In This Issue:

• Aurora at Maker Faire
• Grantee Updates
  • Festival of Street Art at Bartlett Events
  • Imagine Figment
  • The Pool by Jen Lewin
  • The Temple for Christchurch
• Partner Organizations
  • American Steel Studios present Art + Industry
  • Don’t miss Maker Faire!
  • The Youth Education Spaceship will be there, too!

 

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See Aurora at Maker Faire!

Local Palo Alto children have successfully lead a public art initiative to place the luminous 32-foot tall metal weeping willow tree sculpture Aurora by Charles Gadeken in front of Palo Alto’s City Hall. They have won approval from the city for this project. This BRAF-supported and fiscally sponsored project will be installed sometime this summer.

Look for Aurora at Maker Faire, and sneak a peak at the crew’s work in progress. They will be hard at work at Maker Faire making new leaves for the tree.

More details about Maker Faire below in the partner organizations section.

 

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Grantee Updates

Lots of news this month from our new and alumni grantees! Engage with our creative community around the country and around the world and bring some art into your life!

 

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2013 Grantee – Festival of Street Art at Bartlett Events

In celebration and in honor of their beloved city, the citizen-artists at the Bartlett Yard are going forward with the grand opening of their Mural Fest on May 11th. Two massive bus garage buildings on an industrial site in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood will be transformed into the largest collection of street art Boston has ever seen.

Festival of Street Art Grand Opening
Saturday, May 11, 2013
10:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Bartlett Yard
2565 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02119

For more information visit Facebook and www.bartlettevents.org

Join in this celebration of Boston and their artists!

 

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2012 Grantee – The Pool

The Pool by Jen Lewin will be featured at the Google IO After Hours Party May 15, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and in a solo show by the artist at the new Colorado University Art Museum in Boulder opening May 31 and exhibiting through July 2013.

For more details visit www.jenlewinstudio.com and www.colorado.edu/cuartmuseum.

 

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2008 Grantee – Figment

Figment Boston and the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation invite you to IMAGINE FIGMENT, a celebration of interactive art, creativity, and a culture where anything is possible! Roving minstrels, aerial performances, interactive light sculptures and installations steam-powered by the imagination will create a truly inspirational environment.

IMAGINE FIGMENT
Friday, May 31, 2013
7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation
Waltham, MA

 

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2012 Grantee – The Temple for Christchurch

Incredible news from New Zealand! After some initial skepticism from the media, the country’s press has embraced the concept of the post-earthquake temple, most notably in this amazing national television feature. Furthermore, New Zealand’s Head of State the Governor-General (and the Queen’s official representative for those versed in the intricacies of Commonwealth government) has invited the Temple organizers to share their vision for the city’s future at a round table talk! Temple artists tell us they will use this opportunity to talk about how to incorporate the 10 Principles of Burning Man and the lessons they learned “from the dust of the playa” into the civic fabric that is the new Christchurch.

 

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Partner Organization News

Massive Encounters with Art in Oakland

Our dear friend and BRAF artist extraordinaire Karen Cusolito has invited us to a fantastic day of art and merriment at Oakland’s frenetic heart of creativity, American Steel Studios. This huge arts incubator and work space in West Oakland will host Art + Industry, an interactive group exhibition and behind-the-scenes look at one of the most powerful communities of Bay Area artists and innovators. But, it’s not just exhibitions! You can look forward to a day-long schedule of guided tours, demonstrations, and artist talks. In the evening, the event will light up with fire sculpture, fire performance, and art cars. You’ll also enjoy craft-brewed beer and organic juices!

Click here to check out the full schedule of events.

Open studios are held May 11-12 and the full exhibition runs from May 11-18. Visit their Facebook page for more details.

Art + IndustryAmerican Streel Studios
Saturday, May 11, 2013
12:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

1960 Mandela Parkway
Oakland, CA
(Enter on 20th Street)

 

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Maker Faire

The Bay Area’s Maker Faire is in just a few weeks! If you love interactive art experiences as much as we do, you won’t miss this awesome event.  We’ll be there! Look for ‘BRAF Art Seal of Approval’ signs around the Faire. These signs will be posted at every project BRAF has funded in the past. (There’s a lot of them!)

Maker Faire
Saturday, May 18th – Sunday, May 19th 2013
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

San Mateo County Event Center
1346 Saratoga Dr.
San Mateo, CA 94403

 

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Burning Man Project

Also at Maker Faire, BRAF and partners Maker Faire, the Burning Man Project, Exploratorium, and the Crucible will be debuting an art project, the Youth Education Spaceship, or, Y.E.S. This collaborative project is lead by local artist Dana Albany. Dana is working with local children to build the sculpture using mostly reclaimed materials.

Some of the Young Artists working on the Y.E.S. spaceship sculpture

Through a participatory design and construction process, children will have the opportunity to work in metal, mosaic, mold making, glass fusion and glass blowing, photography, videography, soundscape creation, or robotics. The processes of selecting and collecting art materials and of designing the sculpture will serve as access points to educate the young artists about environmental issues, ancient civilizations, space, astronomy, and, most importantly, the value of collaboration and community. Read more about the Y.E.S. project on the Burning Man Project’s blog. Stop by and say ‘hi’ to Dana and the young artists at Maker Faire!