Community + Art = Deep Breath
Hello, Books for Walls Project, Sunny and the Elk, and Look Wonder Discover Friends, as promised, we've got lots of inspiration in the coming days. Be sure to follow along. For now: read the newsletter, and please join us if you can, and subscribe.
Welcome to the new and improved LWD | Occasional!
Here at the 45th parallel, things are changing; one day it’s summer, the next frost covers everything. What is it like where you are?
Take a moment to breathe,
pause for a minute, or 10,
we will too.
Okay, are you ready? Let’s jump right in!
“Art can be for anyone, especially when it is created by everyone.”
Thanks to an invitation from the fabulous Director of Crooked Tree Art Center, Kristi Wodek, we met with Downtown Traverse City Association's magical Sara Klebba. And Sarah, and her vision for the public art, offered us the perfect chance to come up for air, after five years in deep research mode.
What comes next? A community art reveal: research as... ART… made by everyone. Well, everyone who happens upon one of our events and trusts us to play.
Our team has nearly three decades of community-building-public-art-interactive experience. Sparking curiosity, with invitations to explore concepts, personal stories, perceptions, and practice creativity, is at the heart of LWD.
LWD first uttered “art can be for anyone, especially when it is created by everyone” several years ago. We recognize that words like anyone and everyone are impossibly big and endless. But they can also be placeholders, even an invitation for you, whoever you may be, to get curious, play, explore, and connect.
This is where you come in:
The Art of Emotion; Emotion of Art is made up of public events in Northern Michigan, where participants are invited to an experience of exploration, of feelings, of peeking into curiosity boxes to spark creativity, and then, of creating mini works of art—moments of emotion and perception captured on paper.
All of the mini-masterpieces will be scanned and then designed into the final Downtown Traverse City Art Fair Mural, which will live in Downtown Traverse City on Front Street and also in the LWD virtual archive.
Our team will map participants’ anonymous perceptions, emotions, and stories alongside the installation, for even richer research and exploration. Together, we can work to discover individual voices meeting and creating something broad and deep together: a moment, a shared community, a mural.
The invitation: Come participate, come play!
Hundreds of you have already contributed your art, emotions, and perspectives, turning moments of curiosity into a collective work of creativity and reflection. With the Downtown Traverse City Art Fair wrapped and Up North Pride’s Resource Fair a delightful memory, we’re getting ready for two more opportunities to engage the community.
Unlike the first two events —where participants were introduced to playful, curiosity-driven explorations—the next two events dig in and reveal a bit more of the mural-making magic. So, if you have already participated, please join us again!
Thursday, October 16, from 5:30–7:30 pm
Crooked Tree Art Center
322 Sixth St, Traverse City, MI 49684
We love working with CTAC, longtime supporters of our mission to engage and empower community through learning and creativity. Join us—and don’t miss the beautiful former Carnegie Library space!
Space is limited for this workshop—please sign up, click here. You’ll find more details on the form, and light refreshments will be served!
Thursday, November 6, from 4:30–7:30 pm
Oryana West’s Community Room
3587 Marketplace Cir, Traverse City, MI 49684
“Oryana Community Co-op looks forward to partnering with LWD to cultivate connection through creativity and community. We understand there is deep need for humans to meaningfully connect—and what better way to do that than through art!” says Oryana’s community connector, Kirsten Harris.
Together, we’ll celebrate healthy food, community, and the power of shared spaces to bring people together through curiosity and creativity. No sign-up needed—drop in anytime between 4:30 and 7:30 to create, connect, and add your voice to the mural.
Invest, support community art.
We’re working with our favorite local printer, Traverse City’s Copy Central/Traverse Repro, to print both the mural and limited edition Downtown Art Fair Community Mural art prints!
All proceeds go directly toward making the mural possible and will ship in time for the holidays!
Pre-Order Limited Edition Prints of the Mural
11x17 poster print, click to purchase.
5 x 7 poster print, click to purchase.
Square postcard print, click to purchase.
The above image is only a placeholder for the mural art that the community is creating... a teaser!
If you would like a custom made print, reach out to us, we will have lots of options!
Giant thanks to all of the humans who have generously financially supported this project so far, including Downtown Traverse City Association, Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate, Pam Laird, Bob Lakey, Oryana Community Co-op, e2dc, and all of the participants who’ve invested by pre-ordering art (please contact us if you’d like to make a larger donation!).
Make a one time donation! It's quick and easy and remember,
we're a 501c3. Donations are tax deductible!
Announcing the launch of the LWD | Community!
One thing we hear over and over, from our participants, is a want for ways to connect, more deeply within curious communities.
All these years in research mode, we’ve been hard at work researching and designing. And we are happy to announce that LWD is slowly launching lookwonderdiscover.community, a new virtual home for our local and global Curious Community.
Hosted on a Ghost platform, this virtual and, sometimes, in-person community will connect readers, learners, and creators through the LWD | Occasional Newsletter and interactive programs, like the upcoming 16th-year anniversary relaunch of the Books for Walls Project.
Come and join a gathering place for those who value curiosity, creativity, and community—a digital commons where we continue exploring what it means to look, wonder, and discover together.
Thanks for taking the time to be with us.
How about another deep breath
before you move on,
we'll take a deep breath too.
Wow, so lovely to spend this time with you,
we cannot wait to see you in person,
hear from you,
or just imagine you,
"there in the world, being curious and
believing in the futures we are making
stronger, together.
Subscribe, become an LWD | Community Member
and you'll be able to comment!
