What is a StreetSpark? | Fitton Center for Creative Arts
Jennifer Acus-Smith, Program Manager of StreetSpark, joins Day Off Cincinnati today to tell us more about the StreetSpark program and how their team is working to bring creativity and beauty to the streets of Hamilton.
Photos of StreetSpark murals provided by Twin Spire Photography.
An interview with Program Manager of StreetSpark, Jennifer Acus-Smith:
Hey Jennifer! Thank you for joining us today. For those who don’t know, could you explain what StreetSpark is and how it started?
Jennifer: Of course! StreetSpark is a public art program in partnership with the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, the City of Hamilton and the Hamilton Community Foundation. It was founded as a part of a City of Hamilton strategy committee to further the creative identity in Hamilton, Ohio. To understand the process and how this all started, myself and three other local artists painted a mural at the Hamilton Parks Conservancy office on Second Street. Following that project we put together a program framework and completed our first StreetSpark mural in the summer of 2016. We currently have 14 murals in Hamilton!
That’s amazing! So, what inspired you to work with the Fitton Center and the city to have a program like this in place?
Jennifer: Well, as an artist myself, I wanted to create something that put the artist in the driver’s seat. Artists and designers have a unique way of gathering massive amounts of information, inspiration and history and translating that into one innovative, cohesive image. Our partners, building owners and community members all have an integral part in the process, but artists are the idea generators who can really bring that vision to reality!
I love the idea of creatives having a voice in large-scale initiatives like this. Can you explain how involved the artists are in the final designs and strategy?
Jennifer: Each winter, StreetSpark releases a “Call to Artists” with several different locations to which artists may submit their designs. Then, a selection committee scores and chooses the final design for each location. From there, a dialogue begins with the selected designers to adjust the final mural based on the committee’s feedback. We try to cycle through committee members every two years to keep new perspectives at the table. Finally, a team of professional and student artists are then hired to bring the chosen design to life at the location!
Are there any new murals coming?
Jennifer: Four new additions are scheduled to be completed this year! Our committee has chosen designs to be created this summer – two large wall murals and two city utility boxes!
The first mural, titled Cultivating Community, will be painted at 601 Park Ave, Hamilton, Ohio 45013. This design depicts cupped hands pouring water into a field of blossoming flowers and was created by Jamie Schorsch, Oak Hills High School art teacher and artist.
The second mural, Charge the Line, will be painted on the Local 20 Professional Firefighters Union meeting hall at 350 N. Third Street, Hamilton, OH 45011. This design shows a masked firefighter surrounded by billowing smoke. The background evokes the American flag and the thirteen stars represent the firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty at the Hamilton Fire Department. Charge the Line was created by Hamilton resident Jennifer Eickelberger, artist and wife of an HFD firefighter.
The third design, Changing the World through Art, One Kid at a Time, will be painted on a utility box located at the corner of Main and B Streets, Hamilton, Ohio 45013. This design is a collaboration between a local father and son; Brent Billingsley created a greyscale portrait of his son, backed by his son’s colorful, abstract artwork. Brent and Lavelle Billingsley live and create together in the Hamilton community.
The final design, titled Expressions of Power, will be painted on a second utility box located at the corner of High Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Hamilton, Ohio 45011. This design celebrates the power, joy and creativity of women and girls in our community and was created by Anissa Pulcheon, an artist and illustrator from Cincinnati, Ohio.
A huge thank you to StreetSpark and the Fitton Center for Creative Arts for making this interview happen and for all of their efforts in the beautification of Hamilton! If you want to learn more about StreetSpark check out their information page by clicking here.
