Fifty-eight Akron high school students are spending a good part of their summer in Downtown Akron as part of the City of Akron’s highly acclaimed “Lock 3 Summer Arts Experience,” which for the ninth year is providing work for professional artists, education for students, and public artwork to inspire residents.
The program was founded by Mayor Don Plusquellic in 2003, and allows “arts apprentices” to be mentored by professionals, to earn a paycheck and create art that improves the cityscape in and around downtown.
"I know the value of having a mentor," said the Mayor. "Coaches were important to me as a young athlete. I wanted a program where young artists benefit from the same kind of relationships and can build a portfolio as part of the experience."
The program solicits applications from Akron middle school and high school students each Spring. Each applicant is interviewed by a panel of artists to determine the apprentices’ readiness and arts aptitude. In 2011, of 140 students interviewed, 58 were selected and matched with one of the six lead artists. Apprentices, 14-17 years old, represent Akron area public and private schools.
In 2008, the City expanded the summer arts program to include a “Neighborhood Canvas” component to extend Summer Art’s reach to areas outside of Downtown . This year, neighborhood arts apprentices re-painted a mural at the Summit Lake Community Center and created paintings that will be displayed on the Ritzman Pharmacy building on Copley Road.
This year’s program is funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and METRO Regional Transit Authority along with the City of Akron. The University of Akron’s School of Art and School of Dance partners with the program by contributing space and computers.
Since the beginning of the program, nearly 500 young people have completed the experience of creating performance or visual art during their summers. Other work-readiness activities include creating resumes, making presentations, and enhancing networking skills during meet-and-greets with local artists and public stakeholders. The Lock 3 Summer Arts Experience for 2011 include the following components:
Percussion: Matt Dudack, the University of Akron’s steel drum director and a member of the Akron Symphony Orchestra returns as lead artist of the percussion component. In an amazingly short amount of time apprentices will learn pieces ranging from Trinidadian classics to the Beatle’s “Norwegian Wood.” The group consists of student musicians who already play instruments and some who cannot read music at all. The Steel Drum component will perform at the Hardesty Park Arts Expo Wine Tasting (July 22, 6:00pm-8:30pm), the Market at Lock 3 (July 21, 28, & Aug 4, 11:30am – 1:00pm), and the Northside Artwalk (Aug 6, 6:00pm-8:00pm).
Graphic Design: Micah Kraus, art teacher at Archbishop Hoban High School, brings two years’ experience at Lock 3 to this year’s program, again partnering with METRO to create marketing tools for Summit County’s public transport provider. Graphic Design apprentices will cover the “windwalls” around the transit center on South Broadway with printed pictures from around Downtown. These artistic photos complement prior years’ work of window decals now on display and banners that hang seasonally at the Intermodal Transit Center.
Lock 4 Window Art: Artist Adriana Caso is leading her apprentices in mastering the use of acrylics while creating a series of tromp l’oeil “windows” to be installed at the recently renovated Lock 4 venue. Tromp l’oeil, or “trick of the eye” paintings depict images that make it seem as though the viewer is looking through an actual window at the objects and people within. In this project, the murals are an entry-way into the 1920s and 1930s, complementing the LockBottom Blues and Jazz Club concerts, during which the windows will be unveiled each Wednesday night.
Northside Pillars: Steve Csejtey, art and photography teacher at Firestone High School, will bring designs to the pillars of the All-America Bridge on Furnace Street. This series of murals will weave digital imagery and painted acrylics on weather-resistant, semi-permanent material to be wrapped and preserved on the pillars below the bridge and also within Cascade Village. The series of ten murals will depict the people, places and landmarks of Akron.
Engineering Bureau Printed Mural: Artist Nathan Mayfield will navigate apprentices through the “art” of engineering by collecting, digitally manipulating and overlaying current and historical City of Akron blueprints and plans to be painted on the walls of City Hall's 7th Floor corridor. The mural will retain the integrity of the blueprint line structure by using a unique process of printing images on paper, staining them with acrylics, wetting them, and finally “rubbing” the image onto a canvas by removing the paper while leaving the ink and paint behind.
Dance: Kelli Sanford-Burgoon, Artistic Director of RED Company (real.edge.dance) and Assistant Lecturer of Dance at The University of Akron, has selected a cohort of apprentices ranging in dance skill from novice to seasoned. Sanford-Burgoon will work with apprentices this year to create a contemporary piece called “The Social Order,” a commentary on bullying. At a breathtaking pace, apprentices will learn a ten-minute piece that will be performed as part of the City’s Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival, on August 12 and 13 at Goodyear Metro Park, preceding NEOS Dance Theatre’s performance at 8:45pm.
The mural to be installed at Ritzman Pharmacy in Akron’s Maple Valley neighborhood is actually a series of ten monochromatic acrylic portraits, 5 feet by 4 feet, modeled from actual images of people in Akron’s 4th ward, who were photographed at a meetings hosted by councilman Russel Neal. Artist Patrick Dougherty brought ten apprentices together to paint the larger-than-life portraits.
The Summit Lake Community Center mural depicts environmental imagery reminiscent of Joseph Klimpt, with rich gold providing a deep background to the myriad trees and birds inhabiting Summit Lake. Apprentices were mentored by artist Klair Heestand.
Applications for the Lock 3 Summer Arts Experience are delivered to Akron area schools and posted to the City’s Summer Arts Experience Website annually in March. www.akronohio.gov/lock3live/sae.htm.
For more information contact the program’s director, John M. Moore at moorejm@alumni.hiram.edu or 330-375-2977.
Pictures of current work in- progress and many previous pieces can be seen at www.facebook.com/L3SAE
