Where would teens like to see public art in the City of West Hollywood?

Client

WeHo Arts Division, a department of the City of West Hollywood in Los Angeles County that promotes the arts as the creative engine of the City through a diverse portfolio of art and cultural programs.

My Work

I was commissioned to create images that promoted WeHo Arts: the Plan, a community-driven framework that outlines the goals to celebrate local culture, preserve the city’s artistic identity, and put art at the core of the community. WeHo Arts: the Plan was created after a multi-year community engagement process planning process.

ArtEverywhere was a site-specific project that aimed to explore an expanded definition of data visualization and reflect upon concepts of democratic cultural production and art in public spaces using data collected from WeHo Arts: the Plan.

I used a performative object (a red weather balloon with a camera attached) to create images and have conversations with young adults from the Plummer Park Teen Center about what they expect from and where they want to see art in public spaces. The goal was to create a delightful space for young people to participate in processes that they may not regularly be asked to participate in, such as public art programming and planning.

The balloon-mapping event took place during a public community event at Plummer Park in West Hollywood.

I hand-painted the WeHo Arts: the Plan logo on the red weather balloon. Besides the balloon, I created environmental graphics to inform parkgoers of the camera on the balloon, flyer invitations, and informational booklets for the participants, adhering to WeHo’s brand guidelines.

The final images consisted of a combination of illustrations, qualitative data from the plan, and aerial photographs. The series of images was used for a social media campaign.

Other Details

Selected by Americans for the Art’s Public Art Network Year in Review 2018. For more information please visit the City of West Hollywoods page for WeHo Arts: The Plan, Americans for the Arts WeHo Arts: The Plan – Data Visualization Projects and Risks Aren’t Just for Artists (We’re looking to you, Government) by Amanda Carlson

August 2017 – December 2017. WeHo Arts: The Plan Launch and balloon mapping session on November 4, 2017 @ Plummer Park

Team

Maria del Carmen Lamadrid and teens from the Youth Center at Plummer Park. Assistance from Noel Castellanos.

Partner

Amanda Carlson, Consultant and Rebecca Ehemann, Public Art Coordinator. City of West Hollywood Weho Arts