Newsletter 024
This newsletter highlights new and fresh approaches while recognizing our origin story as we celebrate our second year as an LLC on March 15th and 7th year since our original launch!
What does it take for a garden to grow? Hard work - cultivating the soil, planting seed, and continued care.
What does it take for a faith community to grow and innovate? Hard work - navigating creativity, building connections, and constant care. The Innovation Culture Index run by the Center for Youth & Ministry Training seeks to assess the attitudes and innovative potential in churches through a series of nine indicators.
We were brought alongside to refresh the visual interest in their survey and create a more seamless experience for calculating the data analytics of survey responses.
Building upon the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) we mind-mapped and thought about the condition of the soil and created a visual landscape that would shift throughout the survey to tell the story of cultivation, planting, taking root, and flourishing.
Each of the nine indicators that are central to the survey was considered with care as we dove into visual metaphors that pertained to growth, gardening, and soil. The final survey became as much a clear and helpful tool as it did a storytelling piece and work of art.
KENNEDY ART CENTER &
MARION DESIGN CO. GRAND OPENING
& MARION ARTS COMMISSION ART STROLL
Sponsored by Marion Arts Commission
GRAND OPENING
MAY 5, 2023 | 5:00 - 8:00 PM
Art Exhibit, Grand Opening, Ribbon Cutting
326 SOUTH WASHINGTON ST.
MARION, IN 46952
ART STROLL
MAY 6, 2023 | 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
WASHINGTON ST. between 1st & 3rd Streets
MARION, IN 46952
Kennedy Art Center, Marion Design Co. and the Marion Arts Commission invites the public to MAKE ART VISIBLE in downtown Marion, IN! This event features the grand opening of the Kennedy Art Center and Marion Design Co’s new art gallery and design studio on Friday, May 5th from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. The ribbon cutting by Greater Grant County is scheduled for 5:30 pm. We’ve invited leaders of arts organizations throughout Grant County to display the art of their directors in the gallery including the Marion Arts Commission, Fusion Arts Alliance, Grant County Arts Alliance, Quilters Hall of Fame, Orchestra Indiana, Indiana Wesleyan University, Taylor University, and Community School of the Arts, and more.
An art stroll, sponsored by Marion Arts Commission and led by Tashema Davis, will be open on Saturday, May 6th from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm featuring local artists of all ages from schools, organizations, and businesses in locations along Washington Street between 1st and 3rd streets in downtown. Visual arts will be on display at Echo Art Gallery, Psychedelic Cellar, Radiant Health, Grant County Abstract and more. Musicians will be performing at various locations along the stroll and Tappan That Sound will be curating the sounds on the street.
As spring approaches, the long awaited custom designed bike racks will begin peppering the downtown square. As with many recent initiatives in Grant County, this project began as a collaborative effort through various stakeholders across our city. Makayla Mirazza, Riley Sapp, Michelle Doyle, Wendy Puffer, Michael Mathias, and several others represented multiple organizations and businesses to explore the opportunity to encourage healthy forms of transportation. Wiley Metal was a key partner in research for the best materials and feasible structure to ensure they were designed with safety and longevity in mind. Anthony Combs at Diamond K worked with us to implement the design so the colors were cohesive with the city brand and the product could withstand our weather conditions.
This first phase will address placing the racks on the central sidewalks that make up the square. Following phases will begin spreading the bike racks to surrounding areas.
It’s only fitting that as we look ahead toward moving into a permanent location in downtown Marion, that we reflect the original partnership that launched Marion Design Co’s existence. On March 15th, it marks the second year we’ve existed as an LLC after a five year partnership with Indiana Wesleyan University. We have so much to celebrate and a wonderful future ahead with relationships broadening and deepening across our region. Thank you to everyone who’s contributed to empowering Marion Design Co. to pursue a strong future as we serve our community and clients.
Jared Strand
Photobooth and Experience Designer
at The Majestic Photobooth Co.
Jared Stand grew up here in Marion, Indiana inspired by the rich history of local architecture. This led him on a career path to implore design for social impact with an emphasis on placemaking. As a placemaking intern at Marion Design Co in the Summer of 2021 and the spring of 2022, he dove headfirst into the work he did bringing his unique set of skills to a variety of projects. One of the most valuable things that he learned from his time with MDCO was the balance of work and life. As his first professional design experience, he says “it allowed me to cut off the project focus when not on the clock- something that wasn’t really possible on school design projects. This separation allowed much healthier and productive work inside and outside of MDCO!”
Wherever you meet Jared he has a big smile on his face so if you bumped into him during one of our Marion Made Mini pop ups in the summer of 2021, you were likely greeted by him. Organizing and planning these with fellow intern and friend, Jessica Moore was exciting as the downtown sidewalks were activated with local baked goods, cafe tables, music, and people!
Many of the projects at Dream Academy were his favorites giving him real world experience with a variety of projects. He used the laser cutter to create play objects, interviewed and selected local mural artists to work in their play space, created material layouts and concepts for their kitchen, and more.
This January, Jared moved to Nashville Tennessee where he began a roll as Photobooth and Experience Designer at The Majestic Photobooth Co. (@majesticbooths http://majesticphotobooths.com). He says. “In this position I get to design each of the various elements that goes into the construction of our photobooths- this includes things like wood laminate selections, printed panel designs, curtains, etc. I have also been tasked with the occasional placemaking/interior design project, and with a big “top secret” project in the works at our headquarters!” This position perfectly fits his experience and talents and he sees the small studio experience he got at MDCO with his teammates as setting him up for success in his current team. His love of historic architecture has not left him as he makes a home in a new city. He now lives in a historic 1930 home and has been super energized by the ability to curate and design his own space.
Peter Troutner, Creative Director & Chief Creative Officer
There is a lightness that comes with spring - that first warm day you can leave your coat behind. Time slows down - you can enjoy a walk not hurriedly sprinting for your destination. We emerge from our winter hibernation and encounter life - new buds, birds returning, and our neighbors out and about again.
Our senses come alive - no longer just the chilling sensation of winter wind, but now the smell of the world beginning to thaw and blooms bursting forth.
There is always such expectation with the coming of spring, wondering when it will make its final emergence and not fake us out and plunge us back into another day of winter. Here at Marion Design Co we feel this expectation palpably as we are on the verge of entering our new building - ready once again to be on the downtown square to step outside our doors and greet our neighbors. We too are seeing new budding projects, clients returning for more, and friends excited to share in this space with us. Hopefully like spring- it’s a place of life - where art becomes visible and perhaps warms your heart allowing new ideas to take seed and grow.
