Artrain, VizThink and the power of maps

Went to a gathering of visual thinkers recently. The conference is aptly named VizThink and this year was the first. Much will be written about this because much was learned, seen and shared.

First subject: The non-profit organization Artrain was represented at the conference and was used as a test subject as well. Artrain brings art to people who wouldn’t normally have access to museums or galleries. Up until recently this was done on rails, hence the name- which worked pretty well. Now the group is developing a truck caravan that will house the various rooms of art.

A challenge was developed for a breakout session led by three great facilitators with different approaches. Christine Martell of VisualSpeak led the largest group (300) with her photograph-driven mapping technique and gives a great analysis here. David Sibbett of The Grove led a smaller group (25) with his time-honored wall maps. Jamie Nast of IdeaMapping led the smallest group (6) of which I was one, with her computer mapping system and gives her analysis here. Jamie was assisted by Suzi Watson, who input what was said into a map program and organized it for easier consumption.
Here is the map from our session:

After this was presented, it was difficult for me not to take it to the next level- integration. Seems natural that the way it could all work would be to communicate globally with a web site. Yes, you heard right- harness the power of the world wide web to speak to sponsors and potential consumers, as well as those who have already experienced the Artrain. The internet, as a communication tool? It just might work.
My quick sketch takes a crack at how this could all come together:

By using a push and pull effort, more people will get involved in the active creation of art, rather than just the passive viewing of art.

• One of the three trailers will be a studio, with paper on the walls and plenty of supplies at the ready.
• Video and still shots of the people creating would be uploaded to the site so people thinking about booking or sponsoring the experience can validate the potential benefits.
• Posters created from amateur artists will be framed and put up in other town's schools and libraries to promote the arrival of the experience.
• The first art project for anyone coming to the site would be the two-sided printable trailer- insert tab A into slot A and see how it all works. Complete with art on the interior walls.
• An interactive map will show where the trucks have been and where they are going.
• A video of the set-up will whet the appetite for people to come out to see it happen live, just like when the circus comes to town.

Deb Polich (executive director), and Brian Tolle (board member) of Artrain are working through a lot of solutions, along with Anne Castellano of Switch, the company responsible for overseeing the project. Look forward to future posts as they develop.