image from greatergreaterwashington.org

Happy Friday, Friends! Did you catch the radio program yesterday on the graffiti along the Red Line of the Metro? Saaret Yoseph’s documentary, The Red Line D.C. Project, is based on her belief that “in Washington, D.C., the most accessible art form isn’t in the museums. It’s on the Metro.” It was an interesting program with strong opinions on both sides of the tagging issue.

 While the destruction/improvement (depending on your perspective) of private property is obviously a sensitive subject, I have to agree that successful public art is uniquely compelling today because of its accessibility. Context definitely alters the way that we view works of art. While museums have an unquestionably important role, I am attracted to the idea of art that meets you in the midst of your day. In fact, one of the sub-objectives of AS IS is to question the distinction between fine art and street art. By installing traditional, formal paintings on the streets and inviting people to take what might otherwise be considered precious art objects right off the walls and corners of the city, I hope to blur the line a bit and ask whether fine art is really fine if it propped against a dumpster or loading dock. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Also, if you live in the greater Washington, DC area, you can listen to NPR's story on AS IS today at 1:00 PM on Metro Connection (channel 88.5 for DC folks), and if you are out of town, a podcast of the show will be available online after the program airs.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Remember This Guy?

Mr. Keith is one of the maintenance guys that works at THEARC in Anacostia, DC. At one point in his life he was homeless and addicted to crack cocaine. Wanting to do better by his three little kids, he followed a friend to an Narcotics Anonymous meeting to get some help. 

Months later he was no longer picking the stuff up, but was becoming tiered of introducing himself as an addict. He remembered that when he was growing up in the projects, a man used to bring him and his buddy, Junior, along to church. That way, they wouldn't be left hanging around with the older boys in the neighborhood to drink and smoke. The memory inspired Keith to turn to God to help him with his life.

He has been clean for twenty-six years now and has been married for seventeen. He has ten children, some biological and some adopted. When the kids were young, Keith used to take them and any other kids that needed a little love and minding to the zoo, park or basketball court. They would get from one end of the city to the other by bus. Sometimes, his children would complain about having to bring along stragglers. He would explain though that we all need to look out for each other.

Today I had the honor to give Keith this:

 I installed his portrait in the community garden that he helps to maintain at THEARC. When he saw the painting he gave a series of strong hugs and high-fives, and he told me his story. "We all need to look out for each other" he said gesturing to the painting "and that is what your doing here!"

Unlike the other nine subjects for this project (most of whom I will probably never meet), I am so happy to have had the privilege to get to know Keith Cook just a little bit, and to hear his reaction to having his portrait painted. He radiates a sincere goodness that just makes you want to be around him and soak up what he has to say. It would be difficult to find a person who deserves more to be recognized and honored for his bottomless love and his drive to live every day to its fullest. 

I hope that when the rest of the portraits hit the streets on October 1st, they will brighten a few days. I hope that they will let people know that they are seen and that they matter.  I am also pretty sure that there will be portraits that no one will find. There will be paintings that will be rained on, stolen or thrown away...and I've made my peace with that. A gift is only a gift if it is freely given, and I want these portraits to be true gifts of notice. Whatever happens to the other nine paintings though, I am very very happy that Mr. Keith has his.

photo credit, Leah Moss

 NPR's Metro Connection came to the studio this morning to record a story about AS IS. The interview was so much fun, and I hope that the feature will help all ten people that I have painted for the project be on the look out for their portraits around the city!

Have you ever been interviewed for anything? The reporter asked such good questions, some of which (I confess) left me more than a little tongue-tied! You know how sometimes the perfect answer comes to you long after you have been asked a question? Yeah, me too. As the reporter assured me, sometimes the simplest stories are the hardest to tell. I have confidence though that the team of talented people at WAMU will cobble my painstaking attempts at an explanation for this project into a story worth hearing! You can tune in to channel 88.5 on Friday, September 28th to listen for yourself and be the judge.

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who came out to the AS IS Sneak Peak on Friday night!!! Apparently, The Dunes had a record number of guests! My apologies to anyone who was turned away at the door.

Portraits are hung. Young Rapids run a sound check

 It was fantastic to be able to share all of the portraits in one place before they hit the streets for good! AND I had a blast painting the Young Rapids live!!!

Thank you Carrie Enzler for taking this shot!

The coolest part of the night though might have been right at the very beginning. Here's what happened:

Thank you to Joe Bentley of the Young Rapids for snapping this picture!

When the Georgetown Patch wrote me last week about running a story on AS IS, I was thrilled.  I sent them a picture per the editor's request that I had snapped of a woman I had painted from the area. I assumed that the reporter would use the image as a source of inspiration for her article, but was surprised to see that the picture was published along with it! 

All's well that ends well though: I was chatting with a couple of early birds to the Sneak Peak when I spotted the subject herself taking in a portrait across the room! Can you imagine how amazing that was?! This woman is such a beautiful person too! She is a gentle soul with a charming southern accent. Her awesome hairdo, incidentally, is all her own, and more importantly, I was overjoyed to hear that she was so moved by the idea behind the project!

In a letter to the editor of the Georgetown Patch, one man wrote the following:

"That is Joy Blair and she has lived in Georgetown for over 50 years. She is a wonderful woman who used to own Blair House Antiques. She helps the homeless and is a joy to all who know her. Thank you for brightening my day with this picture(...)and I am sure she would love to have the painting."

While I offered Joy the option of taking the painting right off the wall that night, she said that she prefers to take it when all the other paintings are installed on the streets October 1st. One of the ideas behind AS IS was to give the gift of notice without regard to compensation (financial, verbal, etc.) That said, this unexpected twist in the plan brought about something beautiful that is all its own.

What Is This?

My favorite public/street art projects are ones that are not over-explained. They delight you with their simplicity. That being said, I want AS IS to be a project that people can contribute to if they so chose. 

SO! I've decided to leave these little bins next to each portrait that I install on the streets of DC. Inside are cards explaining what the project is all about and how people can participate.

 

The cards look like this.

And when you open them up...

...they look like this.

AS IS is about sharing the gift of notice, so I thought it would be cool to create a community (albeit on-line) around the project. The idea is to give folks a (virtual) place to check out where all the portraits have been found in the city, a place to give shout-outs when one is spotted, and a place for those who have found their own portraits to share any reactions or thoughts.

  What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea? Think the paintings should speak for themselves, or do you think that offering a place to share is a good idea? I'd love to have your honest thoughts.