Proposals
This is a collection of rejected and not yet realized proposals/projects.
2015
KCATA Main Street Max Stop, Waldo:
A proposal to redesign the Main Street Max stop in Waldo at 75th and Wornall. This was based on the project, Siteliner, by James Woodfill. I used to take the Main Street Max bus to work everyday from midtown (Armour and Main) to Waldo. The idea was to work with a team composed of artists, architects, contractors, the neighborhood, and KCATA to redesign the bus stop. It was meant to be an impetus to reexamine the entire infrastructure at this intersection. The infrastructural dynamic is strange around the Waldo Max stop. The Trolley Trail feeds into a busy parking lot. There are a lot of connections to East/West lines, so there is a lot of foot traffic across these busy parking lots. There are also a lot popular bars. I met with the KCATA, but this proposal ended up not happening. I did successfully request a bench to be added to the Westbound stop for the 75. The documentation just includes some pictures I took of the stop and the Main Street Max map. At the time I probably printed out some additional notes and research (demographics, inspiration images, etc.).
Streetcar Art Project:
I formulated this idea prior to the current partnership between the Streetcar and Art in the Loop. I wanted to curate a series of temporary art programs to take place on the streetcar (the actual cars and the stops). The Streetcar was under construction at the time. I was basing this idea on the Art on Track program in Chicago (2007-2013). I spoke with Tristan Hummel who created and curated Art on Track. He was working as the curator for the Chicago Loop Alliance, organizing Activate, a series of pop-up art events in alleys in the Loop in Chicago. I worked with artist Sarah Hearn, who would have been the first artist for the proposed series. She developed a proposal combining science fiction, story telling, and KC history. I met with the Streetcar Authority to discuss the proposal. The documents attached are Hearn’s proposal, a sample deck from Activate, and a selection of inspirations. I was very into the idea of Contact Zones and Hans Ulrich Obrist at the time, so that influenced this too.
Sarah Hearn Proposal, Latent Encounters
2018
The Fellowship of Highway 95:
This was for an open call through Atlas Obscura. They would pay two people to go on a five-day road trip on Highway 95 in Nevada and create some kind of art project. I applied with one of my best friends and fellow artist, Tucker Eason. Our idea was to do bonding activities, interview and photograph other friend duos at specific places, and document all of this in a number of ways (photographs, interviews, paintings, a website, etc.). The application had a very structured format. Here is the text from our submission. My brother’s friend worked at Atlas Obscura at the time and told us that we were one of the finalists in their selection process. That meant a lot to me.
tangle/untangle:
This was for the Front/Space open call (a space that no longer exists, but used to be in the Crossroads). I wanted to make an ever-changing sculpture that participants could alter. It was to be made out of pipe cleaners. I made a prototype, and I did several color studies. I was hoping to create a way for people to bring awareness of how their feelings specifically relate to connection and disconnection both within themselves and with their interpersonal relationships.
connect: an interpretation of gestalt therapeutic practices:
This was for Juice Box (a space that used to be in KCK). I again proposed the same work from tangle/untangle, but I added an interactive conical sculpture as well—to be hung on the wall. This sculpture would be the inspiration for my proposal to Plug Projects later in the year. I think this is the first time I created a logo for a proposal, a practice that has become more prominent over time for me.
29th and SW Trafficway Pedestrian Bridge:
This wasn’t rejected, but rather it’s just an idea that I worked on for a bit and then let go. I wanted to do an open call for writing that would take the form of messages by inserting plastic cups into the chain link fencing along this pedestrian bridge in KC. I’ve seen this type of thing on the bridge before. I met with Silvi Abisaab a few times to try to collaborate with her on it. We went to the bridge at one point to scope it out. I took some pictures, and I made an excel grid of the bridge with an estimated number of chain link pockets for cups. That way we could design our writing properly and have a solid cup count.
clue to how i feel:
I sent this to Plug Projects for their open call in the late summer/early fall of 2018. I wanted to do a full, immersive installation in their internal gallery space in the West Bottoms (their former location). The installation was going to be all yellow because my brother, who is a therapist, told me that warm colors are calming. I made a bunch of prototypes that you can see on the proposal. This was a strange situation where the proposal was not initially rejected. Plug had contacted me to set up a studio visit, but soon after almost all of their members resigned (I think everyone except for one). The new members maybe didn’t know about our previous correspondence, so we ended up not having a studio visit for a long time. Once we finally did, it seemed like the new members didn’t know that Plug had expressed interest in my proposal. Either that, or I had a bad read on the situation (which is definitely possible). I ended up making a few more prototypes of the cone after this proposal. One of which made out of sewn yellow welding vinyl is particularly nice. The proposal also included a website where I was going to accept writing submissions to be included in the installation.
Un Intercambio/An Exchange:
This was an idea I pursued for a little over a year. I was hoping to set up an artist exchange program with our sister cities. My first choice was Morelia in Mexico. Initially, I was collaborating with Mary Clara Hutchison and Mike Sinclair. I sent a proposal to the Office of Culture and Creative Services (which has since been disbanded), but they didn’t get back to me. A little over a year later, I reached out again, and they responded. Mike Sinclair, JC Franco, and I met with them, but they didn’t have any particular interest in funding the project or actively collaborating on it, at least at that stage. Here is the initial proposal I made and an updated proposal that Franco made (that is much nicer than mine).
2019
Our Streetcar:
I made this in response to the 2019 open call for Art in the Loop. They do streetcar wraps every year. I had my proposal Passing Notes accepted by them the previous year. The theme for the call in 2019 was Make/Believe. My idea was to do an open call of my own to collect a bunch of images for the wrap. I would use all of these drawings to make my streetcar wrap. The proposal explains it in more detail.
i want to choose how i speak with another:
This was also a response to the 2019 open call for Art in the Loop. It would be displayed in the Central Branch of the KC library. The idea was to make a board of color changing lights, each with an individual switch. Participants could invent their own language, using light/color, then they could compose a message that would be illuminated on the board. Even though the proposal was rejected, I ended up making a prototype. I accidentally wired a bunch of the switches to different bulbs, so the switch grid didn’t directly correspond to the light grid, but it did work.
Kemper T-Shirt:
I submitted a design for the Kemper’s t-shirt design open call (Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art). I explain this more in the email, but the idea was to put every artist’s name from their permanent collection on the shirt, and then by selecting certain colors for the type, I would spell Kemper Museum out of those names. Here is the t-shirt design in black and in white (I like the black one better), and here is the email I sent with my explanation.
AiR (Artists in Real Estate):
AiR was a proposal for the Mid American Arts Alliance’s Interchange Artist Grant. The idea was to set up an investment group of artists for real estate. It is both based on other artists’ work, such as Theaster Gates, and on my experience in commercial real estate, specifically from watching my mom (who I worked for doing commercial real estate for the better part of a decade). She helped start an organization called WIRED (Women in Real Estate Development). This proposal basically copies WIRED but with a focus on artists. I would help to gather funds from artists to invest in real estate in accordance with the investment principals that were established by the group of artists. It would also be an educational program for artists to learn more about real estate. The call had a specific format. These documents have the text and budget that I submitted for the call.
Soft Spots:
This was one of two curatorial proposals I made for the KC library. This was for the artist Annelise Kinney, who I met through Art in the Loop. I saw these interactive sculptures that they made at the end-of-semester show at KCAI (Kansas City Art Institute). We wanted to put them in the library and incorporate audio books into them. I must have added an artist statement for Kinney at some point to this proposal, but, on the copy I have, it is still blank.
Bless Your Heart:
This is the second curatorial proposal to the library. The artist I wanted to work with was Jillian Youngbird. She had this idea to host workshops on weaving and quilting with beads in exchange for stories, recipes, etc. She was going to compile these gifts into a book, and she was going to make a community quilt out of beaded squares made from the workshops. I sent this proposal in cold. In other words, there was no open call or anything. That’s my guess as to why it is such a short proposal. I probably wanted to just see if they were interested before moving forward with all of the details.
North East Arcade:
This was a submission to Charlotte Street Foundation’s call for their start-up residency. They had made a deal to have access to some commercial storefront space on Independence Ave. across from Central Bank, and they were going to give these spaces to artists/artist organizations to use for a year. I collaborated with Jake Joslyn, who I knew from collaborating with him and Jacob Canyon (the duo that makes up Future Total Group). Joslyn’s idea was to use the space as an arcade. We wanted to collaborate with artists to make several games/game systems. We then wanted to work with people who lived near the space to make a game for Northeast KC. We made it to the interview stage of this process where I gave a slide presentation.
2020
Application to Bard:
I applied to two graduate schools for curating, Bard and MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). I visited both schools before applying, and I was accepted to MICA where I decided to attend. I can’t remember the entire application for Bard, but here is a speculative exhibition proposal and a statement of purpose. I would later submit the exhibition proposal to Charlotte Street Foundation, where it was also rejected.
Exhibition Proposal, Percent for Art
Percent for Art:
I took the exhibition proposal from Bard made a couple changes and submitted it to Charlotte Street for one of their open calls.
Our Streetcar:
I submitted this proposal again for 2020 with a few additions. I added a few public programs and a printed booklet. More details are on the proposal.
this much:
This was an application for a Research Grant through MICA. I had previously won a juried photography show at Orange Art Foundation in NYC, and part of my prize was a solo show with them in the Spring. I wanted to use this money to help finance making a short, experimental documentary about my mom for that show. I ended up making a video instead about memory and the pandemic (not my favorite work of mine).
Take Home:
This was a submission for a Community Engagement Grant through MICA. I was trying to get funding to continue my work on Take Home, which is a collaborative, potluck style publication that I started with artist JC Franco. Along with artist Jacob Canyon, Franco and I made a prototype issue in the summer/fall of 2020. We had started this collaboration before the quarantine, so it was interrupted quite significantly. A lot of the ideas for this publication came from research that Franco and I did, and a potluck dinner that we hosted for several artists. For this grant, we were going to partner with the Menial Collection in Baltimore. As I write this and think about this rejection, I feel hurt. Here is the text for the application, some images with descriptions, and a letter of support from Jeffry Cudlin—artist, curator, and faculty in the Curatorial Practice MFA at MICA.
2021
Ocean Space Fellowship:
The Ocean Space Fellowship wasn’t the best fit for me on paper because none of my work has been about oceans, but it seemed like a cool opportunity, so I tried to make it work. Plus, the director of my MFA program at the time recommended it to me. I wasn’t surprised that I got rejected, but I was quite proud of how my proposal turned out, especially considering that they had a fairly structured format for the application. I think I was willing to take some more risks because I thought my chances were so low. This is particularly prominent in the Letter of Motivation section which I cheekily re-titled Letters of Motivation (it was heavily inspired by Joe Brainard’s I Remember). My actual idea was to start the Amateur Oceanographic Artists Club, continuing on my interest in amateurism or hobbyism. I applied for this over winter break from school, and I actually read a decent amount about oceanography while making this proposal. I did mess up the contact information for one of my references though.
2022
On Death:
My collaborator—artist and medical student QeeQee Gao—and I are still actively working on this project even though we were rejected from the open call by Curiouser & Curiouser. I didn’t think we had a good chance of getting their open call, and we think we could find a way to make this work outside of a partnership with them. The idea was Gao’s. It is to facilitate a series of peer-to-peer discussions on death/dying. We are also planning on collecting writings in the form of epitaphs. We ended up shifting this project to a series of letters between me and QeeQee.
Road Trip Residency:
This was an application for Charlotte Street Foundation’s Rocket Grant (for $6,000). The directions were to submit a 500 word LOI that contained the following:
Project Summary
Artists Involved
Intended Audience
Specific Context or Venue of the Work
Budget Needs
Project Relevance
My idea was to create a road trip residency. I would plan a short road trip for three artists and myself. Artists would make work during and/or after the trip. The work would then be exhibited in/around my car. In this way, it would be a traveling show. I was hoping to be able to park my car inside somewhere for at least one of the showings. I hadn’t finalized any plans, but I was thinking that the trip would go to Arkansas because I know two artists from KC that are in the MFA Photo program at the University of Arkansas.