If life is a blank book, shouldn't we put art in it?

That's the idea being brought to the community by the Forsyth County Public Library in its new collaborative book art project, "Leave Your Mark."

Modeled after Portsmouth, England's Visual Libraries project, the local effort begins this weekend for teens and kids as part of the June 13 kickoff of the county library's Summer Reading Program, and starts later this month for adults. Librarians Audra Eagle, Candace Brennan, and the library staff have created several themed folios of pages which patrons can check out of the library and to which they can add their individual art drawings and materials to the folio book's theme. Themes for adults include "Memories," "Mountains," "Winston-Salem," "Dreams," "Love," and more. You can then "Leave Your Mark" by writing, sewing, drawing, painting, or adding photographs or stickers. Check out a themed book from the Humanities Department at the reference desk in the Central Library on Fifth Street and let it be your journal, notebook, sketchbook, or craft book. Books can be checked out for two-week intervals (no renewals) and can also be put on hold and sent to other branches for pick-up. Patrons are asked to avoid adding bulky art and to not disturb the work of other contributors. Return your book to the library and watch as your art becomes part of a community expression on the theme, shared with and then added to by others - all ages, backgrounds, and talents that we have in the Winston-Salem area.

As of right now, the project is seeking to partner with local art organizations to expand its scope to other branches and promote itself to the larger art community and public. Library organizers also hope the project grows into a future art exhibit: you'll likely see them at future Trade Street "gallery hops" this summer. If your organization is interested in participating in this project, please contact Audra Eagle or Candace Brennan at the Central Library, or visit the Forsyth County Public Library online for further information.

Photos are from Portsmouth, UK's Flickr feed of highlights of their project.

Would you sign on?

"I/We, ___________, advocate the use of distinctive architectural design and public art in the renovation of our major downtown transportation corridors as a way of branding and communicating the city of Winston-Salem as a place of creative commerce."

How many institutions, civic groups, neighborhood associations, business groups and individual citizens could we get to sign on to such a simple declarative statement as a way of telling political and transportation leadership that this issue and opportunity is important?

Fill in your name. Get groups you belong to to agree to this modest proposal as well. Share the signed statement with area elected officials, city transporation and planning departments, and the state DOT. Share a blank one with friends and neighbors. Moneys will be set aside to be spent on our thoroughfares. This is about how, not how much. Add your support before old habits are in place.

More Public Art news via Twitter; Blog Update Schedule

You'll notice if you are a regular browser of our blog that we recently added a Twitter news feed at right on our full screen pages. Why did we add the feature? It's a way for me to post links to stories that will be of interest to you if you like public art, but which are on topics that were either too short to expand upon - as Goldilocks would say, they were already "just right" - or the topics were not directly relevant to current work in Winston-Salem. They were just...interesting. Idea generators.

What have you been missing if not following our Twitter "tweets"? Recent posts include: "CNET's recent list of 'Top 5 Hi-tech Public Art Masterpieces' (with another five thrown in for good measure...)." "Love and Public Art in the Time of Budget Cuts (apologies to G.G. Marquez): How St. Lucie County FL is coping." "See how this Plensa piece in downtown Des Moines perks up the skyline." "Congrats to 4 in NC listed; but no Winston-Salem? AmericanStyle's Top 25 Arts Destinations: Asheville #2 small city." We will try and post something new twice a week to our Twitter account on Sundays and Wednesdays (though we won't be chained to an update if our personal travel schedule makes us late a time or two). Point is, there is much to see and learn from out there, and we want to keep you interested in this topic as we wait for more local leadership on the issue. If you'd like to follow us directly through your own Twitter account, our account is @arsurbi. Otherwise, just check our Twitter RSS feed updates here regularly.

Finally, to date, most of our blog posts have been events-driven, not calendar-driven. As summer is usually a slow period in our town, I'll be trying to post new blog entries once a week or so on the weekend. Again, the goal is to keep you abreast of news in the development of public art ideas locally, and the best in public art practices in other locations around the state, nation, and "planet Earth." Quentin Tarantino said at his Cannes premiere this week that he doesn't make "American" movies, but "movies for the planet Earth." It was movie promo hubris - and Cannes organizers loved that they were the place to go to be seen by "planet Earth" - but as art goes, it was the right kind of hubris. Public art may have local ties in Winston-Salem, but quality art has a language understood by "planet Earth."

Art needing tending by YOU - Small Plots

A new public art show needs your participation this weekend in Winston-Salem, as Greensboro experiential artist and UNCG professor Lee Walton brings real-time performance art to the streets and gathering places of our town. The next installments of his interactive series, Small Plots, are tomorrow: "Too Many Oranges" at 2pm at Mooney's Mediterranean Cafe at 101 W. 4th Street downtown; and "Lost Business Man" at 3pm on the open lawn at Trade and 4th Streets in front of One Park Vista. Other shows and locations are on Sunday afternoon, and following Saturdays and Sundays throughout May.

From Walton's own well-crafted website, this next installment of SECCA's Inside Out public art series uses "parcels of Winston-Salem as the platform for short vignettes snatched from everyday life. As such, everything from street corners and park benches to supermarkets, shopping malls and residential neighborhoods become potential stages...." "The beauty and magic of these acts is thus, that – somewhere between social experiment and staged event – the very distinction between life and theater grows dim. Instead, the city and people of Winston-Salem are activated as players on a shared stage where no one is entirely sure of the parameters." Audience members should come prepared to be "play"-ful participant observers.

A complete schedule of all venues and times for the six different 30-minute performances can be found on the SECCA website. You can preview the setup in each performance, and get cues on when and how to interact with the actors, by visiting Walton's website. The artist and actors would love to see you there this weekend. And remember: there are no small players, only "Small Plots."