Q-Art Code Project Celebrates City of Raleigh's Public Art Collection

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Jayne Kirkpatrick, Director, Public Affairs

Prepared by: John Boyette, Public Affairs Specialist

 

For more information: Kim Curry-Evans, Arts Commission, 919-996-3610

 

Feb. 14, 2013

 

Q-Art Code Project Celebrates City of Raleigh’s Public Art Collection

 

The City of Raleigh Arts Commission has partnered with North Carolina State University’s Advanced Media Lab to develop a project that provides smartphone users public access to information about the City’s public art collection.

 

A reception to launch the Q-Art Code Project will take place on Friday, March 1 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at CAM Raleigh, 409 W. Martin Street. Remarks begin at 7 p.m. Admission is $5 for the general public. The event is free for CAM Raleigh members, children 10 and under, and faculty, staff and students at N.C. State’s College of Design. There will be free snacks and a cash bar.

 

The City of Raleigh’s collection of more than 300 works of art on view in public spaces is managed by the Arts Commission. A primary goal of the Arts Commission is to raise awareness of the impact of public art and its cultural and economic contributions through the documentation of artwork in the City’s collection.

 

Through quick response (QR) codes and mapping, the Q-Art Code Project allows smartphone users to access information about one dozen sculptures in the City’s art collection. The project documents key sculptures in the collection, provides an online archive, and offers mobile access to the City’s history through public art.

 

Some of the artwork featured in the Q-Art Code Project include the Sir Walter Raleigh sculpture and Thomas Sayre’s Cree Shimmer Wall, both located at the Raleigh Convention Center Downtown; Adam Wall’s Defense Toy, the Andy and Opie sculpture, and Matt McConnell’s Weathervane, all located at Pullen Park; and Abbe Godwin’s sculpture of Martin Luther King, Jr., located in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Garden off of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.        

Advanced Media Lab students at N.C. State University researched and interviewed artists to develop brief videos on 12 sculptures in the City’s art collection. The resulting videos were incorporated into an interactive website, accessible via QR codes located at the site of each sculpture. Scanning the QR codes with a smartphone provides access to the videos and website.

 

The website also features an interactive map of Raleigh showing where each featured artwork is located, along with the other sculptures that are a part of the project. A social media component enables viewers to leave comments about the artwork for others to see and respond to.

 

Advanced Media Lab is a research and teaching lab of the graduate program for New Media and Animation at the College of Design at N.C. State University. The Q-Art Code Project was a semester-long classroom project for approximately 15 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the program.

 

CAM Raleigh is a collaboration between the N.C. State University College of Design CAM Raleigh Initiative and the Contemporary Art Foundation (CAF), a private 501(c)(3) organization. The two organizations work together to form CAM Raleigh.

 

Established in 1977 as the official advisory body and advocate for the arts to the Raleigh City Council, the City of Raleigh Arts Commission serves as the leading force to champion the arts with Raleigh citizens and their representatives. The Art Commission’s myriad activities foster, support, and promote the arts in the Capital City.

  

For more information, contact the City of Raleigh Arts Commission at 919-996-3610; email Kim Curry-Evans, public art coordinator, at Kim.Curry-Evans@raleighnc.gov; or follow Raleigh Public Art on Facebook or Twitter.

 

{NOTE: Attached are images of “Toy Defense” by Adam Walls and “Cree Shimmer Wall” by Thomas Sayre}