Frame was a project that started for my Bachelor's Degree capstone at VIU. I selected a problem that resonated with me and spent the year researching and solving it. I decided to address the lack of accessibility surrounding public art exhibitions. I proposed that due to various factors, such as public disconnect, zoning permissions, and unnecessary bureaucracy, the public could no longer access and participate in public art easily. The main goals were to research, build a substantial understanding, and consider ways to solve the problem before finally implementing, branding, and promoting the solution.
Public art exhibitions are crucial in reflecting the cultural identity of communities, yet the selection process often excludes the voices of local residents.This research aims to explore how decentralizing artistic selection and re-turning decision-making power to the community can enhance accessibility in public art. By involving local artists and community members, we can aim to democratize the exhibition process, fostering a more inclusive cultural land-scape. This compiled research will also examine ways to increase opportunities for artists to showcase their work in public spaces, ensuring that art is more visible, accessible, and reflective of the people it represents.
I spent the early stages of this project primarily researching public art practices, and different factors surrounding them. I looked into things like the importance of public art in growing cities, the accessibility requirements of public art, the impact and psychology of street art. Essentially anything to do with public art itself.
As my research progressed I began to investigate more and more barriers to public art. Things like application processes and public posting requirements, are where I found a lot of the issue lay. The process of applying for public art spaces was strenuous. Just as much so, was the process of applying for government funding or finding open mural space nearby. I was finding it was near impossible for an artist to post their work to anything more than social media. without running into more than one obstacle. These findings, though a little disheartening, led me to conduct some research of my own via surveys and interviews. Using a diverse sample group of people from the community, I found that over 60% of people felt disconnected from the art they saw regularly. Additionally, 100% of people didn’t feel involved in their communities' artistic planning process.
Once my initial research was done I had to really start to consider the type of people other than myself who were affected by this problem. I began doing user research, which consisted of creating personas, storyboarding and addressing my target demographic. When I finally felt happy with my understanding of not just the problem, but the audience, I moved onto brainstorming the solution. I worked on thumbs and sketches, using brainstorming exercises to help figure out what the best solution may be. Once I had narrowed it down to three realistic solutions I selected the most viable and continued to push through development.
After my research and ideation, the solution I selected was a set of publicly accessible digital billboards with QR codes to allow upload. Along with an accompanying companion app and website. The idea was that the public could upload their art to digital boards scattered through the city. Then, anyone else passing by could vote and interact with it via the app or website. This is where Frame was born, although in its early months, it was actually referred to as public pixels. The initial idea expanded the more I worked on it, and I made the decision to have the app act as a professional resource for artists. This vastly widened the scope of the project itself.
In order to provide easy access to the board's voting system, I decided the Frame app would host a social platform for artists. In addition, a partner program, where local businesses can sign up to volunteer art spaces, host events or create job postings. This would allow artists to connect with community members and potential employers. The current version of Frame is a fully prototyped, high-fidelity mockup of both the app and website. The app includes a variety of features for artists, such as a social media feed, an interactive map of art zones, and QR code scanner. Additionally, Frame hosts a work posting board and portfolio section, along with a resource library hosting applications, contracts, and other resources for artists and potential employers. This makes it a definitive asset for any community.
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In the case of making public art easily accessible, The Frame Program absolutely does the job. In giving the general public the ability to upload, vote on, and interact with art easily, Frame is able to solve the problems facing public art right now. But what makes me happiest is that it was able to help solve the problems I discovered along the way. Although the process of applying to create public art is tough, so is the process of finding someone to create it. I feel Frame is able to address both of these problems in tandem. Not only does it allow artists a free platform to post their art, but it also allows them to find work making art. Beyond this, Frame allows users to interact with their community and form connections. This supports some of the fundamental reasons public art is important as it is.
I had to take a lot of consideration towards the practical implementation of this project, as it had to be easy for artists to access on the fly. On the development side of this project, I had to figure out a realistic way to either rent or build the signage. I actually spent a large portion of time in the later stages learning how to acquire and program digital signage. I explored different ways to route user and sign information through api servers, hoping to make the upload process fluid and easy. Additionally, exploring different types of signage in attempts to make the boards durable and low maintenance. Although not a fully functional app yet, I was able to create my first working display board prototype along with a small upload and display system. All in all, I’m very happy with Frame and its progress. Its potential to benefit communities is massive in terms of public art. In addition to its ability to boost the economic conditions of small communities. I'm excited to watch Frame grow and expand. And I'm happy to say it. It will be going into early development sometime in 2025.
