April 17-21 saw the coming and going of Jacksonville's One Spark Festival, held in the core of downtown and featuring over 400 "Creators" competing for a share of a $250,000 crowdfund. We were thrilled to finish in 2nd Place overall, and 2nd Place in Art with our Beyond the Façade project. There are lots of details on the project website and I hope to add some additional posts on the creation process as it relates to my artwork. The most valuable part of the festival for me was the motivation of having the event, forcing me to deliver on an idea I've been considering for years. I needed a goal to commit to and this was it. I was also on a high for 5 days as the public validated our ideas. There's nothing like having positive feedback from people you don't know. The interaction and connections are very valuable.
So what's next? Our original project idea was to identify additional locations for installations and develop a plan for additional pieces. We are recovering from the costs of the project and now have an idea of the effort involved in a large mural-type installation. The funds received from One Spark (around $4,000) will be applied to recovering costs, and we plan to apply for other grants and private funding for the next pieces. I have several ideas in mind and hope that we can be in a position to execute after the summer.