Public Art Series (Part 2): Panel Discussion at Minnetrista

Join us for a Public Art Panel Discussion // Thursday, August 15th, from 6-8 PM at Minnetrista (Indiana Room) // Moderated by Les Smith, incoming Board President for Community Enhancement Projects. This event is free and open to the public.

This panel discussion is the second event in a two-part series on public art hosted by Muncie Arts and Culture Council and PlySpace resident artist Masha Vlasova. The event brings together a range of professional touch points with public art and welcomes Muncie residents and local arts advocates into a broad and informative conversation about its various forms, their impact on quality of place, and mechanisms for commissioning and stewarding works of art for the public.

About the panelists:

Les Smith (Moderator) has been a licensed landscape architect since 1982. He recently completed a 35-year career as a faculty member in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Ball State University. Les is currently the Vice President for Community Enhancement Projects, Inc. (CEP). CEP is a very active Muncie beautification organization. CEP is also responsible for the design, development, funding and maintenance of many familiar community parks and recreation facilities (e.g. Riverbend Park; The White River Greenway Trails; Canan Commons Stage and Park; the Bicentennial Pavilion/Overlook Park, etc.).

Masha Vlasova (Panelist and PlySpace Resident) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator. She holds an MFA from Yale School of Art and a BFA from the Cooper Union.  She’s a recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship in Filmmaking, Alice Kimball Fellowship, and the JUNCTURE Art and Human Rights Fellowship at Yale Law School. Her photographs, sculptures, and films have been exhibited and screened nationally and internationally at Leeds College of Art and at Braziers Mini Indi Film Festival in the UK, Aspekte Galerie in Germany, Smack Mellon, Anthology Archives, Abrons Arts Center, and the Border Project Gallery in New York City, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University among others. She has presented on her work at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Cooper Union, Davison College, and Ludwig-Maximilians Unversitat Munchen (University of Munich). Her curatorial project “Women Filmmakers at the Intersection of Documentary, Video Art, and Avant Garde,” premiered at Indiana University Cinema at Indiana University at Bloomington the Fall of 2018. This Fall she will start as an Assistant Professor of Lens-based and Digital Art practices at Wofford College.

Lauren M. Pacheco (Panelist) is an arts and culture practitioner with more than 15 years of professional experience in arts administration, curation and project management. Her experience is grounded in social practice and public engagement. Pacheco is co-founder of the Chicago Urban Art Society and the Chicago Lowrider Festival. In 2011, she developed and curated the award-winning public art initiative, Art in Public Places along the 16th street viaduct in Chicago’s Pilsen community. In September 2017, Lauren won a public art grant from the Knight Foundation and will transform outdoor vacant space in Gary, Indiana into a walkable, art-park. She has received grant funding from the Knight Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Legacy Foundation, Chicago Community Trust and the National Association for Latinos Arts and Cultures. Lauren holds degrees from Northwestern University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

Richard McCoy (Panelist) is the founding director of the Landmark Columbus Foundation, a non-profit organization that cares for the design heritage of Columbus, Indiana and inspires communities to invest in architecture, art, and design to improve people’s lives and make cities better places to live. Landmark Columbus Foundation is best known for its program Exhibit Columbus which alternates between symposium and exhibition years. McCoy is an experienced cultural leader who creates unique solutions to complex cultural heritage challenges, curates projects in public spaces, and has worked for major U.S. museums while teaching in universities. He has served on and volunteered for boards and committees of numerous cultural organizations. A former Fulbright Scholar to Spain, McCoy holds a master's degree from New York University and a bachelor's degree from Indiana University. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and family.

Don't miss this exciting opportunity to learn about public art from distinguished professionals in the field.

Muncie Arts and Culture Council is a nonprofit organization and the designated Arts partner for the City of Muncie. PlySpace is a program of the MACC in partnership with the City of Muncie, Ball State University School of Art and Sustainable Muncie Corp. PlySpace is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.