For our final art assignment, excluding the final exam, Mandy asked us to create a public art proposal and sketch a rough draft of the artwork we proposed. It could be any type of artwork, based on any subject matter, with no limitations of funding, time, or labor.

I took my time and gave it a lot of careful consideration, but inevitably, the only public art display I could imagine was a Hurricane Michael memorial.

I realize it’s been over 6 months and a lot of people may have grown weary from hearing us Panhandle residents mention the hurricane and how it has affected our families, homes, businesses, schools, jobs, and daily lives, but please understand that we aren’t seeking pity or discounting other terrible things that others have experienced or are currently experiencing. We’re just doing our best to heal, rebuild, and regain some semblance of normalcy. Sometimes we just need to vent, complain, cry, curse, please be patient, we’re happy to return the favor. 😘

So, without further ado, here is my proposal and rough sketch.

 

Public Art Proposal

Spring 2019

I would like to propose a hurricane Michael memorial, called “Sphere of Devastation.” The memorial would be a 10 foot spherical structure composed of a variety of hurricane debris, such as tree limbs, shingles, window frames, bent iron, destroyed cables, and other items salvage from the disaster. This would be a kinetic sculpture and would rotate on an iron axis, at varying intensity, in response to the wind. Ideally, the sculpture would be located at Tyndall Air Force Base, as it was the heart of much of the destruction.

This project is very personal to me. My family and I were significantly impacted by the hurricane. We chose not to evacuate, since initial estimates were for a category 3 hurricane and much of the concern from meteorologists and emergency preparedness officials focused on the threat of flooding and storm surge. As residents of Callaway, we decided we were inland enough to not be terribly concerned. We would simply ensure we had bottled water, batteries, flashlights, and nonperishable food and prepare to be without electricity and running water for up to two weeks, as we had in the past. This decision proved to be a near fatal error that I deeply regretted, as my husband and I sat in our Jeep and watched everything we owned be obliterated before our eyes. It is incredibly heartbreaking to me that so many people have such limited understanding of the magnitude of the storm. I believe my piece could offer new perspective and allow people to interact with a compilation of genuine debris in ways much different than photographs or paintings allow. As our community continues to heal and rebuild, such works are essential to moving forward, without forgetting how far we have all come.

Visual Arts project #2 is now complete. 🙌🏻 To recap… This assignment was to choose an artist whom we had discussed in class and make one of his/her works my own. 🤨 This has been particularly challenging for me. 😩 I don’t care what anyone says about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, copying another artist’s work undermines what I love about artistic expression. 👩🏻‍🎨 Still, failing an art class was another thing that never made it on my bucket list. 😬 So, I decided maybe this was not the time to stage a personal protest. 🙇🏻‍♀️

For my inspiration, I chose “Landscape” by John Frederick Kensett. I can’t decide if it’s an unhealthy obsession or just part of a normal healing process, but even 6 months later, I continue to be preoccupied with Hurricane Michael. 🌀 And from the moment I saw this painting, all I could think about was how much it reminded me of the piles of hurricane debris that have become such a fixture of our landscape here in the Florida panhandle. So, I decided to create a piece MINIMALLY inspired by this work. Honestly, the only portion of mine that resembles his is the eerie yellow and orange sunset. 🌅 In place of his mountains, I’ve incorporated our bent and broken trees, as well as a few damaged homes that are secondary to the massive mound of debris in the foreground. I chose to forego a lake or pond, instead including one of our slightly obstructed roadways. 

I’m calling my piece “Outside The Evacuation Zone”, as a poignant reminder that many of the most devastated areas were not in an evacuation zone. 

My media is a mixture of oil pastel and watercolor over a charcoal sketch on poster board.

 

“Outside The Evacuation Zone” by: Kimberly Liichow

“Landscape” by: John Frederick Kensett