Andrea Skyberg

Michael and I are finalists for a city-wide grant that is offering funds to help activate spaces in Milwaukee and develop interactive art projects. We proposed a very interactive bookmaking project called We Are (Human) Kind. This is a project we’ve been interested in working on for awhile, and luckily enough, it fit within the call for art put out by Creational Trails. We will pitch this idea at a public forum at city hall on December 10th.

We Are (Human) Kind proposal

As part of a large global project called We Are (Human) Kind we propose to create a life-size metal tree sculpture. The tree will be a beautiful addition to the landscape, however, its real purpose is to engage the community in documenting and committing acts of kindness. The tree sculpture will allow people to attach bolt locks to the branches. These locks are attached to the tree as a symbol of kindness that was done for someone in the city. After attaching a lock to the tree, the person will go to a website and register their lock, entering a description of the lock and key, and uploading a photo. They will be also be able to share their story of the act of kindness. The online stories will function as a city-wide book of kindness. Wooden Nickel Press will chose approximately twenty-five of the most touching stories and use them to create a hardcover novelty book. The artwork for this book will be obtained through a juried art submission open to artists in Milwaukee.  The final product will be a novelty book featuring acts of kindness committed in Milwaukee. This will be the first book in the series We Are (Human) Kind, which is a project set to take place in cities around the world, showcasing local artists with stories from community members to create a book featuring acts of kindness within each city.

UPDATE: Sadly our project was not chosen for the grant, however we have another opportunity to pitch this project to possible funders in February. See the winning projects at http://creationaltrails.com/the–avenue.html.