The Green Line: Garden Parties

Artist and Creator: Stevie Famulari

Photography: Yvonne Denault

The Green Line photo shoot

Over the past year, I have been working to gather the information of plants that update contaminants, and make them public for others to use.  It is now ready!

Many thanks to Kyla Witz and all those involved in getting this project running.

Please use the database and spread the word for use of plants to help with many environmental issues. And be creative with the solutions!

Stevie

The Green Line is inspired by notable landscapes, environmental art, gardens, and fashions.  This series uses a combination of live plant materials, water systems and designed patterns and forms of fashions, as well as a conventional fashion element of the design being able to be worn by a person.  The wearable artworks grows with living greenery while commenting and re-interpreting what landscapes are, as well as what they can be with a new perspective.

Typically, people walk through or interact with designed spaces.  However, in this artwork, the wearing of the green fashion is the needed interaction for the piece to come to life and respond to the person wearing it, as well as the people at the events and exhibits.

This series uses plants which are edible, flowering plants, and unusual greenery in fashions which are seeded with self-seeding plants, irrigated, mulched and wearable.  When put in an installation (short or long term), indoor spaces are transformed and dialogues of indoor/outdoor materials and spaces are put into question.  Additionally, whether this be indoors or outdoors- with the pieces changing through growth, the space continues to change.  A fashion show in which models wear the creations is also a consideration for the series.

Today, 23 December 2011, the first flower, a cosmos, has bloomed on the Opera Gown- the first fashion of the Green Line!!!

North Dakota State University

Landscape Architecture Program

Winter 2011-2012

stevie@steviefamular.net

505.710.3586 (cell)

Winter Wonderland!

5’ square to 8’ square snow sculptures

on NDSU Main Campus!!

Questions?

Contact Stevie Famulari

701. 231. 5144 (office)

505. 710. 3586 (cell)

stevie@steviefamulari.net

stevie.famulari@ndsu.edu

Winter Wonderland: A Defiant Garden by Stevie Famulari and a Call for Artists

Help create a garden that defies winter and work with Stevie Famulari, one of the artists who participated in the Defiant Gardens for Fargo-Moorhead symposium in 2009, to develop an innovative idea: a “garden” made of snow that will bring people together to create a magical snow sculpture wonderland that defies the homebound conditions
of winter. Anyone can participate. Form a team, develop a unique design, submit your plan and model in mid-November, and join in a fun event in February that is sure to warm things up. Sculptures and structures will be built on the NDSU campus near the Student Union.

“Snow designs are seasonal, spatial, interactive, ephemeral and draw crowds of people,” Famulari says, “the lighting (day, night, and colored night lighting) changes the understanding of the design as well as people’s response to the design. This project encourages candidates to explore concepts in a spatial ephemeral design, with implications for understanding opportunities to use seasonal design to your advantage.”

Background

Inspired by international winter celebrations, Stevie Famulari wishes to bringing a celebration for this season to this community.  Stevie Famulari, Colleen Sheehy, Esther Hockett and various community members are working together to develop an event which celebrates the winter season in Fargo by creating large scale sculptures with snow!  And the competition for teams is open to the Fargo Moorhead community, students, staff and faculty.   It is open to everyone!

Teams of 2-4 people will create a design for a 5’ square to 8’ square snow sculpture.  Each team must have at least 2 people.  Fargo Moorhead could be inspired from the idea of conscious, poetic, beautiful seasonal design for the winter season to celebrate our climate.

Eligibility

Entire Fargo Moorhead Community, Students, Staff, Faculty

Judges:

Stevie Famulari

Stevie Famulari, multi.sensory artist, professor in the Landscape Architecture program at North Dakota State University. She has participated in Winnipeg’s International Festival Du Voyageur as part of team USA.  Her work is received to a larger public, with international and national appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Food Network Challenges, Food Network Specials, The Travel Channel, Good Morning America, CBS Early Morning News, Washington Post, NY Daily News, The Post Standard, Annezbiz (Turkish Magazine), Trust for Public Land, Winnipeg Free Press, Boston Herald, Berkeley Daily Planet, NY Village Voice, Ins & Outs Magazine, Santa Fe Reporter, and The Star Tribune

Regin Schwaen

Regin Schwaen, professor in the Architecture program at North Dakota State University.

Regin moved to the US in the year 2000 after teaching architecture for five years at the School of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark. He received several prizes and honorable mentions in domestic and international competitions and participated in many exhibitions. He has experience in practice working for two years at Oswald Mathias Ungers GmbH in Berlin, Germany and three years in his own architecture firm K.A.L.K. based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Colleen Sheehy

Colleen Sheehy is director and CEO of Plains Art Museum. She grew up in Minneapolis, where she was intimately familiar with winter before moving to Fargo in 2008. She is a fan of the ice palaces of the St. Paul Winter Carnival and ice luminaires.

David Swenson

David Swenson, professor in Visual Arts at North Dakota State University.  Swenson’s work has been exhibited at the Northern Clay Center, Moorhead State University, the Alice R. Rogers Gallery at St. John’s University, the Cleveland Institute of Art, and at galleries in Moorhead, St. Cloud, Minneapolis, Northfield, Mankato, and Bloomington.  He has also participated in Winnipeg’s International Festival Du Voyageur as part of
team USA.

Gary Tessier

Gary Tessier, a co-creator of the International Snow Symposium at Winnipeg’s Festival Du Voyageur.  Gary is a sculptor in international events, including snow and sand events.

The judges will be looking for

-Originality         Unique designs with aesthetic interests

-Materiality        the quality of being perceivable by touch, how the medium relates to the form

-Context               what is the relationship to space, relationship to the season, to the material, to the site itself

-Form                    the form must feel as if it responds to the space or defines a space itself

-Medium             explore the medium of snow, of white melting substance, which is affected by heat, and reflects changing light

-Ephemeral        temporary, changing, working with the changes

Dates

Tuesday, 15 November 2011, noon                            entries due to NDSU Memorial Union Gallery

Tuesday, 15 November 2011, afternoon                   Judging

Thursday, 17 November 2011, 4.30-6.30pm          Reception at NDSU Memorial Union Gallery

Announcement of the winning teams

Wednesday, 30 November 2011                                 Closing of the exhibition.

All work will be held for exhibition at the Plains  Art Museum for January exhibition.  After January 2012Exhibition, the pieces can be picked up by the artists at Stevie Famulari’s office at NDSU in February 2012.

Wednesday, 11 January 2012, evening                    meeting with snow carving teams to review information and sign forms

Monday- Friday, 23-27January 2012                        blocks made for teams on NDSU Campus

Late January 2012- Early February 2012                                Exhibition of all the competitors boards and

models at the Plains Art Museum

Monday-Friday, 30 January- 3 February 2012      carving of blocks by all teams

Friday, 3 February 2012, 4.30-6.30pm                     reception for Fire and Ice,

reception for Winter Wonderland,

outside NDSU Student Union

Other Information

The winning teams will be asked to meet to review questions, sign required forms and other information before the carving starts.

The sizes of the blocks vary from 5’ square to 8’ square.  The judges will work with the teams to choose the block which best suites the design.

The location on NDSU Main campus of the sculptures is  Churchill Field (the green space), next to the East Terrace

Special Note about tools

The blocks of snow will be created for each of the winning teams.  NDSU maintenance will aid in creation of the original snow blocks.

The sculptors must provide all their sculpting tools.  Suggested tools include ladder, shovel, pick, ax, blades and saws.  Sharing of tools between teams is welcome and encouraged.  Learning from other teams is supported and encouraged.

Clothing

Winter clothing will not be provided by the organization. All sculptors are responsible for adequate winter clothing for the conditions including outerwear (jackets and pants) boots, mitts and toques.

Work Schedule

A work schedule will be created in order to maximize the hours spent creating the sculpture during the days.  However, we ask all sculptors to respect the times for all classes and the work schedule will remain flexible allowing all to complete their works of art.

DUE FOR TUESDAY 15 November 2011, 12 noon

Boards and model due to NDSU Memorial Union Gallery

Esther Hockett
Visual Arts & Gallery Coordinator
NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
701 231 8239 office
701 231 7866 fax

Deliveries / Shipping address:
Memorial Union Gallery
258 Memorial Union, NDSU
1401 Administration Ave.
Fargo, ND   58102
United States Postal Service:
Memorial Union Gallery, NDSU
PO Box 6050 – Dept 5340
Fargo, ND   58108-6050

The model must be approximately 8-10” square.  Adjustments for the specific design (if you plan on moving snow to a different size) can be done.

The final completed model will be judged, along with the completed board.  The models and boards will be on at the NDSU Gallery at the Memorial Union from 15 November 2011 through 30 November 2011.  All pieces must be removed on 30 November 2011.

The board and model must be given to the Memorial Union Gallery by noon on Tuesday 15 November 2011 for judging.

Reception and announcement of winning designs will be on Thursday, 17 November 2011, 4.30-6.30pm

Boards and Model

A final drawing from the team is due, written information about the narrative, structure, and projected details of building it.  This must be part of the presentation board. and presented by all candidates.  All members of the team must present elements of project which they contributed to the final project design.

Model

must be made of a wax or other subtractive element (not soft clay)

be on a baseboard and be moved for display, with the names of the candidates on the baseboard

display board is part of the piece, title of the design as well as members names on the

board

Display board

(in addition to a title block with standard information of candidate’s names, contact information)

Title of the piece

3-4 sentence narrative about the design

Drawing of the design from more than one view

Construction details for the design

Materials for models

Photos of the model

Expected tools for building the snow piece

Expected details about building the final piece

Each team will develop and present a single board of no larger than 36” square summarizing their design.  The presentation board must be clear and legible from a short distance. This is to be a

well-crafted and ‘designed’ presentation: neatly laid-out, simple, easy to read, with graphics and readability of the board.

Prints which are too dark or too light affect the presentation and understanding of the design.  Therefore, please consider the quality of the presentation boards and model.

Below is in an exert from documentation of the Suspension:

While in my studios working on Suspension, the elements of my personal internal dialogues, play themselves out in the spatial design of Suspension.  This is clear, in hindsight, in a few examples.

The structure of the scales.
Less than a month prior to the event, the design of the piece has one large scale, with bends and turns, with only 8 plates of desserts.  Throughout the month of June, the design form has many shifts (not nearly as many shifts in the materials).  Though the sketches do not show the full stages of the shifts, my sketches are done as needed to either further develop the idea with myself, or used while in a dialogue with Kevin Weiss, Kimberly Shulz, Colleen Sheehy, or others at the Plains Art Museum to visually illustrate an idea.

The shifts relate to my personal internal changes- in developing a form of scales to balance many (6o) small plates on a few (6) different size scales.  Meanwhile, internally, I am re-prioritizing many small elements, looking at daily choices and practices; as well as looking at large overarching changes which seem to cause entire re-understanding of who I am and what my true and current ideals are and what I wish them to be.  As well as how I can use these skills and passions to effectively inspire the public towards awareness of their own personal choices and options.

The press release.
On Saturday, 18 June 2011, I attend an all day workshop with Wes Hamilton for meditation to enhance personal awareness and growth.  Through the meditations, I become frustrated about priorities, goals, balance, ideals, wants, needs and clarifying them all, even crying during the workshop.

On Sunday, 19 June 2011, I wake up after much wanted sleep in hopes will help to heal the meditation work, and without much thought, write the press release from start to finish in approximately an hour. Though I proof it for grammar, I do not truly review what I write until days after the event.    Upon my review after Suspension is completed, only then do I realize I write all about balance, shifting balance, finding a beautiful balance, and consequences to choices.  All of these are ideas which are in shift in my personal life during the month of June 2011.

Actions and consequences.  Balance and shifts.  An ever changing form of scales and a press release illustrate these internal dialogues in external forms, neither of which I was aware of until after the completion of the Suspension.

Happily, the awareness of the correlation has a much shorter time span than it has at other points of my life.  This awareness of the relationship of internal dialogues and external actions is only a few weeks during Suspension.  In the past it has taken years for me to realize some connections.  It is comforting to realize that with time and work come energy, wisdom, awareness, and internal peace.  And that these emotions and growth come through in the physical actions of my artwork.