Today I just formalized the venue for Paint the Calder. This was an important step in seeing my project come together. I needed an open, easy to access venue space that would allow the interactive parts of the project to work together. I think I have that!
This project has been a decade in the making, at least conceptually. After providing concepts for an entry for the first ArtPrize in 2009, I’d come away with an idea to do a community paint-by-number. I never followed up on it and it fell into a pile of “someday projects”. As a father of three and being a freelance commercial artist, I didn’t have or make the time needed to see the idea become a reality.
When ArtPrize announced in the fall of 2022 that it was ending, I was a bit heartbroken. I had talked to an art school buddy, Matt Hauch, about helping me with an entry for it and it sounded like we could make it happen. Having a friend semi-commit was enough to make me think it could happen. Getting the news that the event was done meant that we’d just missed our opportunity.
In the spring, a new leadership group announced ArtPrize was returning. This was my chance! The gods had spoken to announce my opportunity had arrived!
After a decade more of experience under my belt since the first ArtPrize, spearheading the project didn’t feel so impossible. In my commercial work, I create marketing materials, websites, social media, logos and more for my customers. How cool would it be to take all of those skills and experiences and pour them into a project?
I certainly could make the time. With my three kids now grown and living far from home, I could set aside time to work on it. Working for myself, I could be flexible to cut out some time here and there.
With the pandemic fresh, it just feels like the time is right. Social distancing is still a fresh phrase. There are leftover Covid signage examples in a few businesses. Stray masks still litter random places in urban areas.
While there’s nothing really innovative about a paint-by-number painting, the full project has some interesting aspects, angles, pieces and parts that will be fun to put in place. More on that in the coming entries!