A few months ago I applied for a public art installation for the town of Ashland, VA. The sculpture was to have seating, signage for the Fall Line Trail - a new bike/walking trail that will go from Ashland, through Richmond and on to Petersburg, and be quirky and have something to do with bicycles. I really didn't think I stood a chance of getting it because it had a pretty high budget so I knew lots of people would apply. Still, James and I drove the 2 1/2 hours to Ashland to check out the town and see where the trail was. Ashland is a quaint town with the train running right down the middle of Main Street. It's where Randolph-Macon College is, home of the yellow jackets. It was an enjoyable day and I went home inspired. I decided, what the heck, what have I got to lose? It took me awhile to come up with an idea that would include all the criteria. Finally I settled on a dog and rabbit riding bikes side by side pulling banners advertising Fall Line Trail, which would actually be benches. I wrote up a brief project statement, which allowed only 1000 characters. I built the dog on the bike so they could see what kind of work I do. They really only required you to send in drawings and plans for it since there wasn't much time between the entry and the deadline. I doubt anyone else built something without knowing if it was worth their time and money if they didn't get the job. I knew I could install the dog at Thunder BRidge if it wasn't accepted.
Much of the dog and the wheels on the bike are made from railroad hardware, which I thought the town of Ashland would appreciate.
After submitting my entry I waited. I think it was at least a 3 week wait. During that time James and I had another date day and had lunch in Harrisonburg at this very busy diner. On the shelf behind me was a Magic Eight Ball. My aunt had one of those when I was a kid and I thought it was pretty cool. First James asked it if I loved him. It answered, "without a doubt". We asked it a few other questions and it gave positive, expected answers. Then I asked it, "will I get the project in Ashland?" As you probably guessed, it answered, "Outlook not so good". I asked again and got another very negative reply. James told me to stop asking so I did. We had a good laugh about it.
I forgot to mention, in the Call For Entry it read that after going through all the entries they'd narrow it down to "up to 5 finalists" and those finalists would receive $500 and have to give a presentation to the Parks And Recreation committee. I kept saying I'd be tickled pink just to be in the final 5.
Much to my flabbergasted surprise I got an email saying I made it to the finals and was to present to them on July 10th. They asked if I could change the rabbit to another animal that was more Ashland-centric like a fox, a frog or a yellow jacket. I chose the frog. Here was what I had in mind.
Another friend made some CAD drawings to show the bench in 3D. I wrote up my final plans and submitted them. Last night was my presentation. My sister-in-law, Rachel has given many presentations and helped prepare me. She even researched who was on the parks and rec committee and what the town's public art master plan was.
We checked out the room in Town Hall a few hours before the presentation to see what I could expect. When we were peeking in the room a woman came out and introduced herself as the woman I'd been corresponding with all along. She informed me there were 3 finalists, told me I would be going second and that it was open to the public. Later we learned there were 22 submissions.
Are you sweating for me? I am not a public speaker and can't imagine I'll ever find it easy. I'll try to make this long story not as long as it could be. The meeting lasted an hour and a half. The two other presenters were way more experienced in public functional installations. The company TerraCycle is all over the world but this group was from Trenton, NJ. They presented virtually. The other guy from 900 North Studios out of Indiana, was present and went before me. He had a very professional, detailed slide show and showed many of his previous projects all over the country. I don't think he ever smiled. Ask me if I was intimidated. He spoke for about half an hour including questions from the committee. I went next and had these pitiful drawings and a paper with handwritten notes I was using for prompts. I brought my yellow jacket with me to show them a sample of my work. I smiled a lot and knew they were probably all feeling sorry for me, though I'm pretty sure they liked my yellow jacket.
Knowing all along I wouldn't get the gig I finally relaxed and listened to the last presenters from NJ. They got the job and deserved it. There were so many things I hadn't even considered which both of them did - like a shade structure over it. That wasn't in the call for entry or I would have designed something. They were concerned children would climb on mine and get hurt, which is probably a very reasonable concern. I grew up playing on steel monkey bars with an asphalt playground. Maybe that's my excuse for not considering safety. Or I had a head injury as a child and that's my problem.
After they removed me from consideration they said to me something like, I haven't heard the last from them and that they adored my sculptures and hoped to have me make something for them in the future for other parks. I won't hold my breath but it was nice of them to say anyway.
I do wonder why I was invited to present with the other 2. They must have known they weren't going to offer it to me. This is my ego talking here - as an art piece, I feel like they appreciated my vision, but the others, which I thought were somewhat sterile (I know, sour grapes), were safe, well designed, would need less upkeep down the line and met the criteria they were looking for.
We spent the $500 Ashland paid me by staying in a nice hotel, having a delicious dinner, hiring a pet sitter and enjoying a nice get-away. It was totally worth the stress.
I learned a ton from this. I learned about collaborating (the benches were to be built by Rails' End in Lexington), asking for help (my sister-in-law, Rachel and a friend, David who did my CAD drawings and of course James, who helps in so many ways), preparing for a presentation to the public and a committee, consider safety more (maybe), and that I have lots and lots of support from friends and family who think I'm more qualified than I am.
I also learned that the Magic Eight Ball is all knowing.
