Media Fact Sheet
MEDIA FACT SHEET: FIGMENT 2010
NEW YORK CITY
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For More Information:
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What is FIGMENT 2010?
FIGMENT includes annual, non-profit participatory arts events, to be held on New York City’s Governors Island June 11-13, 2010, and in Boston June 5, 2010. FIGMENT NYC will also include several exhibitions on Governors Island June 11 – October 3: a Mini-Golf Course with each hole uniquely designed by artists, an interactive sculpture exhibition, and a Pavilion, co-hosted with ENYA and SEAoNY.
Powered entirely by the efforts of volunteers, the event is completely FREE to the public. The hundreds of family-friendly, interactive exhibits, performances, and scheduled activities reflect FIGMENT’s commitment to audience and artist interaction and civic/community participation.
Currently in its fourth year, FIGMENT is a non-commercial, de-commodified, environmentally-responsible event. No art is sold at FIGMENT and no one makes a profit. There are no corporate sponsors.
For more information, please visit FIGMENT.
What events, exhibitions and activities will FIGMENT 2010 offer?
FIGMENT is currently accepting submissions in a wide variety of categories for both our Boston and NYC events, and we look forward to an expansive and exciting array of projects. FIGMENT represents an innovative alternative for creative expression—one where a greater number of artists can contribute a truly diverse range of artistic offerings. The only limit is imagination.
We solicit art projects for FIGMENT through a curatorial process, based on artistic merit, ambitiousness and interactivity. Because our event sites offer an abundance of space to fill with art, our goal will be to approve as many projects as possible. We intend to utilize the networks of artists in New York City, Boston, and beyond to spread the word. We seek art projects that demonstrate an ability to transform environment and the perception of participants.
Last year’s NYC event included over 400 art projects and hosted the highly interactive and participatory creative efforts of more than 13,000 participants, including inflatable sculptures, group dance lessons, site-specific art installations, ‘bathtub’ photo booths, roving samba bands, costumed stilt walkers, and art that encouraged children of all ages to touch, climb, manipulate, and generally contribute to the development of its full potential!
FIGMENT is created by a collaborative team of hundreds of volunteers. FIGMENT is a project of Action Arts League, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. A list of our volunteer ’staff’ can be found here.
Why FIGMENT?
FIGMENT demonstrates what the arts can be: participatory, bursting with creativity and completely free, born from the desire to share imagination and invention between artists and the public.
FIGMENT is a grassroots effort, organized and run entirely by volunteers as a gift to our cities because we believe in the aspirations and mission of FIGMENT. We believe that FIGMENT addresses a number of key issues:
- Lack of opportunity for emerging artists
- Access to the arts for all
- Passivity in our society
- Lack of community among New York area residents
- Few places for young families to go
- Identifying new uses for underutilized public space
- Oversaturation of branding and commercialism
- Living in a time of scarcity
To read more on how FIGMENT addresses these issues, please visit Why FIGMENT?.
What is the relationship between FIGMENT NYC and Governors Island?
Governors Island is the ideal location for a major cultural event. Upon New York City acquiring Governors Island from the Coast Guard in 2003, the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) initiated a public process to imagine a future for the island that is economically sustainable and that serves the community. Though it seems a logical place for real estate expansion, the Island’s founding charter expressly forbids permanent housing; Governors Island belongs to all of us. What better way to create a new identity for this public resource than through a participatory cultural event that builds community and draws participants from around the world?
FIGMENT works in partnership with the GIPEC to engage the public in contributing to the island’s rebirth as an arts destination. FIGMENT projects often address historical, current, and environmental issues that concern this shared, public amenity, in addition to showcasing the diverse offerings of New York’s arts community. For more information on GIPEC please visit www.govisland.com.
