"ArtSpeaks: A Way With Words," the new exhibition at Arizona Museum for Youth, soon to become the i.d.e.a. Museum (imagination, design, experience and art)

Updates
Design and planning work are really picking up steam this month. Our ASU iProject teams are visiting to tour the site, and in early November will be back for work sessions with MAC’s design architect, Michael Tingley of Boora Architects (Portland, OR). During that visit, we will be holding visioning sessions with numerous stakeholder groups to identify what they would like to be able to do and make at 21^st Century Café Society. In recent conversations with the core project team, and after reviewing research about other similar uses of interactive technology, we’ve begun to realize that it may be possible to incorporate the Photo Kiosk and the user interfaces all into one large installation housing the multi-media screens. We are excited to think about the possibilities for creating greater ease-of-use while streamlining both the infrastructure and the aesthetic of the finished piece, and look forward to exploring this further in the coming weeks.

We’re in the process of identifying the appropriate interactive artist to act as a consultant in our design process, to help develop the best solutions for interactivity and interfaces. We are hoping for a positive outcome from a phone meeting on Friday with our first choice candidate! We’re also in discussion with a possible design/fabrication firm that specializes in interactive media and will bring expertise to our team on the construction of the interactive components.

Recent Wins
We’ve had a couple of great wins recently for our project and for our arts and culture district. Three weeks ago we launched a Market Study for a Mesa Artspace project. Not only did the launch get great publicity and build excitement about the development of a live-work facility for artists in Mesa, it continued to expand the circle of folks we will tap during our design process for the 21^st Century Café Society Project. Already about 550 people have filled out the Market Study survey, with a large number indicating interest in participating in a future Artspace development. The Artspace project is anticipated to be located within a short distance of Mesa Arts Center and the 21^st Century Café Society.

We also had a great article run in the November Phoenix Magazine “Best of the Valley” issue, which included a mention of the ArtPlace grant and the concept for our project, and emphasized the community process for its development.

Important contributors to the growing arts scene in downtown Mesa are Mesa Arts Center’s sister institutions, including the Arizona Museum of Natural History and Arizona Museum for Youth (AMY). AMY will become the i.d.e.a. Museum (imagination, design, experience and art) in early February. “ArtSpeaks: A Way With Words,” the last exhibition before the changeover just opened, is wonderful and a portent of things to come in the i.d.e.a. Museum! It is also the first exhibition to be offered for touring in the museum’s new Traveling Exhibition Business. It combines amazing original art using words/language and made by noted artists from across the country, combined with diverse and engaging interactive art activities that enable visitors to explore using words in their own artwork. With a focus on innovation and creativity across disciplines, the i.d.e.a. Museum will continue to contribute to the vibrancy of downtown, and the fresh, colorful, thoughtful and imaginative engagement of “ArtSpeaks” helps us see the exciting work to come in the new museum!

Insight/Provocation
Activating public spaces and giving people a sense of real ownership is a daunting process. We’ve been thinking a lot about how a space feels activated during lulls in activity, when fewer people occupy the space. How do the furnishings and their placement, and temporary installations, enable a place to feel “lived in” and not sterile? We want the mark of all the people who have and will occupy the space to be felt, even in their absence. We want a “living room” that invites you in to sit down and enjoy the space. Discussions with many groups of stakeholders begin in two weeks, and we look forward to hearing their ideas about creating an inviting and comfortable environment at the 21^st Century Café Society.