What is community art?

Community art, know in most creative and government networks as public art, is not an art “form.” Its size can be huge or small. It can tower fifty feet high or call attention to the paving beneath your feet. Its shape can be abstract or realistic (or both), and it may be cast, carved, built, assembled, or painted. It can be site-specific or stand in contrast to its surroundings. What distinguishes public art is the unique association of how it is made, where it is, and what it means. Public art can express community values, enhance our environment, transform a landscape, heighten our awareness, or question our assumptions. Placed in public sites, this art is there for everyone, a form of collective community expression – creative placemaking. Public art is a reflection of how we see the world – the artist’s response to our time and place combined with our own sense of who we are. Excerpt from The Association for Public Art

Arts in the Burg’s first substantial community art project is a 25 ft. x 98 ft. mural to be located in the alleyway behind the Princess Theater. On March 22nd, 2021 we engaged the community in a Zoom meeting with about 50 participants and our muralist Ivan Roque. During the meeting we lead the discuss along the lines of what our community means to us in terms of coming together to celebrate our heritage, community ties and natural surrounding. After the meeting, Ivan created two sketches based on the conversations with the community. We were very please when about 5% of the community voted by a margin of 66% to select this spectacular mural deisgn.

We realize creating a mural based on comments from those who are pasionate about our community is a challenge and while most will be overjoyed with the results, others might be slightly disappointed. That’s okay. We sincerely appreciated all your comments and especially those who support this effort with comments like:

“Beautiful”

“It represents our area well”

“This is spectacular… feels like home”

This is the first of many murals planned for our beautiful town so if you have ideas for future mural designs please don’t hesitate to reach out.

At the Arts in the Burg Launch Party you’ll have the opportunity to be a hands community artist at the everchanging chalk mural and paint by numbers mural. The best part is you don’t have to be an artist to participate.

Community art is public art that involves the you in creative placemaking.

Before

Meet Ivan Roque 

Ivan is our muralist for this project. We’ve selected Ivan based on his experience, the quality of work and his understanding of the importance of community.

Born December of 1991, Ivan J. Roque is a visual artist/ street artist from Miami, Florida. Raised in the inner city of the infamous Carol City with a passion for the concepts of birth, death, renewal and social struggles. His influences range from the od masters to the new such Caravaggio, Marc Rothko, Typoe and Gianni Versace. Roque has been able to accomplish many achievements for his young age, such as working with rapper DENZEL CURRY , collaborating with major brands like Samsung, Becks, Seagram’s Gin, Ultra Music Festival and showcasing alongside established artists such as The London Police, David Detuna, John “CRASH” Matos and many more. He has traveled quite extensively for various exhibitions and murals including shows in New York City, Dubai, Seoul and mural festivals such as the Bushwick Collective Block Party and Pow Wow Worcester.   Roque also has had three  gallery solo shows and one museum solo show  at the Coral Springs Museum of Art. He has a Bachelor’s of Art in Visual Arts from the Florida International University.

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Arts in the Burg is a program of SPARQ

Tennessee Placemaking Partnership

The Tennessee Placemaking Project is a collaborative pilot project between Thrive Regional Partnership, Tennessee Arts Commission, Southeast Tennessee Development, and the Lyndhurst Foundation. The project is designed to support local communities as they scale up strategies that leverage local arts and cultural assets for economic vibrancy and growth throughout the greater Chattanooga region. To learn more, visit www.thriveregionalpartnership.org/projects/tn-placemaking-partnership. 

Thriving Communities

Thriving Communities is a creative placemaking program of Thrive Regional Partnership designed to leverage local arts and culture assets for economic vibrancy and growth throughout the greater Chattanooga region. To learn more, visit www.ThriveRegionalPartnership.org/Thriving-Communities.

Thrive Regional Partnership

Thrive Regional Partnership inspires responsible growth through conversation, connection, and collaboration across the tri-state greater Chattanooga region. To learn more visit www.thriveregionalpartnership.org.