I’ve been meaning to say a word about this all week. Probably sometime today, SeeSAW — See Savannah Art Walls — will go over its original $5,000 goal for a Kickstarter campaign.
The inspiring effort to bring public art and murals to Savannah is largely the work of Matt Hebermehl and James “DrZ†Zdaniewski. From the campaign description:
Through hard work, persistence and patient navigation of bureaucratic red-tape we have recently been granted permission from the city of Savannah to oversee a wall designated for murals at 34th and Habersham Street. We’re calling the wall “See Savannah Art Walls,†or “SeeSAWâ€. SeeSAW is the first wall of its kind in the city!
SeeSAW will organize, coordinate and fund positive, Savannah-centric themed murals in the public domain. We actively seek artists, neighborhoods and property owners willing to work together with responsible process in order to foster an environment where public art thrives and promotes a sense of pride and civic unity.
We’re trying to raise $5,000 to fund materials, artist compensation, and documentation of each mural at 34th and Habersham Street. The murals will rotate on a quarterly basis.
Here’s the video for the campaign:
There’s much more info at the See Savannah Art Walls website.
Since it looks like SeeSAW is sprinting past its goal, organizers have added another reward if the campaign hits $7,000.
Go to the link to see the beautiful mural that Katherine Sandoz will be painting on that blank wall on Habersham Street.
It’s been a long haul getting some sort of language in local codes that distinguishes art like this from graffiti and signage. The changes to the code and this effort are a great example of Peter Kageyama’s love notes, the small gifts that cities can give to themselves — the small moves that can increase civic engagement. I wrote about that here.