Arts And Equity Initiative History
Art at Work is a national initiative to improve municipal government through strategic art-making projects with city employees and elected politicians.
Since 2007, posters, photographs, prints and poems by city workers hang in city parking garages, lunchrooms, recycling centers, police stations, conference rooms, maintenance shops and hallways.
City employees have created 150 original artworks, seen or heard by over 25,000 people in the region.
Art At Work has organized three exhibits at it's City Hall Chambers Gallery, hosted a police poetry reading attended by 150 people, organized two arts-based civic dialogues for the police and community members and published two police poetry calendars.
Art At Work is currently meeting with other cities to replicate the project.
Art At Work is a project of arts nonprofit Terra Moto Inc.
2003
American Festival Project's Art & Democracy Gathering at Appalshop in Whitesburg, KY hosted a panel organized by Pottenger "Performance to Policy: the use of the arts in developing municipal policies"
2005
'Home land security' opens to sell-out crowds at Portland's Center for Cultural Exchange. A community performance written and directed by Pottenger, performers included the Mayor, Fire Chief, NAACP President and leaders from the MicMac, Sudanese, homeless, Latino, African American, Franco, Kurd and Somali communities.
2006
Bi-monthly exploratory/planning meetings with Pottenger and Portland's Director of Multicultural Affairs Rachel Talbot Ross, City Councilor Duson, Deering HS Principal Kunin and Portland's Director of Multilingual Education Valenzuela
2007
• With first year funding from Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Maine Community Foundation and a 3 year contract with the City of Portland, Pottenger moved to Portland from NYC to begin developing the "Arts & Equity Initiative" a program of arts nonprofit Terra Moto Inc.
• Established pilot program Arts & Equity at City Hall
2008
• Artists Elizabeth Jabar, Head of Printmaking at Maine College of the Arts and Daniel Minter, artist/illustrator and Marty Pottenger became the first 3 AEI artists.
• Workshops led by Elizabeth Jabar with the Dept of Health & Human Services, "Ties That Bind"
• Workshops led by Daniel Minter with the Dept. of Public Services, "Public Works"
• Readings and workshops led by Marty Pottenger with the Police Department, "Thin Blue Lines"
• City Hall's Chambers Gallery founded on the 2nd floor of City Hall.
• "Ties That Bind" and "Public Works" exhibition of city employees work at City Hall's Chambers Gallery
• Police Poetry Calendar 2009 published to international media attention
2009
• Police Poetry Reading from the 2009 Calendar Book held at Portland Public Library, April
• City Writers Group began, inviting all city employees to participate
• Work chapbook by the City Writers Group is printed which included essays, poems, stories by city employees.
• 16 Work posters exhibited at City Hall's Chambers Gallery
• 16 Work posters installed at employees' worksites including parking garage and departments and offices including Treasury, Custodial, Parking, Survey/Planning, Dispatch, Fire, Construction and the Portland Public Library
• AEI's name changed to Art At Work
• Police Poetry Calendar 2010 published
