Upcoming Events
June 2, 2022, 1:00 PM CT / 2:00 PM ET
Art, Design, and Justice
How can we center artists and culture bearers alongside designers to overcome bureaucratic racism in the design field? This FORWARD series panel discussion will feature:- Joseph Kunkel, director of MASS Design Group’s Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab and citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. Joseph also served as the guest editor of FORWARD #4.
- Jeremy Liu, award-winning artist, social impact strategist and real estate developer. Jeremy also served as the featured essayist of FORWARD #4.
- Angela Two Stars, artist, curator, director of All My Relations Arts, an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate.
Previous Events
2019-present
FORWARD conversation series
Deepen your understanding of the innovative work being done in the public art field. Designed for anyone who wants to keep their pulse on the intersection of arts, culture, place and equity, this series began with the vision of taking expertise off the pages of Public Art Review and bringing it to you direct from leading practitioners.
We now invite you to connect with FORWARD, our new digital publication and conversation series highlighting how artists are partnering with cities, institutions and communities to courageously tackle the vital issues of our time.
From the decolonization of public art, to artists addressing public health challenges, to a more just future of mobility and infrastructure, join us for these deep conversations around creative problem solving in public life.
May 11, 2022
Forecast Breakfast Fundraiser
What an inspiring morning! Our friends and supporters joined us to hear the inside scoop on our groundbreaking work. At this free morning event we dove into our plans for the future, both for Forecast and the public art field. In addition to our executive director Theresa Sweetland, supporters heard from Saint Paul council member Mitra Jalali , Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins, and other community leaders, practitioners, and artists about how we’re centering justice, health, and human dignity throughout our work. Those joining in person enjoyed coffee + pastries prior to the main programming. The event program ran from 9-10 am CDT for all attendees. Those joining in-person had the opportunity to meet and mingle with artists, creatives, city planners, architects, designers, community leaders, philanthropists, and more. Those joining online also had the chance to mingle prior to the program. In-person space was limited and we followed current COVID-related guidelines at the time of the event.
Program video available soon.May 11, 2022
March 15 - April 12, 2022
Making It Public for MA-based Artists
Designed for Massachusetts-based artists interested in responding to Public Art calls but unsure how to approach them. Making it Public is a free 5-week professional development series, designed and facilitated by Forecast for artists of all disciplines to explore and expand their public art making practice. Participating artists are better equipped to respond to a Call for Temporary Public Art and foster more vibrant and equitable public spaces through artmaking. Virtual meetings are weekly 90-minute live zoom sessions.
This was a partnership between Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Forecast, and NEFA.
Learn more about our customized trainings.January 6, 2022
A ‘Public Art Now’ Conversation with Amina Cooper
Guest curator Amina Cooper says in her introduction to the Public Art Now collection in FORWARD Issue #3, “Across the full range of materials, styles, and degrees of permanence, public artworks by Black artists have made essential contributions to the built environment and to community spaces.” This second Public Art Now selection in the FORWARD series features projects by Simone Leigh, Abigail DeVille, Dr. Fahamu Pecou, Jessica Moss, and April Banks. Amina and artists Lava Thomas and Martha Jackson Jarvis discuss public art policy and their experiences as Black artists breaking into this field, the challenges they’ve encountered mounting their first projects, and policy changes they would like to see.
January 6, 2022
November 10, 2021
Public Art & Healthy Communities
This two-hour, live, interactive course is designed to expand your knowledge of public art, placemaking, and community health. It provides guidance through the process of assessment, planning, and implementation for a broad range of public art projects designed to improve health conditions of cities and neighborhoods. Among the areas of impact are individual physical and mental health, social cohesion, active lifestyles, a healthy environment, and safety. This $50 course was taught by Jen Krava of Forecast and Tom Borrup of Creative Community Builders and was held via Zoom.
Learn more about our customized trainings.October 27, 2021
Public Art 101: Purposes and Processes
This 90-minute, live, interactive course helps you build a functional vocabulary and familiarity with what public art can do and ways it comes to be. Public art supports a variety of goals and aspirations of many towns, cities, and neighborhoods, as well as the visions of many artists. How public art is planned, designed, implemented, and experienced will be reviewed. Case studies feature public art projects and how cities engage the public, select artists, and plan for and manage public art programs. The course is especially helpful for public policymakers, community and economic development practitioners, and others involved in planning and placemaking. This includes artists, community activists, and arts managers. This course was taught by Jen Krava of Forecast Public Art and Tom Borrup of Creative Community Builders.
Learn more about our customized trainings.October 27, 2021
October 25 - November 22, 2021
Making It Public (Lowertown / Saint Paul)
Making it Public is a FREE 5-week workshop designed for emerging artists who are interested in exploring how to make their art creations public. The program hosts guest speakers, discusses the field, profession, history, and contemporary issues of public art, and understanding the creative process. This workshop was held from October 25 to November 22, 2021, with recordings sent Thursdays by email and live sessions every Monday via Zoom. Participants were eligible to apply for a $1250 grant to create a project in Saint Paul / Lowertown.
September 25, 2021
Celestial Embodiment: X Expanded Cinema Live Painting and Performance
A Chroma Zone mural & art festival special closing event, Celestial Embodiment: X Expanded Cinema is a montage of video projection, a live score, Indigenous dancing, hip-hop, and spoken word, with a collective of Indigenous artists led by Missy Whiteman. This experience took place concurrent with Whiteman’s mural Celestial Embodiment; this canvas creates an immersive environment that transcends time and place. Guided by ancestral knowledge systems, traditional stories, and contemporary forms of expression, the expanded cinema program features performances by Indigenous artists.
Missy Whiteman (Northern Arapaho and Kickapoo) is an Emmy-nominated writer, director, producer and multimedia artist. Whiteman understands her work to be a voice for her ancestors, their stories and ancestral wisdom. Her late father Ernest Whiteman influenced her work with the gift of artistic vision and the practice of art as ceremony. She is a previous Forecast grantee.
September 25, 2021
September 21, 2021
Chroma Zone Virtual Artist Talk with Forecast Public Art: Decolonizing Public Spaces - Celebrating Indigenous Women/Nonbinary Voices
Indigenous women/nonbinary Chroma Zone mural artists Holly “Miskitoos” Henning (Marten Falls Anishinaabe First Nation, Constance Lake Oji-Cree First Nation), Marlena Myles (Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee), Thomasina Topbear (Santee Dakota and Oglala Lakota), and Missy Whiteman (Northern Arapaho and Kickapoo), connect with moderator Candida Gonzalez for the final artist talk of Chroma Zone 2021. The artists discuss the murals they created, their inspiration, and navigating the muralist world as an Indigenous artist. Forecast is a founding creative partner of the Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival.
September 20 - October 18, 2021
Making It Public (Haciendolo Público)
Making it Public es un taller GRATIS de 5 semanas diseñado para artistas emergentes que estén interesados en explorar cómo hacer públicas sus creaciones de arte. El programa acogerá a oradores invitados, debatirá el campo, la profesión, la historia y los problemas contemporáneos del arte público, y comprenderá el proceso creativo. El taller estará dirigido en el inglés y español. Las inscripciones están limitadas a 30 artistas y cada artista que complete todos los talleres recibirá $300 para crear su propio mini proyecto. AVISO: Esta sesion de Making It Public (Haciendolo Público) es solo para los artistas latines viviendo en Minnesota.
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Making it Public is a FREE 5-week workshop designed for emerging artists interested in exploring how to make their art creations public. The program will host guest speakers, discuss the field, profession, history, and contemporary issues of public art, and understand the creative process. The workshop will be conducted in English and Spanish. Limited to 30 artists; each artist who completes all workshops will receive $300 to create their own mini project. NOTICE: This Making it Public session is only for LatinX artists living in Minnesota.
September 20 - October 18, 2021
September 16, 2021
The Role of Artists in the Future of Community Safety
One of the most pressing and precarious issues of our time is community safety. Safety is a basic human right. Community safety emphasizes community/ies self-determination of what it means to be safe. Artists have long been integral to these efforts to center the needs of the most marginalized members of society as they reimagine safety through criminal justice, emergency response, gun violence reform, policing, community control and freedom from harm. They have done this by creating pathways for transformative confrontations, by highlighting the unseen, by helping people feel welcomed and whole, and more.
This panel discussion featured Minneapolis City Council member and poet Andrea Jenkins, as well as ethnomusicologist and human rights activist Dr. André de Quadros. It was moderated by Mallory Rukhsana Nezam, Guest Editor of FORWARD #3. This is part of our conversation series for our new digital publication, FORWARD. FORWARD issue #3 focuses on community safety.
May 26, 2021
Public Artist Basics: Taxes, Contracts, and Permits
Learn about essential aspects of the public art process: taxes, contracts, and permits. Guest speakers artist and lawyer Tisidra Jones, J.D., tax preparer Greg Mann, and artist and administrator Erin Lavelle join Forecast consultant and Artist Support Grant Coordinator, Aki Shibata, for this free webinar. Some permit info is specific to Minneapolis and Saint Paul, MN; useful tips and insights are invaluable to artists practicing everywhere. Advance your skills! Watch: Public Artist BasicsMay 26, 2021
May 22, 2021
Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ) Mural Tour
Forecast Public Art Executive Director, Theresa Sweetland, and public artist Reggie LeFlore guided a tour to around 10 stunning murals, including Reggie’s own work. Forecast Board Chair, Lea Bittner-Eddy also joined the tour. Tour goers learned about muralism and gained insights into murals and the artists who created them. The tour ended at a block party celebrating the kick-off of the 2021 CEZ Chroma Zone Mural Festival.
April 20, 2021
What is an Equity Audit?
Want to find out more about reviewing race, gender, and more in your public art collection? Our equity audits use comprehensive benchmarking tools to identify inequities in public art collections as related to race, gender, immigration status, and more. Watch this info session recording on Forecast’s YouTube channel.
April 20, 2021
April 8, 2021
Making It Happen: Artists & Transportation
Are you a transportation or transit agency thinking about working with an artist to address your larger goals or challenges? Are you an artist interested in working on transportation projects, but don’t know how to start? View a recording of this event, where Forecast Director of Programming and New Initiatives, Jen Krava, and consulting team member Mark Salinas, provide practical information about how artists and transportation entities can work together.
March 25, 2021
What is an Equity Audit?
Want to find out more about reviewing race, gender, and more in your public art collection? Our equity audits use comprehensive benchmarking tools to identify inequities in public art collections as related to race, gender, immigration status, and more. Watch a recording of this info session from April 20, 2021 on Forecast’s YouTube channel.
March 25, 2021
March 18, 2021
Self-Initiated Public Art: A ‘Public Art Now’ Conversation with Muna Malik
The first event in our Public Art Now series features a conversation between artist Muna Malik and guest curator Tricia Heuring. Malik discussed her public art project, Blessing of the Boats, featured in the inaugural Public Art Now collection. The artist shares more about her process of building this self-initiated public art project from the ground up, and joins Heuring in reflections on the collection. Watch the conversation on the Public Art Now page within FORWARD, or on Forecast’s YouTube channel.
To request accessibility accommodations for any of our programming or events, please email us at info@forecastpublicart.org.
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