National and Local Grants Assure the Next Round of CoSign

On May 20th, ArtPlace America announced awarding a $200,000 grant to the American Sign Museum for our CoSign project.  CoSign was among 54 projects chosen from more than 1,200 applications as an ‘exceptional example of creative placemaking.’

CoSign is the brainchild of our own Tod Swormstedt, museum founder, and Eric Avner, Senior Program Manager for Community Development of the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. / U.S. Bank Foundation, known more simply as the Haile Foundation.  Last year, with funding from the Haile Foundation, they piloted their vision of bringing together artists, fabricators, and small businesses from the Northside community of Cincinnati.  Their goal was to educate participants on the value and components of good signage and to actually create new signage for several businesses within the community.  The project was a great success, with eleven new signs unveiled on Black Friday.  Read about the CoSign pilot project here.

In the months following last year’s project, Avner has presented the CoSign project to audiences across the country.  Part of this next round will include developing a toolkit for others to use in implementing similar projects in their own communities.

The ArtPlace funding, along with an additional $150,000 from the Haile foundation will give us the opportunity to expand on last year’s CoSign pilot project.  We have already begun bringing together the CoSign team and plan to follow a schedule similar to last year’s pilot for the next round of signs in Northside.  The goal will again be to unveil the new signs on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.  Plans are also in the works for working with another neighborhood – most likely Covington, KY, just across the river.

“This is really exciting news”, said Avner, “it gives our work a national profile, and it will enable the Sign Museum to roll out CoSign two more times (at least) and to create a toolkit to help other communities (locally or nationally) to replicate it.”

Be sure to watch for updates on our website in the months to come.

2013: The year ahead

It’s on to an even more exciting new year!

• Work has begun on the nearly 20,000 square feet of un-renovated space of our new home, known affectionately as ‘the other side.’ This space will allow for future museum expansion. Expanding the museum itself into this additional space will require a substantial fundraising campaign, but we’re on our way!
• We have also started installing a “boneyard” of sorts along Monmouth Street, that will showcase many of our signs-in-waiting. These signs will welcome visitors and lead them to the museum’s entrance!
• Our annual online auction is gearing up, with its big finish April 6th, at the International Sign Association Expo in Las Vegas.
• We’re looking forward to CoSign II, our working title for the next chapter of CoSign, bringing together local stakeholders to learn about and create effective signage for neighborhood business communities.
• And of course we are continuing to grow the museum’s offerings for all to see – including an expanded gift shop where you’ll be sure to find the perfect item to read, wear, or otherwise display. 

We are so grateful for our financial, in-kind, and moral supporters. We have you to thank for the museum’s success through the years. We hope we will continue to earn your support in the years to come.

CoSign Project Finished on a High Note

A year ago, Eric Avner of Cincinnati’s Haile Foundation challenged American Sign Museum founder and curator, Tod Swormstedt, to design a project that would (1) help local businesses, (2) enhance the built environment within Cincinnati, and (3) increase local visibility of the soon-to-open-in-its-new-home American Sign Museum.

Tod was ready: “I have this bias that artists who design signs may do beautiful work, and business owners may understand the importance of a good sign, but neither necessarily understand what makes for a good sign. Unless they factor in the engineering, purpose, and visual considerations necessary for installing and maintaining a sign and for informing and enticing potential customers, the most beautiful sign in the world won’t get the job done. My goal was to create a project that would educate business owners and artists and produce tangible results in the form of new signage for local business districts. It’s not only my personal passion, but the mission of the American Sign Museum. Imagine my delight when Eric agreed with the idea!”

That idea was submitted to ArtPlace in the hopes of receiving grant money for three Cincinnati neighborhoods. When the response came back to “try again next year,” Avner and the Haile Foundation stepped up and funded a pilot project for one neighborhood: Northside.  The plan:

• invite local businesses, artists and fabricators to participate in ‘Good Signage 101’ workshops
• have the artists submit designs
• select 10 businesses who would choose their winning design
• have fabricators install the signs
• unveil the signs on Black Friday as part of a shop local event

Simple, right? All that was needed was a marketing and communications plan, support of the Northside business community, support of the Cincinnati zoning commission, specifications that would allow for fast tracking permits, content for the workshops, caterers etc. for the collaborative meetings, and more. Oh, and simultaneously manage similar details for the grand opening and beyond of the American Sign Museum’s new home!

Long story short – it worked! At 0-dark-thirty the morning of Black Friday, the unveiling of not ten, but eleven, new signs now gracing the Northside business district began, bringing onlookers, street performers – and customers! – to the community for a celebration of local talent and cooperation.

Thanks to everyone who made it possible. We are proud to have been part of such a valuable and well-executed project. We look forward to many more such collaborations in the community.  In the meantime, enjoy some images of CoSign 2012.  Click on VisuaLinqual’s post to see each sign and the artist and fabricator who created it.

CoSign signs on display at the museum before being installed at their forever homes.