Artists & Communities Host Site: Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science
P.O. Box 984
Sioux Falls, SD 57101
Web site: www.washingtonpavilion.org

Millennium Artist:
Danny Tisdale
Multidisciplinary Artist
New York
E-mail: tisdalestudio@yahoo.com
Web site: www.apwd.com/tisdalestudio

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Noted conceptual artist Danny Tisdale came to Sioux Falls, South Dakota with one thought in mind: to promote awareness that EVERYONE IS AN ARTIST.

Over the past decade, Tisdale has engaged communities across the country through interactive installation projects. For the past five years, he has mounted a conceptual political campaign for creative democracy - Danny Tisdale: An Artist For A Change.

During his three-month Artists & Communities residency with the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science, Tisdale both walked the walk and talked the talk in an exhaustive series of visual arts workshops, creative writing sessions, video workshops, and performance events.

Sandwiched between school and community presentations, Tisdale's residency activities began with weekly "Open Studio 2000" workshops at Washington Pavilion, where participants of all ages and ability were introduced to the disciplines of 2 and 3-dimensional collage, mixed media, and drawing. He then introduced a photography group through the Whittier Middle School, the All-City Art Club, and the Sioux Falls Multicultural Center, who, trained in basic skills, were given disposable cameras with which to document everyday life in their neighborhoods.

Working with a small group of teenagers, Tisdale went on to videotape oral histories of local residents, ranging from clients in a homeless shelter to members of Daughters of the American Revolution.

Several creative writing workshops were also conducted for young people through the local juvenile detention center, and the O'Goram, Lincoln, and Sioux Falls Christian School High Schools. Spoken and performance art were addressed in Open Mic Trilogy events, the first of which commemorated the Presidential election and featured Tisdale blending quotes from famous political speeches with his own writings. The final two sessions encouraged participants to present songs, stories, reminiscences, and tall tales of their own.

Work created by Tisdale during his stay in Sioux Falls, as well as work created by the residency participants, was featured in a multi-disciplinary installation, titled "Sioux Falls 2000 - The Art of Change." The exhibition was mounted at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science in December 2000. The exhibition opened with a community variety show featuring a rap duo, an arts administrators "boxing match," arts quiz segments, and more.

Danny Tisdale's residency in Sioux Falls demonstrated the high level of enthusiasm that people bring to making art when the processes and materials are made accessible. Following on the success of his "Open Studio" sessions, Washington Pavilion is now planning to offer more free public workshops in the fall of 2001.

Commenting on his residency and artistic process, Millennium Artist Danny Tisdale said, "the public wants to be part of the creative process, they understand how important it is to their kids, families, and themselves. They love the creative process because they...know from experience and how they feel that the arts improves reading, writing, arithmetic, science skills, creative thinking....My goal in my work is to find ways to touch all that potential."

MILLENNIUM ARTIST BIO

Danny Tisdale is a multidisciplinary installation artist, writer, graphic designer, publisher, and educator whose work is featured in the collections of the University of Oregon Museum of Art, California Polytechnic University, the Museum of African American Art, the MacArthur Collection, and the Norton Family Collection.