Public art can show up just about anywhere and a new initiative, FAB Goes Public, by Funding Arts Broward (FAB), is bringing that idea to light.
The membership-based, non-profit organization that supports visual and performing arts in Broward County launched its public art initiative as a way to deepen an appreciation for the arts within the community. FAB Goes Public will be showcasing emerging artists’ work in public spaces.
The idea came into fruition after FAB launched a multi-year-long study, “Enriching the Arts Opportunities in Broward County’s Arts Community,” which surveyed people locally and nationally on what they hoped to see from their local arts organizations,” according to Mary Riedel, president of Funding Arts Broward. A major takeaway from the study, she says, was a desire for more public art.
The years-long study was spearheaded by FAB’s former president Ed Hashek, FAB member Carolyn Lee, and a task force of 10 people to identify areas where the arts were lacking.
“We did interviews with art supporters around the state and even around the country, in a couple of cases, and also surveyed more than 100 of our local artists,” says Riedel.
She says there was plenty of “interesting feedback and data” and the group identified five areas where they could begin to focus their efforts
“… Where we thought we could begin to make a difference with public art being one of the five,” says Riedel.
After identifying public art as an area needing improvement, FAB partnered with The Broward Center for the Performing Arts, The Parker, and Mad Arts to launch its new program. For its initial program, FAB Goes Public will showcase two local artists whose work focuses on the intersection of art and technology.
To identify which two artists would be chosen to participate, FAB collaborated with Mad Arts, the Dania Beach arts and technology museum. Together, they selected Fort Lauderdale-based artists Rosanna Kalis and Miguel Gonzalez.
“Partnering with Mad Arts gave us a unique opportunity to showcase this newer art form in a public forum where we can not only highlight these two talented local artists but also educate the community on a new art form that has already flourished around the country and the world. The other important aspect of this project was our partnership with The Parker because they have provided us with the perfect outdoor space to display these artists’ work,” says Riedel.
The first digital installation created by Kalis entitled, “Fast Forward,” debuted on the west-facing exterior wall of The Parker on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Kalis says her art focus has been mostly in painting with acrylics and using spray paint.
She confides that she only recently started to branch out into digital art.
“I’m relatively new to the light and technology side of art from a creative perspective . . . What brought me to this medium was when I did a mural for the restaurant Kapow in Boca. I designed the art with the owner, and he had a projection designer in mind to bring my art to life. That was my first experience working with someone to conceive a narrative and a digital storyline for a piece of my more traditional mural art,” she says.
It was this experience that inspired Kalis to begin working in the digital projection art medium. She says she had her first solo show as a digital projection artist during an iteration of Miami Art Week. Kalis says she was eager to get involved as soon as she heard that the “FAB Goes Public” program was in its early stages of development.
She had worked previously with Marc Aptakin, founder and CEO of Mad Arts, who introduced her to FAB.
“He was getting to know the people at FAB at the time, so he connected me with them to talk about my experience with projection mapping and the collaboration of arts with technology. I was impressed with their dedication to the arts community and how they were hoping to showcase local artists in different ways, especially through technology.”
Kalis’ art installation, “Fast Forward,” is a digital mural projected on a loop that appears on The Parker building.
“This piece is very personal for me. It’s really about my cultural identity and an exploration of that. I am a Korean American child of immigrants, so I know firsthand the push and pull between cultural influences and expectations and these new modern influences and perspectives. I look at this piece as an exploration of that. It’s a story about myself and reinvention, and I’m excited to be working more with digital projection mapping to introduce motion and use light as a layer to add narrative and storytelling,” she says.
Set to the song “Just For Now” by English singer and songwriter Imogen Heap, the projection opens on the face of an Asian woman sketched by Kalis, which then transforms into different forms of the same woman before returning to the initial version. However, the most impactful takeaway from the piece is the woman’s unfaltering, direct gaze she holds with viewers.
“The composition of this piece is intentional. It starts from a raw place, and then there’s a transformation that builds which references my cultural heritage and Korean folk art paintings that I was exposed to growing up, and then there’s the transference to urban, modern skylines. But throughout it all, it is a face that’s looking straight on, and I feel as an Asian American artist, there’s power and vulnerability in that direct gaze.”
She adds: “Historically, women in many parts of the world have been encouraged to look down, look away, and perhaps be submissive. So, this piece is a call for people to hold strong and look at people directly and not to look away,” says Kalis.
“Fast Forward” can be seen at dusk on the west-facing exterior wall of The Parker building through Friday, Feb. 28. Following a short break, contemporary artist Miguel Gonzalez will unveil his piece at a reception at The Parker on Tuesday, March 11. His installation appears through Thursday, May 1.
IF YOU GO
WHAT :
“Fast Forward” by Rosanna Kalis
WHEN:
Through Friday, Feb. 28
TICKETS:
Free
WHERE:
The Parker, 707 NE 8th St., Fort Lauderdale
INFORMATION:
(954) 353-7673 or
fundingartsbroward.org
