Build Better Tables, Nashville, TN Collaboration with Courtney Adair Johnson and curated by Nicole Caruth
In 2017, Metro Public Art released a Public Art Community Investment Plan signaling a new direction for public art in Nashville, advancing the vision that every Nashvillian experiences a creative city. One recommendation from that plan was to create a temporary public art exhibition. Independent curator Nicole J. Caruth was selected to curate, Build a Longer Table, opening June 1, 2018. Build Better Tables will include a series of public art interventions, installations, and programming that use food as a lens to examine the effects of disinvestment and gentrification on community nourishment. The exhibition will feature contributions from a variety of nationally-recognized artists, including Tattfoo Tan. Tan’s project S.O.S Free Seed Library is an exercise in community food justice. Modeled on the Little Free Library system, the project provides residents in underserved neighborhoods access to free seeds for edible plants and flowering cover crops. The project encourages residents to take, plant, and share seeds, promoting food sovereignty and ecological diversity. Organized in collaboration with Nashville-based artist Courtney Adair Johnson, the S.O.S Free Seed Libraries will be installed at community gardens throughout Nashville. During the summer, Johnson and her collaborators will work with students from Opportunity NOW, a youth employment initiative for youth ages 14-18, to design seed packets and companion educational materials for their neighborhoods. Brooklyn Heights Community Garden, 1831 Haynes St, Nashville, TN 37207 Courtney Adair Johnson is an artist and curator based in Nashville, TN. Her art practice works to create sustainable community through reuse awareness. She is interested in creating new ideas with art to generate awareness of our waste and consumption habits. Courtney has led reuse projects with Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Tennessee Craft and Springboard for the Arts (Fergus Falls). She is presently Gallery Director of Tennessee State University Art Department and Co-Builder of McGruder Social Practice Artist Residency (M-SPAR). Seeds donated by
Fabricated by Michael Kellough and Victor R. Stanwick for Sanctum Lignan
Common interests: Mobility and transformation of public life Curated by Sara Reisman Every S.O.S. Free Seeds Library are unique and hand crafted by local Staten Island's wood worker, Even each library is different they all have a metal plaque stating their purpose.
MOBILITY AND TRANSFORMATION Common Interests: mobility and transformation of public life is a small survey of artist projects
that call into question how public space and public assets are managed, offering theoretical and
practical ideas for reclaiming autonomy in public space.
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, - Richard Buckminster Fuller
19th Annual International Roundtable The theme of globalization, food, and agriculture links the global to the local in the very best of Macalester’s International Roundtable traditions, and spans the fine arts, social sciences, humanities, and sciences. The issue of how we sustainably feed the world in the coming decades is a conversation that will be sustained throughout the 2012–13 academic year and serve as a focal point for the American Studies Conference in the spring. This year’s International Roundtable will take place on Thursday and Friday, October 11 and 12, 2012, and seeks to cultivate a civil and respectful exchange between those with contrasting views on how best to feed the world sustainably. The activities on Thursday will include keynote addresses by internationally recognized scholars Raj Patel, Ivette Perfecto, and Joshua Muldavin, followed by a constructive critique from two members of the agri-food business community, Steven Peterson and Jennifer Shaw. The day will end with a moderated roundtable discussion and a reception for making connections.
I heard you speak at Macalester last week. It was a great presentation! Thanks so much for taking to I recently enjoyed listening and speaking with you at Macalester College where my daughter attends school. I am an artist and a teacher in Vermont. I was visiting my daughter's college, Macalester, when I saw you give a talk. I really like so many of your projects. I am starting a free seed library here and designing a booth for seed packet design at a free arts festival at The Sharon Academy in Sharon Vermont. I hope it is okay that I am using so many of your ideas? They are very inspiring and I am so excited to be contributing to spreading the idea of saving seeds and exchanging with neighbors. Thank you for everything you are doing.
October 10, 2012 Macalester art students and guest artist Tattfoo Tan have launched a #FreeSeedLibrary initiative. Modeled on the Little Free Library system, students are making boxes for seeds to be put in public locations and traded freely. Students from Printmaking, Sculpture and Drawing classes designed, drew on and printed seed packets, and are building suitable containers with signage detailing the project. We are looking for community hosts for the seed libraries. Stop by the Art Building Sculpture Studio to see the progress of the project or sign up to host an artistic public seed give away system. Facebook page and Tumblr
"Nothing is more critical to human - Ben Hewitt from the book Making Supper Safe
S.O.S. Emergency Box Seed saving to ensure the future of mankind.
S.O.S. Altoids Tin Survival Kit
S.O.S. Salt and Pepper Shaker
I present from Ecotone Community Garden in Houston’s 3rd Ward – Luffa. Seeds saving are very important to hold on to the heritage seeds and it also save money from buying new seeds. Usually, one will be blessed with seeds more the one can use, so it is the perfect vehicle for community outreach and literally spreading the seed of love.
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