easel - Experience Art in Southeastern Libraries
Library patrons will be exposed to new local artists and artistic media through the easel exhibit and related gallery talks. Individuals will be surveyed about how their perception of the library as a community center and public space may have been altered. Local artists will also be exposed through a new venue possibly selling artwork. SELCO will interview participating artists about their experiences in Southeastern libraries because of the easel exhibit.
Based on a FY2014 selection of venues, SELCO and SEMVA representatives visited the hosting locations to install the traveling exhibit taking advantage of the optimum arrangement for public viewing and traffic flow. The selection of art consisted of 31 pieces, representing 10 of 11 southeastern counties. Three independent artists, who had not submitted work for this exhibit, had served as judges. Promotional items including bookmarks, small and large posters, postcards, and exhibit catalogs were printed and distributed to all host locations, as well as to all area libraries as advance publicity. A larger supply was sent to each host location 4-6 weeks prior to the installation, as well as sample press releases to allow for concentrated publicity efforts leading up to and during the exhibit. SELCO maintained a project specific easel website, http://easel.selco.info/ with exhibit calendar, news, and the artists' biographical information and statements. A news post followed each installation.
SEMVA (Southeastern Minnesota Visual Artists)
SELCO (Southeastern Libraries Cooperating)