American Sign Museum one of 104 Finalists for ArtPlace America Grant

One hundred four applicants in 72 communities in 33 states and the District of Columbia have been named finalists for grants from ArtPlace, an initiative to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. through grants and loans, research, communication and advocacy. ArtPlace is a collaboration of 13 leading national and regional foundations and six of the nation’s largest banks. ArtPlace also seeks advice and counsel from close working relationships with various federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council.

The selected applicants represent the best of the 1,225 letters of inquiry from across the country. Inquiries came from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and American Samoa.

Finalists were chosen for their potential to transform communities through placing art and culture at the heart of portfolios of integrated strategies that drive vibrancy and diversity. Story: http://www.artplaceamerica.org/articles/artplace-names-104-finalists/

The American Sign Museum, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, submitted the CoSign concept for the ArtPlace grant (http://www.artplaceamerica.org/), after last year learning that ArtPlace considered it an intriguing concept that should be submitted again. Though the ASM did not receive the ArtPlace grant in 2012, the Haile Foundation stepped up to support a pilot CoSign project that created a new world of signage and opportunity for one community. Creative placemaking has been gaining traction as a locally-driven strategy for bringing new life to communities.

Photo Credit: Alias Imaging / QueenCityProject.com

CoSign designed and installed a critical mass of new business signage in a district experiencing significant redevelopment and reinvestment – Northside – a Greater Cincinnati neighborhood business district.  The campaign was coordinated through the leadership and expertise of the American Sign Museum. The new new business signage was unveiled in a public ceremony on Black Friday in 2012, kicking off an historic shopping season on November 23rd. The result of the CoSign project in its debut year enhanced economic activity by pairing artists, small businesses, and professional sign fabricators to design and install unique handcrafted signage for local retailers; and in the process, create an infrastructure to train the next generation of local signmakers. Story:  CoSign Project Big Finish

The American Sign Museum seeks the ArtPlace grant to fund an expanded CoSign initiative. As a finalist for the ArtPlace Grant, weight is given to the fact that the impact of this program will be fourfold: (1) Business districts will strengthen their respective identities and increase their economic activity with the immediate visual impact resulting from new signage for local businesses; (2) As the appreciation for high-quality handcrafted signage increases, local artists will be trained to become the next generation of local signmakers; (3) The American Sign Museum will leverage its history and expertise to benefit its community directly and economically; and (4) After a pilot phase, this program will be replicated in other neighborhoods and other regions.

Photo Credit: Alias Imaging / QueenCityProject.com

The CoSign project commences with a two public workshops to educate business owners and artists on the economic value of signage and permitting requirements, as well as giving examples of effective and ineffective signage. Following the workshops, artist submit designs for participating businesses and a screening process matches small businesses with visual artists and sign professionals. After a process of design refinement, the winning designs are selected by a jury and then to fabrication and installation. The cost of each sign is split between the business owner and the CoSign funds. In addition to providing program oversight, the American Sign Museum staff, exhibits, and library serves as a resource for sign history research and design inspiration. The Museum provides a venue for seminars, meetings, and fabrication workspace as its location is close to the targeted business districts.

Project Status

This year’s grant recipients will be announced in May. To date, ArtPlace has distributed $26.9 million to 76 organizations in 46 communities across the country.

For more about the American Sign Museum, visit www.signmuseum.org. For more information on ArtPlace please visit www.artplaceamerica.org.

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.

Community + Collaboration = CoSign

11.18.12 Update:  The signs are done and being installed this week. Join us for the unveiling on Black Friday – which in Northside is Shop Local Day. Can’t be there? Don’t want to wait? Preview the signs in last week’s Business Courier Article.

The American Sign Museum is proud to be a part of its community. We are especially proud to be a part of the CoSign project currently underway. CoSign is bringing together local artists and businesses to educate them on the value of signs – and what makes a good sign – along with fabricators who will help create new signage for 10 businesses in the Northside community of Cincinnati. Below is an excerpt from Soapbox Media, July 17, 2012, that explains it, followed by an update on progress to date.

While you never get a second chance to make a first impression, sometimes you do get a second chance at funding an innovative project that could transform a community, beginning with its storefronts.

The CoSign project is just that. What started as a broader grant application to ArtPlace America for several city neighborhoods became more personal for Northsiders after the city-wide application went unfunded.

Undaunted, partners in Northside and the American Sign Museum, with funding from the Haile/US Bank Foundation, are moving ahead with the project. What better way to draw shoppers to Northside’s eclectic streetscape than creative, coordinated signage?

As part of CoSign, local businesses, visual artists from across Cincinnati and professional sign fabricators will design and install a critical mass of new signage along Hamilton Avenue, with an expected launch date of Nov. 23, this year’s Black Friday. CoSign will fund most of the costs for commissioning, permitting, fabricating and installing the signage. Eric Avner, vice president and senior program manager with the Haile/US Bank Foundation, explains the appeal of supporting business/artist collaborations. “We wanted to do multiple things at once,” Avner says. “Help the sign museum, help local business districts gain vitality; and give the creative sector of Cincinnati more opportunities to make a living.”

Northside’s business district and enthusiastic community support made it a logical pilot location.

As the primary grant recipient and fiscal sponsor, the American Sign Museum will provide content specialists by staffing two training workshops in August for artists and business owners. The project also pulls from the organizational talents of ArtWorks, which will help coordinate the artists and their work.

The museum will also assemble a judging panel to review and decide upon the best signage proposals from business/artist teams. The brand-new sign museum space at 1330 Monmouth Street will house the new signage before it is hung on Hamilton Avenue.

Little Things Labs, a social/cultural innovation idea laboratory that problem-solves with municipalities to create better places to live and work, is assisting the Haile Foundation with CoSign’s development. Josh McManus, lead inventor at the lab, sees the Sign Museum as an integral partner. “Our hope is not just 10 signs but a newfound attention to the benefits of great signage,” McManus says. “That’s why the American Sign Museum is such a perfect partner to work with on this project.”

CoSign will be documented so other communities can replicate it and broadcast their own creativity and collaborative spirit through signage.

9.8.12 ASM UPDATE: The CoSign Project began in earnest in June. Since then:
Northside businesses within a specified geographic area have been canvassed, and have applied to participate. At this time, 19 businesses are vying to be among the final 10 selected for new signs.

Artists have submitted their designs, and each business has made their selection

Business/Artist/Fabricator teams are currently finalizing their designs and details, which a team of judges will consider for inclusion in the final 10 signs to be fabricated and installed.

We are on target to unveil the new signs on November 23, Black Friday. Be sure to Like CoSign on Facebook and visit CoSign’s website to keep up with the project and other activities in the neighborhood.