HomeMy WebLinkAboutWriting Garden_Porchlight LiteraryIowa City Public Art Matching Fund Program
Introduction
Thank you for your interest in this grant opportunity. Prior to completing this application form, please review the Public Art Matching Grant
Frequently Asked Questions at www.icgov.org/publicart.
If your project takes place on City-owned or privately-owned property, you must provide evidence in the following application that you have
support from the appropriate parties to proceed with this project. Failure to obtain prior approval could disqualify or delay an otherwise good
proposal. If you aren’t sure if you need prior approval from a project partner, please contact the Public Art Coordinator Rachel Kilburg Varley at
319-356-5248 or rkilburg@iowa-city.org.
General Information
The Public Art Matching Grant Program aims to increase public art access and opportunities in Iowa City. The program funds visual, audio, or
performance-based art projects that are located in Iowa City and accessible to the general public.
Successful grant applications will show evidence of a specific planned project which can be completed before January 2025. Please complete the
following application in its entirety. If you have questions or need assistance completing this application form, please contact Public Art
Coordinator Rachel Kilburg Varley at 319-356-5248 or rkilburg@iowa-city.org
It is recommended applicants save the form every 5-10 minutes to avoid losing progress. To do this, click “Save as Draft” at the bottom
of the File Uploads page.
Project Name *
The Writing Garden at PorchLight
Applicant Name *
PorchLight Literary Arts Center
Applicant Email *
colvillejen@hotmail.com
Applicant Phone *
4154079874
Applicant Address *
Street Address
121 Richards St.
Address Line 2
City
Iowa City
State/Province/Region
IA
Postal/Zip Code
52246
Country
United States
Are you the project artist *
Yes No
Briefly describe who will be completing the project, including a URL to artist webpages if available. If unknown, explain how an
artist(s) will be recruited for the project.*
This project will involve six teaching writers, one installation artist and one zine making artist. Each of the teaching artists has been selected for
their variety of approach to creative writing and their ability to connect with different segments of the community. We plan to invite Chuy Renteria
(non-fiction) Caleb Rainey (spoken word) Jennifer New (oral story-telling) Lauren Haldeman (graphic story telling) Tricia Windschitle (children’s
literature) and Margaret Le May (poetry).
Our installation artist will be Elizabeth Munger (https://www.elizabethamunger.com/)
Our zine artist will be Mackie Garrett (https://www.publicspaceone.com/icpc-blog/blog/2018/7/12/mackie-garrett-is-508-press)
Have you received Public Art Matching Grant Funds in the past?*
Yes No
Project Details
To save progress, click “Save as Draft” at the bottom of the File Uploads page.
Provide a brief description of the proposed project *
The Writing Garden at PorchLight will celebrate the connection between planting and writing, and the generative and regenerative nature of art.
We will start by inviting the public to participate in six sessions, each of which will combine an actual planting activity with a generative creative
writing exercise. Each session will be led by a different literary artist from the community. These writers will design a creative writing prompt
around the specific planting activity taking place that day – that might be preparing the soil, planting seeds, perennials, annuals, digging a hole, or
planting a tree or a shrub. After the planting session participants will write from the leaders prompt, share their work with the group if they wish,
or take their work home to develop further. All participants will be invited to have their work included in a commemorative zine made by Mackie
Garrett of 508 Press. Participants can also submit their pieces to be part of a celebratory reading at the end of the four month long project in
August.
Along with readings from participants, and music the Writing Garden celebration will reveal six new garden plaques and response boxes
designed by Elizabeth Munger. Each plaque will display the distilled text of each prompt offered in the writing/planting sessions, and will include a
separate or attached box in which new visitors to the garden can leave responses. These will be placed next to each planting area. Our hope is
that the garden prompts and responses will attract and provide creative inspiration, joy or quiet moments of reflection for visitors throughout
Spring, Summer and into the Fall.
Explain how the project is defined as “public art” and demonstrate that the artwork will be located in an area open and freely
accessible to the general public *
The Writing Garden will be created by the public and for the public, with the help of working artists as facilitators. By inviting community
members to help with the planting, we hope to engage a collaborative spirit among neighbors who live close to PorchLight and visitors who come
from farther away. Participants will write their responses individually, but they will be invited to share their responses aloud, add them to the
Writing Garden Zine, or store them in the garden inside a response box. Adding a response to one of the boxes for a future visitor to read will be
a way to pollinate new creative responses, further enhancing the spirit of collaboration. All of the activities will take place during PorchLight’s
regular community salon hours between 11 and 3 on Saturday. After the project is over the public will continue to be able to use the garden to
read the shared responses and take inspiration from the prompts during these same open hours. PorchLight is zoned as a private group
gathering space, such as a church or an elks club. This zoning allows for small group gathering inside and larger group gatherings on the porch
and in the yard, and makes PorchLight a prime location to showcase public art within a neighborhood. PorchLight is also located on a bus route
that runs down Muscatine, and is centrally located within the city. In addition, it is only a seven minute walk from Saturday ’s Farmer’s Market to
PorchLight. We plan to use this to our advantage by tabling at the market or passing out flyers.
Describe the intended audience for this project, why public art is important to that audience, and any efforts you will make to
benefit the broader community, especially populations which have faced systemic barriers to art access or opportunities *
The audience for this project is anyone who enjoys writing, gardening or collaborative growing and art making projects. One of PorchLight’s goals
is to serve people who have faced systemic barriers to art access and opportunities. This project is designed in part with this goal in mind. The
session leaders were chosen for their ability to welcome and draw in participants of different identities, income levels and levels of experience. In
addition, PorchLight has relationships with Oaknoll, Shelter House’s Fairweather Lodge, and the Southside Art Marketplace, where we will work to
engage participants. We will place flyers widely throughout the community. We know transportation in a factor in getting people to art events,
and are happy to be located very close to a bus route on Muscatine.
How will you know your project was successful?*
Our goal is to have at least twelve people per planting and writing session, and to host a crowd of at least forty on the lawn at PorchLight for the
celebratory reading and Writing Garden unveiling. A successful project will also engage a wide variety of people across Iowa City and in the region,
and bring new faces to PorchLight. We will track demographics through a post event email survey. In addition, we will measure success by how
participants rate their feeling of being welcomed and engaged by the event. We will attempt to measure this in the same brief email survey sent
to record demographics. Finally, another marker of success will be having people continue to use the writing garden during our open hours on
Saturdays.
Will this project take place on public or private property?*
Public/City-Owned
Private Property Owned by the Applicant or project partner listed above
Private Property not owned by the applicant
Location of Project *
PorchLight Literary Art Center
Project Partner(s) (if any)
Elizabeth Munger, Mackie Garrett
Describe the role of any project partners listed
Elizabeth Munger will design the plaques that display the writing prompts and the boxes to collect written responses. Mackie Garrett will design
and make the zine that contains participants responses from our sessions.
Timeline
To save progress, click “Save as Draft” at the bottom of the File Uploads page.
Project Timeline
Tell us about the proposed timeline and action steps needed to complete this project. Use one line for each milestone and add additional lines as
needed.
Action Step/Milestone Completed by
Officially invite artist/teachers, establish availability and build the
writing and planting session and celebration schedule.
03/31/2024
Secure partners to help offset the costs of buying plants and
equipment for the planting sessions.
03/31/2024
Develop promotional materials, and a promotional strategy. Pursue
coverage with Little Village and the Iowa Press Citizen who have
partnered with us in the past.
03/31/2024
Facilitate the first session 04/15/2024
Facilitate second session 04/30/2024
Facilitate third session 05/15/2024
Facilitate fourth session 03/31/2024
Facilitate fifth session 06/15/2024
Facilitate sixth session 06/30/2024
Remind participants to submit pieces of garden writing in order to
participate in the reading at the Writing Garden Celebration in mid-
August. Send survey to all who attended a session.
07/01/2024
Have zine completed, readers selected, and a musician lined up for
the celebratory event.
07/31/2024
Elizabeth Munger will have completed the prompt plaques and
response boxes .
08/07/2024
Writing Garden celebration with community readers, music and an
unveiling of the new plaques, response boxes, and full garden.
08/15/2024
Consult with Backyard Abundance 03/31/2024
Budget
To save progress, click "Save as Draft" at the bottom of the File Uploads page.
Please use the budget templates below. A completed budget should tell us what sources of funds your project will use and how you plan to spend
the grant money.
Project Funding Sources
Total Project Cost *
$3,000.00
Matching Grant Request *
$1,500.00
Please list any other funding sources supporting your project. Add additional rows as needed.
Other funding source *Amount *Committed or Anticipated?*
PorchLight in-kind labor from director $250.00 Committed Anticipated
PorchLight in kind labor from co-op
members
$250.00 Committed Anticipated
Backyard abundance consultation $150.00 Committed Anticipated
Please describe any project supplies, equipment, or labor which are being donated in-kind
30 hrs of combined director and co-op member hours at $20 an hour will donated in-kind. Five hours for creating promotional material and
getting it placed. Twenty hours of supervision and facilitation of the projects sessions and the final reading and celebration.
Project Budget
Please list a breakdown of project expenses and funding sources. Funding for personal property or gain will not be authorized. Example:
Amount:Describe Expense Item:Amount paid by Matching Grant:Amount paid in-kind or by other
funding source:
$400 Paint $400
$200 Paint Supplies $200
$1,500 Artist labor $500 $1,000
$150 Plaque/signage $150
Previous Next
Amount Expense Item Amount paid by Matching
Grant
Paid in-kind or by other
funding source
$500.00 plantings and planting supplies $500.00
$200.00 supplies for making the garden
boxes
$200.00
$300.00 stipend for garden box building
and design
$300.00
$500.00 director and co-op member
labor
$500.00
$900.00 writer/teacher stipends $900.00
$300.00 stipend for commemorative
zine
$300.00
$150.00 reading refreshments $150.00
$150.00 printing and promotion $150.00
File Uploads
Letters of support, if available (?)
Images (?)
IMG_2809.jpg 184.09KB
IMG_2807.jpg 179.79KB
IMG_2804.jpg 171.3KB
Site Plan (?)
IMG_2813 (1).JPG 591.81KB
Additional Information (?)
Signature