Wednesday November 19th 12:15PM in the DIAP Studio Space, SH408

Hello, Neighbor: Making Art in Community

Kemi Ilesanmi – Executive Director, The Laundromat Project

Tatfoo Tan – artist
Tattfoo Tan’s art practice seeks to find an immediate, direct, and effective way of exploring issues related to the individual in society through which to collapse the categories of ‘art’ and ‘life’ into one. Through the employment of multiple forms of media and various platforms of presentation, Tattfoo promotes group participation between himself and an ‘audience’.

The Laundromat Project (The LP) amplifies the creativity that already exists within communities by using arts and culture to build community networks, solve problems, and enhance our sense of ownership in the places where we live, work, and grow. One of the values it holds most dear is “neighborliness” which understands artmaking as a powerful engines for turning strangers into neighbors. By working with local artists in their Create Change program to initiate participatory art projects in community, The LP grapples with both the power and the challenges of being a good and artful neighbor–with artists, other residents, and local businesses. The LP model also invites artists to reassess what it means to be part of a neighborhood as an engaged citizen. Ms. Ilesanmi will examine this and more as she explores how an artists and arts organization may intentionally help to create a community of neighbors.

Kemi Ilesanmi is the Executive Director of The Laundromat Project. With over 14 years experience in the cultural arena, she is inspired by the immense possibilities for joy and change at the intersection of arts, activism and community. Prior to joining The LP, she was Director of Grants and Services at Creative Capital Foundation where she supported the work of American artists making adventurous new work. From 1998-2004, she was a visual arts curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. While there, she organized several exhibitions, including The Squared Circle: Boxing in Contemporary Art, and ran the visual arts residency program.