The Art Abandonment Project: Create and Share Random Acts of Art

308 Pages·2014·33.89 MB·English

by  deMeng

The Art Abandonment Project
Create and Share Random Acts of Art
Michael deMeng and Andrea Matus
deMeng
Cincinnati, Ohio
artistsnetwork.com
Contents
What’s so Important About Art Abandonment Anyway?
Where It All Began
How To Be An Abandoneer
Monthly Challenges
Abandoneers in Action
Why We Love to Abandon Art
Abandonmets of Other Sorts
Setting Art Free
Namaste
Dedication and Acknowledgments
About Michael and Andrea
Copyright

What’s so Important About Art Abandonment Anyway?
by Andrea Matus deMeng
The truth of the matter is that many of us have been “abandoning” for decades.
We abandon our time whenever we volunteer. We abandon our techniques and
our art-making secrets when we teach. We abandon our money when we choose
to give financial support to specific causes. So why put all of this energy into
abandoning art?
THE STATE OF THE ARTS
I know I’m preaching to the choir here because we’ve all heard artists sit around
and lament about the lack of funding for arts initiatives and the overall
degradation of arts curriculums throughout the United States, Canada and
beyond. The burning question for me is, why? Why have we allowed this to be
the new standard for ourselves and for our children?
The general attitude that the arts are frivolous prevails more in today’s society
than it ever has. Because the arts are deemed nonessential, they become the
programs that are the easiest to cut.
And yet, for those of us who dream of travel, what is it that we seek to find on
our journeys? Isn’t it the world-class art galleries, the awe-inspiring architecture,
the melodic rhythms of local musicians and the tantalizing cuisine? But the arts
are not important? What are we going to do to not only preserve that part of our
culture that relies on the arts, but also encourage new growth and exploration in
these areas?
Sometimes these issues seem so large they feel insurmountable. What can one
person do, after all? When you realize you don’t have to change the world or
shift perceptions all at once, the task becomes a whole lot easier. We all know
that you don’t have to be an artist to appreciate art, but I do believe that exposure
to the arts is invaluable in helping everyone gain a deeper appreciation for what
the artist contributes to society. Art abandoners are taking on that challenge to
make a change, one piece of art at a time. For individuals who find the
abandoned treasures, the arts come into their lives in a very direct and usually
meaningful way. It doesn’t matter if they never went to the Louvre to see the
Mona Lisa—the art came to them! And even if only for a fleeting moment, they
were reminded of the way art can touch lives. With over seven thousand
members to date, we have a lot of art making its way out into the world and
making a difference.
STARTING YOUNG
I am a mother. I am an artist. I am a teacher. Of course that’s not all that I am,
but being a mother-artist-teacher means that I have a very specific bias and I
think it’s best to own up to that right away. Obviously not only is art very
important to me, but so is the future of the arts as well, and we’ve all heard the
adage “Children are our future.”
To make up for the fact that my children’s elementary school has no arts
programs whatsoever, I volunteer. Year after year, I come up with several little
projects that can be done in a day or two. I sprinkle in a little art theory and a
project that keeps them creatively busy the whole day, and it’s magical. Teachers
always tell me how amazed they were to see the whole class engaged, working
cooperatively, being respectful, sharing the tools and their ideas. To see certain
children come out of their shell, to see learning that transcends language barriers
and most importantly to see the smiles all day—it’s incredibly rewarding.
The kids had a fun day when they learned about fractions by sectioning a
piece of paper into ten even strips, and geometry by cutting out perfect
equilateral triangles. The learning is still happening, just from a different
perspective. I never forget that I’m in a fortunate position where I can come in
for a day, play and leave, without the bureaucracy and challenges the full-time
teachers take on day after day. I’m lucky, and it feels good to see how excited
the kids get any time I roll up to the door with my boxes of art supplies. Not only
do I get to play for a day, I get to observe, and over the past thirteen years that I
have been doing this, a few things have made themselves very clear to me.
CHANGING THE PARADIGM
We live in strange and interesting times. I say this without meaning to sound
nostalgic, but when I was a kid I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the
future would hold. Now things change so quickly I don’t think even
Nostradamus would try to guess at what’s going to happen next, and that’s a
tough thing. It feels like the thing we are most missing these days is a sense of
continuity. As much as we crave change in our society, there’s also a part of us
that likes things to be the same, and it’s that sense of continuity that is vitally
that likes things to be the same, and it’s that sense of continuity that is vitally
important to keep strong relationships between grandparents, parents and
children. Where do we get that continuity from? What can we do? Well, we can
get behind efforts that go beyond our small reach, and very importantly, we can
do it together. We can all choose to become part of something greater than
ourselves, and if we include our children and our loved ones in these efforts, we
bring some of this continuity and community back into our lives.
For me, art abandonment represents one of those things—an opportunity to
belong to something greater than myself, and this seemingly small effort
becomes all the more important, richer and fulfilling when I am able to bring
children into the fold. I know there are many wonderful community and global
initiatives that welcome parent and child participation, and I don’t mean to imply
that art abandonment is any more significant than those. But having seen
firsthand how dramatically involvement in the arts can help children and adults
alike, it allows me a forum where I can unite my passion with the feeling that I
am participating in some small yet meaningful way to preserve the arts.
I may not be able to tell my daughters that if they go to school and study hard,
there will be the reward of a secure and well-paying job at the end, but at the
same time, we live in a world where in the future anything, really anything is
possible. It’s all a mystery, and that’s a journey we are all on together.