[NEohioPAL]Seeking Artists to Lead Lock 3 Summer Arts Experience in Akron

[Graham, Suzie]

The City if Akron is seeking Lead artists to complete our instruction team
for the Lock 3 Summer Arts Experience.  The program unites professional
artists with artistically inclined students in a joint arts/work readiness
venture similar to the gallery 37 program based in Chicago.  We are
currently seeking qualified instructor candidates in the following
components:

Creative/Script Writing
Theatre Arts
Metalsmithing/3 Dimensional Art
Music Performance
Maskmaking/Sculpture
Filmmaking/Video
Fashion/Costume Design and Technology

Applicants should be established professionals with working experience in
their field.  Experience with teenage children is preferred.

Salary is negotiable and commensurate with experience.

Details of the program are below.  Please review the component descriptions
to familiarize yourself with our general expectations for each area.  

To receive a list of questions for a proposal, please reply to this email or
call 330-375-2813 and leave a message.  Proposals should be submitted by
March 6.

Program Description
Lock 3 Summer Arts Experience

Summer 2004

The Lock 3 Summer Arts experience is a program organized through Don
Plusquellic, the Mayor of the City of Akron. The program identifies students
aged 14 to 18 with a demonstrated aptitude for the arts, and partners them
with professional artists who mentor them in the creation of collaborative
works of art.  This summer, the program will offer seven components:
Filmmaking and Video, Creative Writing, Theatre Performance, Music
Production and Performance, Metalsmithing/ 3 Dimensional Art, Sculpture/Mask
Making, and Fashion/Costume Design.  Each of these components will work
under the unified concept of Transforming Myth.  Combining research with
history and creativity, each component will create individual and
collaborative works of art.    The program integrates work readiness skills
with art education by assisting the students in building resumes,
portfolios, working art and workplace techniques and promoting a workplace
environment.  Apprentices (the students) are paid a $400 stipend for their
participation in the program.

Program Details:

		Generally, each component should run approximately 5 weeks,
with no more than 6 hours worked by apprentices per day.  Total scheduled
working hours for apprentices should be between 80 and 100 hours.  Days and
times are somewhat flexible depending upon the requirements of the
component.

		The overall program is scheduled to begin June 14 and end
with a closing reception/performance/gallery opening on August 12.  Each of
the seven components will be scheduled during that time.

		Lead artists are invited to be a part of the interview and
selection process of students (beginning in April).  

Artists generally work with 10 apprentices.

The Summer 2004 Summer Arts Experience will carry on the spirit of the
original program with some changes in format and artistic vision.  This
year, the seven art components will be unified conceptually under the common
theme of  "Transforming Myth".  Each component will base its process on the
research and reinterpretation of diverse myths throughout time.  Reflecting
diversity, history and creativity, it will be the mission of each instructor
to impart the original myths to their apprentices, and guide them in the
reinterpretation of those myths into their finished projects.

Although much of the Lock 3 activity will still take place downtown, some of
the components include outreach projects, making the Lock 3 Summer Arts
Experience more present in the public eye.  Components will take place
throughout the summer, mid June to mid August, with all groups coming
together for the final Gallery Reception and Graduation Ceremony on August
12.  Components will be reunited August 28th for a public performance and
exhibit in conjunction with Lock 3 events.

Each component will culminate with a finished product that will be
marketable to corporations or the general public. 

Summer 2004 Components- these are guidelines on which the summer projects
should be based, variations and expansion of these subjects are welcome for
submission

Creative Writing:
Component 1: Screen and Script Writing- Mentor will lead students in
researching the universal components of Myth from a multitude of traditions.
Students will collaborate to rewrite and modernize an established story or
create a completely original work.  Individual writing exercises should
include rewrites of Myth with modern twists or characters.  This group will
also complete an educational resource guide including original mythology and
universal story components.  End product:  Completed and published (in
progress) script for 10 actors to perform, mini scripts for use by Theatre
Performance Troupe during lunchtime performances, Educational Resource Guide
to be distributed with Video. 

		Location/ Schedule:  This component will take place first,
beginning in June.  Work hours will most likely be completed in the evenings
at Forest Lodge Community Center.  Preferably June 14-July 15.

Performing Arts:
Component 2: Theatre Performance- Mentor will lead a group of 10 actors in
the development of a Commedia Del Arte style Performance Troupe.  Research
will include experimenting with different acting styles used to present
mythology throughout history.  End Product:  The Troupe will use written
mini myth scripts from Creative Writing and original material to perform
short performances during the lunch hour at various venues downtown and
possibly throughout Akron.  The troupe will also perform a fully staged
production (including the creation of their own sets, props, etc) on the
Civic stage at the program's ending reception.  This production could also
possibly tour Art Expo and various locations downtown, and at community
centers, possibly in conjunction with concerts, etc.

		Location/ Schedule:  This component will be one of the final
projects, completing in August.  Rehearsals will take place at Lock 3, with
as much rehearsal time as possible in the public eye on the Lock 3 Stage.
Performances may occur in the Lock 3 Park, Community Parks, Cascade, Art
Expo, and various downtown locations. Preferably July 12-August 12.

Component 3:  Music- Mentor will assemble a band/orchestra of 10 students
through the interview/audition process.  Students must already be
experienced with their instrument and have access to the use of one for the
duration of the program.  Using the Script Writing project as inspiration,
the group will research the sounds indicative to the traditions used within
the script, as well as other musical traditions and mythological references
and cross them with their own interpretation of music in the modern sense.
The group will produce a score to the script and record it onto a cd through
the process of using a recording studio. End Product:  The group will create
copies of their cd for sale, generate a score for the script, and perform it
live for performance and the final reception at the Civic. 

		Location/ Schedule:  This component will begin early, with
cd production completing in July.  The group will reassemble for a week of
rehearsal with the Performance Troupe prior to performance.  Location will
be at the Lock 3 Park, and in Studio. Dates open to suggestion.

Visual Arts:
Metalsmithing/ 3D Art- Main Street Electrical Boxes as Totems- Mentor will
lead the students in the exploration of mythical traditions expressed
through the visual arts, specifically the use of totems.  The group will use
found objects in combination with their own vision of today's totems to
create totems.  Individual "warm up" projects to include small personal
totems, desktop totems, etc, that will be for sale.  Final project will be
the re-creation of existing electrical boxes as totems along Main Street
using paint and found objects.  These will be a permanent installation; a
qualified Lead Artist is required. This project could also incorporate a
fire hydrant painting project. End Product:  The creation of individual
totems and the re-creation of the electrical boxes using paint and found
objects.

		Location/ Schedule:  This component can begin at anytime,
with small projects being completed at the Lock 3 Park.  Projects will also
be completed on Main Street, and in Akron neighborhoods if the Hydrant Totem
project is included).  
		Dates open to suggestion.

Sculpture- The Myth Behind the Mask- Mentor will lead the group in
researching the faces and masks of mythology.  Ceremonial and interpretive
masks will be researched as well as supplemented with trips to museums to
see historical representations of mythological characters.  Apprentices will
create multiple masks, experimenting with different media, myths, and
modernizations of myth through their own artistic vision.  Theatre Troupe
may use masks in performance.  Individual masks will be available for sale.
The group will collaborate on one finished work with a unified theme for
sale as an art installation (Example: a 6 foot 2 or 3 dimensional mask made
up of different features by each individual).  End Product:  Individual mask
projects and final art installation.

		Location/ Schedule:  This component can begin at anytime.
Work will be conducted at the Lock 3 Park.  If projects require the use of a
kiln, Community Centers or the University of Akron may be incorporated.
		Dates open to suggestion.

Fashion/ Textile Design- Mentor will guide apprentices in the research of
historic versus ceremonial clothing, and possible ties to mythology or
performance- particularly those traditions reflected in the Script Writing
component.  Using the Acting Troupe's actors and their own body types as
models, they will design and create costumes and ready to wear incorporating
history, myth, and their own modern outlook.  Clothing will be used in
performance as well as made available for sale.  Mentor must provide
instruction and demonstration in the following:  Fashion/ Costume Rendering,
Construction Techniques (and be able to oversee/guide and possibly complete
the construction of garments), Pattern Drafting, Pattern use, Cutting/
Draping, Fitting, Fabric Dying and Treatment.  End Product:  A Line of
Clothing designed by the group available for sale (including accessories and
garments).  Costumes for the Theatre Troupe.

		Location/ Schedule:  This component will coincide with the
Theater component.  It will require some overlap, but not identical
schedules.  It will take place at the Lock 3 Park.  Preferably July
12-August 12 with room for variation.

Filmmaking/ Video:

Filmmaking/ Video- Mentor will lead students in the basics of Filmmaking
including writing, lighting, sound, editing, camera work, and production.
The group will unify the research and projects of each component by tracking
them in a short documentary accompanied by filming the performance.  This
video will be used in conjunction with the Educational Resource Guide and
will be circulated among Akron's school system for use with curriculum
pertaining to Mythology.  End Product:  A video documentary of the Lock 3
2004 process and a professional video of the final performance.  

		Location/ Schedule:  This component will begin early, with
basic filmmaking principles reviewed and some "mini" projects completed.
This project will require "catch up" times when they meet with the other
components to track their progress/ projects.  They will also require
attendance during the final week of the program to film the production and
complete production work on their piece. 
		 Location will be at the Lock 3 Park, on location with
various projects, and in studio.  Dates open to suggestion.