Friends of the Orphan Signs

We won at the first EVER Albuquerque SPROUT!

It was a magical evening at the South Valley Multipurpose Senior Center where we met new friends, shared a delicious meal of local organic food and were inspired by our community. There was an incredible diversity of presentations from flash mobs by the young to heart warming and humorous performances by the slightly older. At the end of the night we washed our dishes together and voted for the project that we felt best benefited the Albuquerque Community.

We won a $500 micro-grant, and were able to fix this sign on the Tradewinds lot after the wind blew it out, along with some of Pete Railand's work!

Here are our answers to the Sprout application questions:

1. I am writing as a member of the Friends of the Orphan Signs, a community based arts collaborative with the mission of installing public art in Albuquerque’s abandoned signs. We have permission to install artwork in a sign on the empty lot at San Mateo and Central – but we need to repair the sign before we can continue with one of our projects. We want to purchase and install sign-facing material and lettering tracks so that we can continue our effort to revitalize and bring some fun to a neglected part of the city.

2. The grant money will be used to purchase the Lexan (sign material), lettering tracks, and will cover installation and repair fees for this sign. We have received an estimate for the repairs at $500; the remaining $250 will support our team of artists in designing customized plexiglass inserts for the sign tracks.

3. Friends of the Orphan Signs was officially founded in January of 2010. We are a collaborative of six local artists and educators, who share a common interest in community generated art, and working with diverse local communities. Our 4119 Central project has been a long and complicated undertaking with many pitfalls along the way, including tricky negotiations between property owners and Albuquerque city officials and ordinances. We are excited that the rewards of our perseverance will actualized in the final installation of this artwork for the community to enjoy.

4. We have seen the extent to which the Albuquerque community is interested in participating in and caring for and revitalization of their road signs. These signs are an integral part of this city’s history and we are helping to preserve some of these relics as well as creating alternative possibilities for the future experience of these signs. This particular sign will host regularly changing displays, and local communities including the Highland High School art club will have the opportunity to display their artwork in public and have their creative voices heard.

Thank you so much to Aryan Hopkins and the great sponsors of the evening for making it all possible!