, crayons, and imaginations out on the battlefield… The streets. Their creative victory to be witnessed by all.

artists: J.Charboneau . Jay Churchill . Justin Patrick

contributors: Barber Sharp . NEMAA (Art-A-Whirl) . Open Streets Minneapolis . Fair State Brewery . the Minneapolis community

First layers. — Layers. Drips. Messy inspiration.

Final community hands to lay down final paint lines.

Artist J.Churchill topping off a community piece.

3 Boards. 2nd Meeting. — 3 Boards. Meeting II.

A reverse start. Artist's marks first. — A reverse start. Artist’s marks first.

Fairstate Brewery. Board meeting III location.

alley art facebook @alleyartproject alley art videos

alleyarteverywhere@gmail.com

September 1, 2015

coast to coast

project: #4

location: 13 cities across the U.S.

date: 17th May – 12th Sept, 2014

type: tour / collaborative paintings / music / live art / artist showcases / poetry slams

COAST TO COAST

An idea built up from dream state suddenly carved deep within the creative veins that consume the artist self in me. An idea seemingly too big too soon was to be tested and executed across America. The map lay there and the cities began calling out from the page as if the people, the communities, were begging for a creative chance. Dots and lines were drawn, and all of a sudden 13 unrelated places had a connection to each other. The Coast to Coast road trip tour was underway.

THE CITIES.

Minneapolis. Creative gems hide along a majestic river bed. Musicians making waves. Art-district streets flowing with inspired locals. Bike-ways, green grasses, and cool blue fresh waters.

Chicago. Train and subway lines showcasing street art genius. Historic architecture keeping eyes up and necks cricked. Poets, park artists, and creative city type stamping this Midwest city as the center of it all.

Saint Louis. The gateway to a new type of creative. Sculptural playgrounds. Mouth watering markets. Collective art spaces. All likes of the city highlight the talents of the people. The unique people… building new bridges to connect us all.

Denver. A mountain casting shadows from afar. The shadows dance, sing, create, eat, and live anyway. A cross-way of the country drawing inspiration from all corners. Bright, colorful, flavorful inspiration.

Santa Fe. A place like no other. The streets, the homes, the cafes, the people… like no other. A small charm creating in big, expressive, impressive, like no other, ways.

Moab. One may visit and never leave. Stay for the natural red-orange, dusty beauty. Stay for the sunrises and the sunsets. Stay for the community that is constantly creating, exploring, and growing together.

Las Vegas. Bright lights beam on even brighter stars. A sleepless city. Downtown. Arttown. Paristown. Moneytown. It’s a city of all cities. Of all flavors. Of all creative stars.

Long Beach. A lighthouse leads to coastal creatives. Local shops. Local foods. Local attitudes. It’s all happening here. Work hard. Create more. Inspire all.

San Francisco. Steep city hills keep creative juices rolling. New age innovations. Old school community creations. Mixing up the traditional. Creating new forms of art, media, food, and community.

Portland. A fresh, new, weird that keeps your spirit young and pure. Trucks of food. Bikes of color. Life is anything but ordinary. Creativity thrives. Let your inner child roam free.

Miami. Look beyond the beaches and the palms. Walls become canvas as the outdoor gallery rounds every corner. Flavor and style give this hot stirring city a creative punch.

Philadelphia. History and art go hand in hand. Comics keep things light. Musicians keep things true. Artists keep things interesting. An old community still thrives.

Boston. Harbour and lake views stun the senses. A city re-invented with music, art, and love. Old highways hold as much character as the old red bricks built below them.

New York City. A tangled dirty beautiful mess of art, music, and madness. Night and day the city beats its creative drums. The crowds, the fashions, the foods, the neighborhoods, they all blend uniquely together. One big city. One big dream.

ONLY ONE DAY.

From city to city. This tour had us on the run. Drive all night. Explore all day. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. The minutes couldn’t get any faster, but when event days came time stood still. The street side set-up stopped everyone in their tracks. Suddenly, there was enough time to listen to a sidewalk band. Enough time to watch an artist paint a portrait. To hear a poet speak and a friend sing. To laugh, learn, communicate and create. Each city event was only one day. But sometimes only one moment is all we really needed anyway.

THE END OF THE ROAD.

And in the end they hung on white walls side by side. People from each corner of the country. People from different cities, different backgrounds, different jobs, environments, and personalities. In a room fit for 50… over 700 were there. This was the end of the road, and they all showed up.

Co-tour comrad, Bernard McNearney, biking NE Minneapolis streets.

Bikes along the Mississippi River Park Path. Minneapolis

Musician Elizabeth Ghandour playing a set at the Minneapolis event.

Minneapolis community paintings.

Framing the iconic Bean Sculpture. Downtown Chicago.

Creative Doorways. Chicago. — Doorway. Art. Chicago.

Chicago community member painting the Alley Art canvas.

Chicago community paintings.

A Saint Louis market filled with bright, savory, colorful foods.

Cake sculpture. Pogo jumper. Saint Louis

A local DJ mixing at the creatives hot spot, Blank Space.

A father and son bond while painting on the Saint Louis Alley Art canvas. — A father and son bond while painting on the Saint Louis A.A. canvas.

Saint Louis community paintings.

Hidden in the shadows. Art on walls. Denver.

Denver musician on Santa Fe St. First friday art madness.

Denver event rocking the patio at Backstage Coffee. — A.A. Denver event rocking out the patio at Backstage Coffee.

Denver community paintings.

Santa Fe Railyard. Visual displays at the Currents Festival. currentsnewmedia.org

Artists collaborating with spray. Santa Fe. — Artists collaborating with spray at an outdoor arts event. Santa Fe.

Santa Fe community paintings.

An awe inspiring sunset over the Moab landscape.

Local musicians Scott Ibex and Dhyana Green collaborate at the Alley Art Moab event. — Local musicians Scott Ibex and Dhyana Green collaborate at the A.A. Moab event.

Moab community paintings.

Bright lights shine throughout the night. Las Vegas.

Interesting art fills downtown Vegas galleries.

Artist Jef Logan working live at the A.A. Vegas event.

Artist Alexander Huerta poses for a portrait.

Las Vegas community paintings.

Kids working hard on a larger A.A. Long Beach painting. — Families working hard on a larger A.A. Long Beach painting outside of ARTX. www.artexchangelb.org

A completed large collaboration from the A.A. Long Beach event. — A board collaboration from the A.A. Long Beach event.

Long Beach community paintings.

San Francisco. Interesting architecture. Interesting murals.

A birds eye of the community collaborating at the A.A. San Francisco event.

Musicians playing their weekly Sunday tunes. San Francisco.

Local artists sketching at 111 Minna's "Sketch Tuesdays" — Local artists sketching at 111 Minna’s “Sketch Tuesdays”

San Francisco community paintings.

The Alley Art table of paints. Portland.

Portland community paintings.

Wynwood murals lit up after hours. Miami.

A.A. Miami event underway in the Wynwood Brewing Co.

Miami community paintings.

Philadelphia locals getting creative for their portrait shot.

Black Brick taking the stage at the A.A. Philadelphia event. — Black Brick owning the stage at the A.A. Philadelphia event.

Philadelphia community paintings.

An alley of art, just what we like. Boston.

Boston musicians lighting the stage at a SOFAR Sounds gig.

Young aspiring artists making bold moves on the Boston A.A. canvas'. — Young aspiring artists making bold moves on the Boston A.A. canvas’.

Boston community paintings.

Fashion. Frames. And fully colored walls. The living Gallery, Brooklyn.

The Living Gallery owner and artist, Nyssa Frank getting involved with the interactive Alley Art installation. Brooklyn.

Artists creating at the final event from the tour. NYC.

 More TOUR PHOTOS

 Links to ARTISTS & CONTRIBUTORS

 TOUR VIDEOS

 AND… A real live photo book for PURCHASE

ALLEY ART COAST TO COAST by Jennifer Charboneau | Make Your Own Book

alley art facebook @alleyartproject alley art videos

alleyarteverywhere@gmail.com

June 1, 2015

BEGINNINGS

project: #1

location: Denver @ undisclosed garage site

date: 3rd August, 2013

type: collaborative paintings / artist showcase

THE ROAD.

It was a project that began on the road. Two artists, Kate Jane and J.Charboneau drove. slept. ate. and painted. Their inspirations came from endless horizon lines. From sleeping under the stars. From good conversations over bad coffee. They painted by moonlight while drinking whiskey from the bottle. They wandered towns and cities with no aim but to experience them. They sat on dirt paths and busy sidewalks sketching and busking the hot summer days away. This was where it all started. Alley Art began as a chaotic idea from a couple of chaotic artistic nomads.

A TREE FELL IN THE FOREST.

As difficult it seems to show work in a gallery, it proves even more so difficult to catch the attention of the uninterested viewer. An artist’s survival depends on being noticed. Whether their work is noticed in good or bad taste, it is the interaction of another fresh eye that brings whatever idea or subject the artist is portraying to life. If it remains unseen it could very well be just as true as the tree that fell in the forest that nobody heard.

QUESTIONS.

The uninterested, dis-involved viewer rang focus in the coffee shop conversations of the two artistic nomads. They schemed and plotted. Questions rolled off their over-caffeinated tongues. How does one unintrusively grab the attention of the non-viewer? How does one bring the non-gallery goer to the forefront of the arts scene? How does one give art and creativity back to the people? How does one get the people to start looking?

ANSWERS.

The answers came with an invitation. Invite the non-viewer to participate rather than speculate. Grab them from their comforts and, even if for just one moment, make them the creator. Create art that is not only for the people… but that is also by the people.

CREATION FOR ALL.

Give them visual reigns on their turf. In their cafe’s. On their walls. In their *Alleyways. In the places they can’t avoid. So when it’s there in front of them, they look. For what man would avoid attention to that which they created.

A BEAUTIFUL MESS IN DENVER.

The first “Alley Art” project -as every series needs a name- began simple. A short invitation for a small community in Denver to stop by a house. The invitation: come paint. come drink. come see local art. There was no cover at the door. No white walls with art and titles to ponder over. Music blared from a house speaker. And when it rained the wooden board with stretched stapled canvas was moved to the small garage beside the house. It was 6 or 7 of them. Painting. Dancing. Drinking. Every once in a while they would step away to giddily gaze over what they were creating. Paint and chalk were layered and erased as the day turned to night. Hours went. But no one noticed until the storm finally struck fierce and took the power. They finished. Closed the paint jars. Critiqued by candlelight. The spontaneity of the many hands that approached the canvas’ left a mess of colors and lines. But what a beautiful mess.

BEGINNINGS.

The beginning of Alley Art. A chaotic beautiful mess that made the non-viewer not only look… but also help create that which they are looking at.

artists: Kate Jane . J.Charboneau

contributors: 15 Denver community members