By: Erin Williams—
Muncie, IN—The Muncie Arts and Culture Council and PlySpace, an artist-in-residence program based in the Emily Kimbrough Historic District in downtown Muncie, Indiana, are excited to announce the second Summer Term Resident Artist, Kacie Lyn Martinez. Martinez is a participatory fiber artist based in Brooklyn, New York whose work generates contemporary weaving projects which combine therapeutic, meditative practice with traditional weaving methods. While in residence at PlySpace throughout the month of August, Martinez will present a public weaving project,“the hopes we wear on our backs,” at Canan Commons. The launch of this project will coincide with the First Thursday in August. She will also work directly with the YWCA of Muncieand Muncie OUTreach as community collaborative project partners to explore the weaving process as a catalyst for healing, community cohesion, and home-making.
The participatory public art project titled “the hopes we wear on our backs” explores the process of collectively envisioning Muncie’s future. Held at the west end of Canan Commons through the month of August, “the hopes we wear on our backs”invites Muncie residents to write out their hopes for the city on strips of recycled clothing which will then be woven by Martinez and interested participants into a temporary public artwork installed at the Canan Commons grates. The project is inspired by a lack of public spaces for dialogue as well as negative news cycles which sensationalize trauma and ignore daily beauty in our communities. The project aims to engage with various Muncie communities by using participatory fiber arts to make physical the process of collective dreaming.
Martinez will begin actively working on the public installation on First Thursday, August 2nd, from 5-8 PM. She will be on site to answer questions about the project and her process, and the public is invited to participate by sharing their hopes and dreams for Muncie in person. She will continue the project by facilitating public participation each following Saturday throughout the month of August from 11 AM to 2 PM. Martinez will also be on site Saturday, August 4th from 6-8 PM prior to Downtown Development’s Moonlight Movie screening of “Wonder Woman” at Canan Commons. The public can also participate at any time by adding to the supply of recycled clothing strips and writing their hopes on the strips for Martinez to weave during her next public workday. Full instructions on how to participate will be available at the Canan Commons artwork site and on www.plyspace.org.
For more information about Muncie Arts and Culture Council and its other programs, please visit www.munciearts.org. Questions or comments about the PlySpace Residency program, events, and community collaborations can be directed to Program Coordinator, Erin Williams at hello@plyspace.org.
PlySpace is a program of Muncie Arts and Culture Council in partnership with the City of Muncie, Ball State University School of Art, and Sustainable Muncie Corporation. PlySpace is generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
