Hello! My name is Megan Connelly. I am a student at New Mexico State University studying animation and digital effects. I have gotten the best opportunity to work with the City’s Quality of Life Department as a Public Art Co-op. (Photos: Courtesy)
Source: Rubber Ducks
Posted by Ceci Vasconcellos
Hello! My name is Megan Connelly. I am a student at New Mexico State University studying animation and digital effects. I have gotten the best opportunity to work with the City’s Quality of Life Department as a Public Art Co-op.
Starting out, I didn’t know what to expect; I just knew I wanted to be able to do something that allowed me to express my creativity. In my first couple months of being here, I have gotten to experience so many different things and meet some kind people. Every day is something different!
One of my biggest highlights so far is being a part of the Ask ALICE workshops and meeting all the people determined to get their art out there or even start their own business. It is such a great opportunity for the community, giving them the space to not only learn but to meet other people.
Ask ALICE workshop “Financial Planning for Artists.”
I do in fact get to use my creative side every day! A fun example of things I’ve been able to create are sticker designs for Ask ALICE and Las Cruces Public Libraries. It is so rewarding to see others enjoying the little things such as these stickers!
Public Art promotional swag
Furthermore, I recently had to opportunity to engage in a community project. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Children’s Water Festival held at Young Park. The goal of the project was to create a piece of art that the students attending the festival can engage in and be hands-on with.
Another part of the project was to find an artist to paint the archway in Young Park. One of the options for artist selection was myself so I decided to take on that challenge as well. At this point, I am still learning the process of how people go about creating murals and other public art installations. This project was an opportunity to learn how the process works, and I am now more familiar with the steps that an artist needs to take to create a public art work.
As an interactive element for the students attending the festival, we decided on having students collect bottle caps to attach to the arch to form a wave shape. After collecting thousands of caps, the festival was a success! Students came through and picked a bottle cap, wrote their initials, and were able to choose a spot on the wave to attach their caps to the arch. The Children’s Water Festival community project has been my favorite part of my position so far. Also, this project has made me come up with so many ideas I would like to contribute to the community someday!
Megan prepping arch in Young Park for water festival day.
I can’t wait to see what the future holds with upcoming events and projects. It has been such a great experience to be guided by Ceci Vasconcellos (Public Art Coordinator) and learn about public art and the city.
Rubber Ducks blog is brought to you by the Las Cruces Public Art program to share ideas, information, discussions, trends, and all things public art. Please send comments and ideas for future blogs to PublicArt@lascruces.gov.
