HISTORY—Going to Jackson
Meanwhile, a young architect working for the Jackson Community Design Center (JCDC) in Jackson, Mississippi, Whitney Grant, had heard about FIGMENT through the City of Dreams Pavilion Design Competition. She thought that FIGMENT could work well in Jackson, and specifically could be a great way to kick-start a project that she was working on through JCDC, the revitalization of the Old Coca-Cola Bottling Plant on Highway 80 in Jackson, which had just been purchased, after sitting vacant for more than 12 years, by Gil Sidi, a developer living primarily in New York City and Tel Aviv. Whitney talked to Gil about FIGMENT, and suggested that Gil meet with somebody from FIGMENT when he was next in New York. Gil and David first met in spring 2010, and talked about the possibilities for bringing FIGMENT to Jackson, and specifically to Gil’s property.
David was originally skeptical of FIGMENT’s involvement in the Old Coca-Cola Plant: FIGMENT had longstanding reservations to getting involved with any commercial venture whatsoever. It had been the conviction of many of the FIGMENT founders and Governance Council members that as soon as a profit motive is part of the equation, that participation becomes compromised in some way. But despite David’s initial skepticism, Gil saw that FIGMENT was the right sort of event for Jackson, and the Old Coca-Cola Plant. Gil asked David what the next steps were. David suggested that, when Gil was ready, he should fly David to Jackson, and that they should have a public meeting to stir up interest (as David had just done in Boston) and that they should meet with as many local officials, potential funders, and potential partners as possible.
Six months passed, with infrequent contact between Gil, Whitney, and David. Finally, in October 2010, Gil wrote to David and said, “It’s time. Let’s plan a visit.” David made a three-day trip to Jackson in early November 2010. Gil and his assistant, Lawrence Zhou, led him on a whirlwind tour of Jackson, meeting with the Mayor’s Office, the Greater Jackson Arts Council, the Jackson Department of Cultural and Human Services, and a number of local museums and community groups. Whitney Grant coordinated a public meeting at the North Midtown Arts Center, where the FIGMENT Jackson team began to coalesce.
By the time David left Jackson, they had a promise of funding from the Greater Jackson Arts Council, a firm commitment from Gil for the property, and team leadership from Whitney Grant and Melvin Priester, the only member of the FIGMENT Jackson team who had been to Burning Man. Other key team members included Kimberly Jacobs, Abigail Susik, Robert Mann, Leslee Foukal, Ward Schaefer, Rachel Jarman, and Melvin and Monique Davis. It seemed that FIGMENT Jackson was a go.
A key inflection point for planning FIGMENT Jackson took place in late January 2011, when the Jackson Free Press’s Best of Jackson Event was held at the Old Cola Plant. The main building of the plant was filled with 1,500 people who enjoyed entertainment, the “Best of Jackson” awards, and food and drink from Jackson’s best bars and restaurants. The FIGMENT team painted a huge “FIGMENT Jackson: What are you bringing?” sign on a wall in a Jackson Pollack style that became the main backdrop for event photos throughout the evening. The team also created small FIGMENT Jackson stickers that they gave to every person who attended the event, and they solicited volunteers for FIGMENT.
FIGMENT Jackson began with a press conference on Friday, May 13, with Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr., members of the City Council, and representatives of the local press. The event featured over 40 participatory arts projects that filled the 12-acre property and much of the 140,000-sf of indoor space, including a number of large-scale sculptures and participatory performance projects. Over the weekend of May 14-15, over 1,250 participants visited the Old Cola Plant to engage with the art and each other, including the mayor, who visited the FIGMENT site again on Saturday. For a city of approximately 180,000 residents, this represents a substantial number of people, probably the greatest impact as a percentage of local population that FIGMENT has yet had anywhere.
FIGMENT Jackson was the first FIGMENT of event of 2011, the first FIGMENT event in the South, and the first FIGMENT event with a distinct nighttime component, on Saturday night. We learned that a different crowd tends to come out at night than during the day, and that completely different projects tend to work well at night.
Team members from New York and Boston came to Jackson for the event: David Koren, Debra Keneally, Julie Ziff Sint, Tracy Gillan, and Gonzo.
