The community is invited to attend one of four information sessions this week to learn more about “Art for Everybody: The Delaware Mural Project,” a plan to create three painted murals in downtown Delaware. The events are organized by Ohio Wesleyan University’s Richard M. Ross Art Museum.
Nationally recognized artist and educator Brett Cook will discuss the still-to-be-designed murals during free, public presentations at the following times and locations:
• 6:30-8:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in the Conger Elementary School Cafeteria, 10 Channing St., Delaware.
• 11 a.m.-1 p.m. March 1 at Andrews House, 39 W. Winter St., Delaware.
• 5:30-7:30 p.m. March 1 in the Bishop Café on the lower level of Ohio Wesleyan’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware.
• 2-4 p.m. March 2 at the Second Ward Community Center, 54 Ross St., Delaware.
All sessions are free, but an RSVP is requested by emailing [email protected] or calling 740-368-3606 with your name and the meeting you plan to attend. Refreshments will be provided.
An accomplished artist, Cook seeks to build relationships and facilitate community dialogue that generates reflection, insight, and vision for the future. Following this week’s meetings, he expects to return to Delaware in May to host a two-day community workshop. Using information gleaned from both visits, Cook will design the murals this summer, with a hope of installing the artworks in the fall.
Of his work, Cook states: “For over two decades, I have produced installations, exhibitions, curricula, and events widely across the United States, and internationally. … My public projects typically involve community workshops and collaborative art, along with music, performance, and food to create a more fluid boundary between art making, daily life, and healing.”
Cook earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. His honors include the Lehman Brady Visiting Professorship at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the Richard C. Diebenkorn Fellowship at the San Francisco Art Institute; a 2014 inaugural A Blade of Grass Fellowship for Socially Engaged Art; and selection as a cultural ambassador to Nigeria as part of the U.S. Department of State’s 2012 smARTpower Initiative.
His work is in private and public collections including the Smithsonian/National Portrait Gallery, the Walker Art Center, and Harvard University.
This local project has been supported by the Ohio Arts Council, Delaware County Commissioners, the Delaware City Promotions Grant, the Ross Art Museum, and private donors. It aims to honor the history of Delaware and encourage momentum for public art in downtown, as described in the city’s masterplan. To learn about donor opportunities, contact Erin Fletcher, director of the Ross Art Museum, at [email protected].
Learn more about Cook at www.brett-cook.com and more about the Ross Art Museum at www.owu.edu/ross.
