dayton is not in ohio

The only reason that I have this streak is because, a) collecting and keeping reams and reams of rejection letters over the years actually succeeded in compelling the art world to have pity on me, b) I only apply to things that seem to fit my strengths — I don’t bet on the 40/1 horse, and c) apparently my writing is stronger than my drawing.

Regardless, I’m excited to have the chance to make my putt-putt hole! REALLY excited! No awkward, stressful, wine and cheese opening for this one… It’s a freaking golf tournament, baby! There really is no better blend for me than golf and art and athletic competition. The irony is that one of the prominent art webcasts in Chicago is called Bad at Sports. Not the Church Studios crew! We have a gym, sucka!

So anyway, since the streak is alive I thought I’d reminisce about the proposal streak…

1. Eastern State Penitentiary, 2005 — Every self-respecting sculptor in Philadelphia is required by secret civic art-law to submit a proposal to Eastern State’s installation program, so that’s why I did. The only reason I got an idea for this is because the Church Studios were next door and I had a free artist’s pass. I simply spent so much time inside the prison, that eventually the only thing I could think about was trying to escape my self-imposed incarceration, and The End of the Tunnel was born. I owe everybody at the studios a lot for the success of this one (especially Keith Crowley and Ben Volta) because of the feedback to simplify my original, more complex ideas.

2. Chambers-Wylie/Broad Street Ministry, 2006 — This one just made sense to apply to. I’m an artist and a Presbyterian preacher’s kid. This was a call for proposals for an installation in a Presbyterian church building. Duh! However I really struggled with articulating my idea for this installation, and considered not applying even after I had labored over a complex drawing, because I couldn’t do the vision in my head justice with the written proposal. I woke up the morning the proposals were due with the idea for a narrative, rather than a description in the abstract, and wrote it quickly with the deadline just a few hours away. I liked the idea for Tilting at Giants a lot, and was almost sad that I liked it so much, because you just can’t get your hopes up with this kind of thing…

3. Experimental Putt-Putt @ Material Exchange — This was a no brainer to apply for. It was a mini golf hole. How could I not give this one a shot? I wrote in my proposal that one reason I felt qualified to do a golf hole is because I’ve actually listened to golf on the radio. It’s true. I listened to the final round of the 2005 Masters. Tiger won. It was awesome. This actually had a lot to do with coming up with the idea for Tin Cup: A braille mini-golf hole for the sight impaired.