Description:

Artisan's Asylum has a unique opportunity to create public art for the greater Boston area, and we want to make it easier for you to take part!

DigBoston, popular local free online and print news outlet, has partnered up with Artisan's Asylum to keep our city streets rust-free and art-ful. Every couple of months, DigBoston drops off 5 newspaper boxes pulled off the street in need of repairs. Five Artisan's Asylum artists each get a box -- with staff and community help, they repair the boxes and transform them into unique yet still functional works of art, to be placed again on the streets to continue supplying free copies of DigBoston while entertaining, amusing, and inspiring passers-by. You can see some examples of completed boxes in the photo above.

The boxes we receive often start out in a state of egregious disrepair, and fixing them up (and creating amazing works of art with them) requires a fair amount of technical expertise. For this round, we want the five boxes to go to people for whom this might be a bit of a stretch to do on their own; for you we've created this class!

Ecco, professional illustrator, mixed-media artist and sculptor (and one of our previous Dig Box creators), will help you work your way all the way through this complex and exciting project. No previous experience is neccessary, just a willingness to get creative and be committed. This will require a significant investment of time outside of the scheduled class sessions, and some investment of each artist's money for materials. Participants will have their final work celebrated and published on the Digboston.com website, and installed on the street for the world to see!

Class Goals:

In this class you'll learn some basic metal finishing and design/painting skills but the real prize is project management: You'll learn how to spec out an idea and bring it to fruition on time and on a budget.

Prerequisites:

None but inspiration. Several of the dig boxes already executed were done by people who do not identify themselves as artists or have ever made a visual or public art piece before.

Materials:

The Dig box itself and *basic* repair materials will be provided, covered by your registration fee. All materials relating to your specific design are up to you. We recommend at least a $40 budget but you'll hash out the needs of your design with Ecco in class -- she'll help you figure out ways to keep costs low or crowd-source fundraise to complete your design.

Instructor Biography:

Ecco is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She's a local artist with a passion for steel, specializing in creating wearable metal accessories (like the horns in her picture, or a set of wings for her back) and designing static and kinetic sculptures. Her previous work has included flapping pterodactyls, moth sculptures, a rideable dragon, and several other pieces.You can check out her Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/people/AllThingsEcco