lettermansartwall

#iammidcity a rotating public art gallery and collaborative community space

Public space is critical for thriving communities. In most cities, much of the public realm is made up of sidewalks and street frontage of private businesses - whose design and appropriation remain largely inaccessible to the public. This type of public space often evolves piecemeal, over time, based on the whims of local businesses and private developers, who play an unintentional yet major role in its production and appropriation. #iammidcity aimed to test and activate the potential role of local businesses along a major city corridor to steward their share of public space. This concept and the questions it raises were the driving focus for the Fall 2014 Mid City Studio project. Students were challenged to develop 1200 SF of public space along a major corridor in Baton Rouge’s Mid City area. The studio was sponsored by local printing company, Letterman’s Blue Print, to design and construct the space in front of their Mid City location. How might a private company become a steward of public space? How might the space engage the public as part of the temporal fabric of the city? Significant time was spent visualizing and testing ideas on site and defining more specific parameters for the space. Students interviewed residents, worked with local material suppliers and hosted a community event to get input from the public. The first exhibit in the space was unveiled in conjunction with Mid City Merchants’ White Light Night on Fri., Nov. 21, 2014. The project hopes to allow Letterman's to serve as a steward and voice for the surrounding community.

Project Partners:
Letterman's Blue Print
The Walls Project
Southeast Engineers

   
   
   
   
   
    

   
   
 

Social Media

The social media campaign #iammidcity works in conjunction with the exhibit to reveal the character and identity of Mid City and its residents through visual representation. Please share your new and old photographs of Mid City with us and be on the lookout for physical hashtags at places you suggested! The grid below is a live feed of those using the hashtag on instagram throughout Mid City.
 


Current businesses displaying the I AM MID CITY hashtag:

  Letterman's Blueprint
  Mid City Redevelopment Alliance
  Garden District Nursery
  Original Heroman's Florist
  Honeymoon Bungalow
  Elizabethan Gallery
  Baton Rouge High
  Time Warp
  Brew Ha Ha
  Radio Bar
  Circa 1857
  Mid City Bikes
  Yvette Marie's
  Rou Cou Cou
  Tipton Associates
  Aladdin's Lamp Antiques
  Denicola's Furniture & Upholstery
  Victoria's Toy Station
  Bistro Byronz
  Wooden Haven Furniture Co.
  Calandro's Supermarket
  Caffery Gallery
  Doe's Eat Place

Want an #IAMMIDCITY cut out at your business? Email info@midcitystudio.org or comment on our facebook and we'll drop one off!