We want to stay connected and creative with our community during these unprecedented times.
Our first opportunity we are sharing is our Virtual Pop-Up. For the next few weeks, arts instructor Elisabeth Herrera is sharing virtual activities to keep you inspired. Follow along with each activity and share your creations with us on Instagram (@atlantacontemporary) with the hashtag #ACMAKES
We look forward to seeing everyone’s creations and continuing the excellent conversations we usually have in person in a digital space.
Tableau
Celebrating your neighborhood with a tableau!
Looking forward, looking back
In 2018 Atlanta Contemporary presented Vivid Memories of a Blurred Past, a collection of works celebrating bodegas and convenience stores as sacred community spaces where neighbors care for neighbors.
Participating artists (David Onri Anderson, Brandon Donahue, John Edmonds, FRKO, Lucia Hierro, and Maya Stovall) describe corner stores as “as a place of convenience, of sustenance, of devotion, of memorial and tragedy when a member of the community leaves us…In a hectic world these small stores are a pause for human interaction. Ultimately, there is no space more reflective of the randomness of the city”.
This week we challenge you to capture a positive place in your community.
Just as FRKO celebrates a neighborhood corner store as somewhere where neighbors support neighbors, we challenge you to capture a place in your neighborhood that you find to be valuable.
Whether it’s the corner store, your favorite dog walking spot, or the front stoop; think about why this place is important to you or provides positivity for your neighborhood.
Use media of your choice to capture your positive place. Photos, drawings, or a tableau of found objects could be starting points for your art making.
Step 1: Take a few photos of your positive place.
Use your smartphone or camera to take photos from different spots around the positive place. Look over all your photos to decide which elements you think are the most important to include in your artwork.
Step 2: Choose your media.
Create your artwork using media you enjoy using. Consider scrapbooking, hand stitching, painting, or collaging. Create in a way that brings you joy. If you are interested in found object assemblages try making a tableau! Think about your tableau 3-dimensionally, addressing all sides of your work.
If creating your tableau out of paper try doing an internet search for paper sculpture techniques.
For this mini tableau, I used found objects and decided to change all of the signs on the outside of my neighborhood corner store to reflect what I’d like to see. I added a matchbook sidewalk and used funny figures around my mini tableau to represent the big personalities of the neighbors who hang out at this convenient store.
Step 3: Share your work!
We love seeing how your use these prompts in your artmaking practice. Use the tag #ACMakes on social media to share your work with us!
Need advice for different techniques? Check out our collection of tutorial videos in the Friday Pop-Up page of our website atlantacontemporary.org
Elisabeth Herrera-Very is a teaching artist and art educator working in Atlanta. A former public school visual arts teacher she now focuses on community engagement and museum education. As a teaching artist she develops programming that provides inclusive, thoughtful, and relevant art experiences for participants of all ages and skill levels. Her programming at Atlanta Contemporary encourages patrons to explore their own creative process through contemporary art making practices and exploratory art making.
