Civil Engagement Project Art - Adryanna Ryan
Public Art in Garden Grove California
Clock Tower "Tower on the Green"
Phase 1: Site
I chose this site because it is nearby, a part of my life and a historical piece.
Phase Two: Field Work
Artist/history/location
-Architect/Artist, Miles Folsum, constructed in January 2002 is a prime face of Garden Grove CA. It was built in honoring the diversity in Garden Grove and to complement the completion of more construction of Garden Grove Mainstreet. This tower was planned, created and built by the Clock & Brick Committee. The tower was built on Garden Groves oldest park, "the Village Green" and is decorated with strawberries to represent Garden Grove's biggest event held at that park, which is the Strawberry Festival.
Materials/sponsors
-Electric Time Company of Medford was the company where the clocks mechanism was ordered.
-30,000-pound main steel
-700-pound clock faces
The Tower on the Green was funded through fundraisers/donations from community and business donors. There is actually a smaller statue behind the clock that gives honor to all the charities who helped fund the clock.
Community responses
- The community loves the tower on the green. Many of the residents, community members and businesses nearby all helped fund the Tower. More than $25,000 was raised for the project and by the end nearly $118,000 in donations.
-The tower is used for a designated destination to go and take photos, especially during Christmas time when there is a huge Christmas tree planted. Every December, the Tower hostess a Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
Phase 3: Critical analyzes
Representation: In Garden Grove, there is a very rich culture filled with diversity. Garden Grove takes pride in their growing diverse community. The GGCF primarily wanted to focus on Garden Groves ethnic diversity, so everyone feels represented in the Tower.
What Histories are centered?
- In Garden Grove, there are a lot of immigrant families from a lot of countries. It is historically known for their high Vietnamese populations, and their community is represented a lot. So, the Tower representing Diverse ethnicity, is representing all ethnicity. The tower also has a few strawberries placed throughout it, primarily because of the strawberry festival that is held every year at that park.
Who funds and decides the art?
-Well, this tower was funded by a lot of charities but mostly by the GGCF and they are also the ones that decided on the art and how it'll look.
Phase 4: Proposal
Growing up in California, I have a lot of memories from my childhood that includes the clock tower. I often went to the park, where the clock is placed, and would always try my best to read the time. I also went to ballet, a studio on Mainstreet and would perform at the GEM theatre right next to the clock as well. The strawberry festival was held at that park every year and also the Christmas tree ceremony. So, when I think of my town, I always think of that clock and all the fun memories that are associated with it.
-Something that I have seen in my community that I have liked is that in the same park, the Garden Grove community center is on site, and each year there is a community held art showcase where members in the community display their art. Students from the GGUSD also get a chance to showcase their art by the clock. Somethings that I dislike about the community is the fact that down Mainstreet Garden Grove, there is not a good variety of different shops, as majority of the shops now are all just tea shops.
A new art placement suggestion I have is that a lot of the art showcases are only limited to the school children and the community often have limited, if not no opportunities for adults to showcase their work. Also! It's only for art students at a school as well! If other students who enjoy making art but aren't taking an art class, they won't know about the showcasing events. The selection process is also biased, and art is often picked if it's from people who know people. I personally would change this, make sure all ages are able to participate and make sure the showcase events are published on a public forum.
Student Artwork on Construction Site:
Phase 1: The site
- The art is located in Garden Grove California. It is displayed on a fence, blocking the construction site of a new police department. Garden grove Unified school district used this as a way to showcase and display students' arts.
Phase 2: Field Work
location/artist/representation: The location is at the Garden Grove police department. The police department is currently being build and the art is displayed surrounding the construction site. GGUSD used this as an opportunity to display students' art pieces, so there are all different artists being shown in the picture. This fence is representing the talent of the city and all the outstanding children who represent the community and who the police officers are helping to keep safe.
Materials and sponsors:
The materials used was vinyl, used to make the banner and also the fence. The children's drawing was submitted online.
Phase 3: Critical Analysis
Who is being represented? - In a way, all of Garden Grove is being represented, police officers and students are being represented. The Garden Grove school district funded the art and they also decided the prompt of the art. Some histories that are being represented is the Garden Grove library that was demolished and taken down for the police department to be built and also the history of Garden grove and their communities like the schools in the town and also the first responders.
Phase 4: Proposal
As previous stated, I don't like how only a certain number of student's art are allowed to be displayed. When I was looking at the drawings of the students, I noticed that after about 10 drawings, the drawings got repeated again, even though was room for another 20. However, on the brighter side, I like how the city gave the artist an opportunity to display their talents.
I would recommend more art displays, maybe on Mainstreet Garden Grove and throughout the city and would also want it to expand for all ages and not just school children.
However, I chose this site because the police department that is currently being built, once used to be a park with a pond and a library I used to go to a lot when I was kid. So, it's sad that it all got destroyed but it's nice they used the kid's art to show that the community is still growing.
References:
Comments
Post a Comment