The Franklin: Not Your Typical Yard Art (original) (raw)

Street Art Fri Mar 02 2012

Local artist Edra Soto and her husband Dan Sullivan recently completed a project titled "the Franklin" -- an outdoor exhibition space currently installed at NEIU Gallery for a show titled Living By Example (a damn good show, mind you.) When the show finishes we it will be deconstructed and moved to Soto and Sullivan's backyard in East Garfield park, where it will be permanently installed. NEIU helped pay for materials, but in order to complete the project they need to purchase additional materials for the roof, deck and footings.

The title of the NEIU show, Living By Example, is in direct reference to Chicago's alternative galleries and domestic spaces. Soto/Sullivan's goal is to contribute to this vibrant scene, fostering art in a non-commercial setting. They hope the Franklin's parameters -- outdoors, semi-exposed to the elements -- will be an inspiration for new site-specific, outdoor work. Hosting shows in their backyard will allow them to exhibit work from their growing permanent collection inside our home which has been built mainly through trading and purchases at fundraising auctions.

The roofing material is translucent corrugated fiberglass, the decking material is a composite material made from recycled materials, and the footings will be post cement poured in sonotubes with post brackets. They estimate the total material cost to be $2150.

In order to raise these funds, they've launched a 3Arts Artist Projects campaign, which begins today. To see more about the project and/or to help fund it, visit 3Arts.org. For more information about "the Franklin", visit its Facebook page or its website.