Overview:
The Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s Boston Activation Project planned for April though September of 2021 intends to plan, design, and implement a series of 3-5 artist-led “place-making” projects within the Boston Mills Historic District along the Towpath Trail within Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP). The project will improve the welcome experience and expand the orientation functions of the new Boston Mill Visitor Center.
Project Description:
Over the course of the project, 3-5 artists join together as a learning cohort to explore, discover, and prototype artistic ideas as a way to improve visitor experience. As a part of the process artist will attend three learning sessions to learn about varying aspects of Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the critical issues of our communities. In response, artists will be asked to design, implement, and execute project ideas based on their learning experiences to prototype June through September 2021.
Funding for this project comes from Ohio & Erie Canalway Association, Arts Midwest through Ohio Arts Council, the Cleveland Foundation, and the Gund Foundation which gives the Conservancy for CVNP the opportunity to fully support artist fees, material costs, and marketing costs. For more information about the location of CVNP click the map here.
Who We Are Looking For:
- Individuals interested in being a part of a learning process with artist cohort members.
- Individuals open to ideating and collaborating with others as a part of their process.
- Individuals who show a passion and are interested in investigating the concept of public space as it pertains to their own artistic practice.
- Individuals comfortable with prototyping possible “unfinished or fully realized” ideas in front of visitors.
- Individuals who show passion and are interested in investigating how their art can connect to visitors in a way that may redefine “community engagement” in their own practice.
- Individuals showing a history of creating work professionally in Northeast Ohio.
Timeline:
April 2: Application deadline
April 9: Artist Selection
Week of April. 19: Artist Orientation
Week of April. 26: 1st cohort learning session
Week of May. 3: 2nd cohort learning session
Week of May. 10: 3rd cohort learning experience
Week of May. 24: Cohort submit project ideas
Week of May. 31: Projects reviewed and approved
Week of June 7: Design and construction begin
September 3: All artist projects or prototypes completed.
