Giant, Diversity-Based, Collaborative Art Project Launches. 40 Artists from around the country to be chosen. Applications being accepted.
When we all come together, we can create something more meaningful than each of us individually”
— David Bloom
BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN, U.S., May 21, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — Artists from around the country are invited to apply to paint a segment of canvas that when zipped together will create a giant public mural called Zip US Up!™. Organizer David Bloom said the name represents a combination of diversity, creativity, and collaboration which will result in a 175-foot long unified and highly visible work of art using real zippers to join forty canvas segments together. The mural will be displayed in the windows of the newly opened Youth Wing of the Baldwin Public Library, overlooking the city’s central plaza in downtown Birmingham, Michigan, a Metropolitan Detroit community.

What Is It?
Zip US Up!™ is an artistic statement that affirms when we all come together, we can create something more meaningful than each of us individually. Per Bloom, this past year has shown that we all need to reach out and respectfully collaborate if our society is going to collectively improve itself and prosper for everyone’s benefit.

What Makes This Project Unique?
Forty artists selected from the Call for Entry will be assigned and provided with an 18” (H) x 56” (L) primed canvas panel that has been prepared for hanging with half of a multicolored Riri metal zipper sewn along each side.

Participating artists will be asked to collaborate with the adjacent artists assigned to the right and left of them to make a cohesive piece of artwork that uniquely represents their artistic style—while using the predetermined connecting points provided on the canvas. There is no requirement on theme, genre, colors, or style provided there is some visible form of cohesion/transition and/or flow between the adjacent panels.

Upon completion, the canvases will be zipped together to create a 175-foot mural to be on display for an eight-month exhibit from October 2021 through May 2022. Segments will be available for sale and sent to purchasers following the exhibition.

Who Picks the Artists?
The jury panel is composed of the following:

• Barbara Heller—Director and Conservator of Special Projects at the Detroit Institute of Arts and Birmingham Public Arts Board Chair
• Laura Whitesides Host—Artist and instructor at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center and Lawrence Street Gallery co-owner
• Chad Smith—Drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and philanthropist
• Ilham Mahfouz—Syrian American artist whose artwork has been shown in the U.S. and abroad
• Gerard Marti – Owner/Artist of the Townsend Street Gallery
• David Chung—University of Michigan MFA Program Director/Artist
• Doran Brooks—Executive Chef/Operator of White Wolf Patisserie in Clawson, MI
• Izegbe D. N’Namdi—Executive Director, N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art in Detroit
• Joyce Riamando—Artist/Author, Founding Director of the Imagine That! Co-op and Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center Education Coordinator in Long Island, NY
• Aaron Cohen—Library consultant and architect/artist

Awards
• 1st Prize: $2,100 (or higher based on additional fundraising) equally divided between the 3 artists with the best collaboration.
• 2nd and 3rd prizes (TBD based on additional fundraising)
• SEE sunglasses will be raffled to one of the selected artists

Artists are invited to apply through CaFĖ™ by sharing examples of their work with a deadline of June 16th. https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=8913.

Contact Email for any inquiries about the project: zip.us.up.art@gmail.com
Contact: David Bloom