New public art project comes to Spartanburg’s Downtown Cultural District
Chapman Cultural Center is excited to announce the implementation of a new public art project that will bring unique crosswalk murals to three intersections in Spartanburg’s Downtown Cultural District.
Funding is being provided by the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce’s One Spartanburg initiative and through a research grant from USC Upstate. The murals will be painted at the intersections of Main and King streets., Main and Spring streets., and Main and Magnolia streets on Sunday, July 21. The goal of this project is to create a more vibrant and walkable downtown – making Spartanburg roads safer for both drivers and pedestrians.
Each installation is being designed and painted by a different local artist or artist team with Michael Webster painting Main and King streets, Matthew Donaldson painting Main and Spring streets, and Frankie Page and Adrian Meadows painting Main and Magnolia streets. The artists were chosen by a panel from the Spartanburg Downtown Cultural District Steering Committee made up of businesses, residents, arts leaders, city officials and Chamber of Commerce representatives.
To ensure the safety of the artists and the successful implementation of the murals, several roads in the cultural district will need to close to traffic at those intersections for 24 hours.
The public is invited to watch the artists as they work on these vibrant additions to downtown that will create a safer environment for pedestrians and drivers. There will be a ribbon cutting and public celebration of the crosswalks on Monday, July 22 at 10 a.m. outside Little River Coffee Bar. Please contact Eric Kocher at the Chapman Cultural Center with any questions: ekocher@spartanarts.org or 864.278.9672.
Michael Webster is an artist whose focus is the built environments of cities, particularly the relationship of the spatial and the social. He has completed site-specific projects in Chicago, Moorestown, NJ, Greenville, NC and Talca, Chile, and has participated in residencies at Hambidge Center, Elsewhere Museum, and Penland School of Craft. Recent exhibitions include Locust Projects, Miami, Paradise Palace, Brooklyn, Wiregrass Museum of Art, AL, and the Southside Hub of Production, Chicago. In 2012 he completed an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently an assistant professor at Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC. On his participation in this project he said:
“As a recent transplant to the area, I have been impressed with the recent growth of public art in Spartanburg. Beyond the impact of each individual artwork, the visibility of all public art within the city signifies a thriving cultural discourse. I am excited to contribute to Spartanburg’s public art collection through the development of this crosswalk, and to add a moment of visual stimulation for people walking or driving down Main St.”
Matthew Donaldson is a web & graphic designer, horror fanatic, and tattoo collector connoisseur. When he’s not working, Matthew enjoys spending time with his wife and kids and seeing the world, having traveled to such destinations as England, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Thailand. Matthew has over a decade of experience in the design industry, working as a freelance designer, interactive designer, and design educator, and he is currently employed as an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at USC Upstate. Matthew commented on his participation, saying:
“The Creative Crosswalk Project is an opportunity for me to step away from my day-to-day work as a web and graphic designer and into the public art sector. It poses the challenge of removing myself from the digital realm and adapting to a real-world, physical environment. Three USC Upstate graphic design students will collaborate with me as we translate our knowledge of graphic design into public street art.”
Born in New York City and raised in Spartanburg, Frankie Page (aka Frankie Zombie) is a mixed media artist and music producer in Spartanburg. Frankie has collaborated with musical artists such as Pharrell, Miley Cyrus and John Legend to name a few. The collectors of custom Frankie Zombie apparel pieces span from New York City to Atlanta, to London and his art has reached influencers such as Jon Wexler of Adidas, and Pusha T. His current color balance style was birthed after his mother was suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, prompting his return to Spartanburg. Frankie’s art focuses around positive energy, race relations, spirituality, and health. He prescribes to the notion that individual energy determines how the world changes. Spartanburg born and bred Adrian Meadows (aka To Aspire) is a graphic designer, hand lettering, and mixed media artist. Adrian has collaborated with numerous companies such as Adobe Photoshop, Car & Driver magazine, BuzzFeed News and Makeup Forever. Adrian has also been featured in multiple national and international typography focused books such as GoodType: The Book, Vol 1. and Typism: Vol 3. He believes that art is the most impactful language we have and that people who like guacamole cannot be trusted. When asked of his artistic style and inspiration for the project, Page said:
“It literally came from watching the Jetson’s growing up. The colors, the patterns, the shapes, the monochromatic shades, it all came from the cartoon. The Jetson gave me a feel of everything I thought was just a cool dream at the time, and as I grew up, I started to see a lot of those dreams become reality.”
Good morning!
"Tuning Up" is a morning post series where The Hub delivers curated, quick-hit arts stories of interest to readers. Sometimes there will be one story, sometimes there will be several. Get in tune now, and have a masterpiece of a day. And now, in no particular order...
The world-famous Hub Calls for Art Megaphone.[/caption]
A spate of calls for art and/or fellowship opportunities came through in recent days, so we're letting you know what we've seen (which, dear reader, is not to be assumed is an exhaustive list of opportunities). Please visit links for deadlines and requirements/restrictions/guidelines! And now, here they are:
Jeffrey Callaham mural in McCormick. Image by McCormick County Coordinator La Ruchala Murphy/SCAC.[/caption]
Welcome to MURAL SZN. Murals are time-honored public art displays that community planners and citizenry in search of a rallying point enjoy in equal measure. Two new ones came across The Hub's radar:
As we think about vibrant public places, the SCAC is helping The Riley Center for Livable Communities spread the word about the new Riley Mayors’ Design Fellowship, which was created to help equip South Carolina mayors with the tools necessary to implement projects that have a positive impact on their communities. They can gain knowledge to improve city design and foster economic development through things like "Downtown Programming" in Spartanburg Downtown Cultural District.
But your city or town doesn't need an officially designated cultural district for its mayor to take part.
"The Riley Mayors’ Design Fellowship is about seeking excellence and together elevating the municipalities that fuel our state,” former Charleston mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. said.
Eight mayors across South Carolina will be selected from a pool of nominees. The program culminates in a two-and-a-half day conference during which each mayor presents the challenges and opportunities of a project. From this presentation, mayors receive feedback as well as information on relevant design and planning topics from a group of expert faculty.
South Carolina is currently the only state in the nation with this type of program.
Nominations for the inaugural class are due by noon on Aug. 15. The conference takes place Feb. 20-22, 2019. A nominee should be a current mayor with at least two years remaining in his or her term as of January 2019. Self-nominations are welcome. A nominating committee will select a diverse class of mayors. Selection is based upon potential for innovative and visionary leadership, cooperative spirit and the ability to rally diverse interests around a common goal for the good of the community.
More information and the nomination form are available 
