Columbus, Ohio USA
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Wordsmith and Artists Unite
Galleries invite author Larry Smith to collaborate on next temporary mural series in the Short North
July/August 2016 Issue

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Art galleries in the Short North are collaborating with local author Larry Smith on the fourth installment of temporary murals in the Short North Arts District. The Short North Alliance, a nonprofit organization, founded the mural project in 2012 and continues to manage it. Betsy Pandora, who came on board as executive director in August 2013, has worked to develop a new perspective and fresh focus with each installation. The partnership with Smith has the potential to become the most dynamic thus far.

Smith is best known as co-editor with Rachel Fershleiser of the online magazine SMITH, which founded the Six-Word Memoirs project that became a global phenomenon after presenting an online challenge in 2006 asking: “Can you tell your life story in six words?” The responses, of over one million Six-Word Memoirs, evolved into a bestselling book series, which has been featured in hundreds of media outlets.

Smith, 47, moved to Columbus in early 2015. In May of that year, Columbus became the pilot city for his Six in the City, a program that brings Six-Word Memoirs to cities across the U.S. as a tool for civic engagement.

Smith will collaborate with participating galleries to pair six-word stories about Columbus and the Short North Arts District with an individual artist who will then be commissioned to create an original artwork to be made into a mural. The murals are installed on the exterior brick facades of buildings along High Street in the Short North. They consist of high resolution images of art works printed on vinyl and heat-adhered to buildings. The process results in art that looks painted on the building.

“The mural project is a perfect manifestation for the power and possibilities for Six in the City: Columbus, offering anyone and everyone a chance to share a story on Columbus that could become the inspiration for public art,” Smith said in a news release. “That these murals will be found in my own neighborhood makes the work even more meaningful on a personal level.”
Artists will be selected in the summer of 2016. Work will begin in the fall and is expected to be completed in early 2017. The murals will be installed in the spring of 2017.

© 2016 Short North Gazette, Columbus, Ohio. All rights reserved.

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