Friday 19 April: generating questions

ABOUT THE EXISTING DESIGN

Where will the beds go during construction? Find another lot & temporarily move there?
 

How will the space be managed?

Where is there storage space?

Why aren't there any tables?

Who will get to use it?

When and where can the garden infrastructure accommodate the use of repurposed & reclaimed materials? 

Where is the PG identity in the new plan?

What does the fence communicate?
Why is there a fence?

• Fear of theft
• Security concerns
• Maintaining clean space costs money
• Prevents loitering  

THE FUTURE: SPECULATIVE ART & DESIGN

It would be great to have some ideas to hit the ground running for programs when the garden is finished construction

What is the process to obtain permits for selling food or do public performance, etc?

What does the city's new cultural plan say about this?

How does the energy from one project (like the garden) feed into other projects (like the poetry)? How do the energies inspire and flow?

Do something for Manifest!

Student populations have quick turn-over. How do you pass along the engagement, excitement and knowledge in the space?

Faculty are here longer. Put out a call for proposals to make curriculum to engage the garden.

What about other departments? How can we get to them and ask for their ideas?

R25 politics. Campus spaces are sometimes dominated departmentally - departments are territorial. How do you avoid a power-grab?

Great way to have interdisciplinarity in action! 

Papermaker's Garden proposal was strong because it was tied into curriculum and that it would be inclusive to entire college community.

Plan annual events that people will anticipate.

Create an open house events for people to tour the space and think about how to use this space in their courses.

We need outreach to educate the faculty, staff, students about possibilities in the space

Papermaker’s Garden Club?

Downside of club is lack of continuity.

Arts management students could be engaged to program the space. 

What is campus like in the summer? Who is around?

Is there a potential for year-round use?

What do we do about electricity?

Can we do some alternative energy? Solar panels? Windmills?
 

Where is funding coming from?

Are there external sources of funding?

Could the college offer internships or college credit to manage this space? Undergraduate Research Initiative (URMI)? Center for Community Arts Partnerships (CCAP)?

NEIGHBORHOOD INVOLVEMENT

How do you get the community involved in Columbia’s aesthetic?

Who is the community?

Why do we need a Wabash Arts Corridor? Who benefits? Who is left out or does not belong (...yet)?

WAC = buy-in from community because it helps clean up the neighborhood

What does politics of belonging mean in a private space? What does that look like? What are good examples?

How can we engage the public in a private, institutional space?

Who are the neighbors and how will they be involved?

What are effective and creative strategies to engage the local community?

What’s the place of the artists’ hand(s) in these community projects? 

How can we have public art as action and still have businesses and institutions like Columbia feel like they get their deliverables?

If this space is permanently temporary, what happens when people grow to like this space and they decide to build the student center? This may be a reason why public input was not solicited - people become attached.

RESEARCH

What is the history of Columbia?

History of the neighborhood, of the buildings?

How do we include stories of identity, politics, and history in our art work? Do you agree with Bedoya that it is important to do so? How do we include a sense of belonging through the work we create this weekend, and/or the future of the Papermaker’s Garden?

TEXTS & TERMINOLOGY

What is the difference between “placemaking” described in the Bedoya & PPS articles and the “social practice” described in the NYT articles?

What are the similarities & differences between creative placemaking and the changes taking place at Columbia via the Wabash Arts Corridor and the Papermaker’s Garden?