Shares for the CSA: Macon program will be packaged in canvas totes screen printed by the Macon-based design firm Modern Giant Design. Photo courtesy of Jason Frost

Community Supported Art: Macon (CSA: Macon) will hold its first pick-up event for shareholders Friday, June 22 at The 567 Center for Renewal (The 567) in downtown Macon. This event, which runs from 6-9 p.m., will be the culmination of the inaugural season of the program, which was brought to the city by a partnership between The 567 and the Macon Arts Alliance, a Knight Arts grantee. CSA: Macon is modeled on Community Supported Art in Minnesota, created by mnartists.org and Knight Arts grantee Springboard for the Arts.

Five artists/collaborators were selected for the inaugural season of the program:

• Heidi Clinite and Anna Mae Kersey collaborated on an album/art project. Kersey is a singer who also plays harp and keyboard. Clinite is a visual artist and plays viola. Together they recorded songs written by Kersey using harp, keyboard and viola. Clinite created an original series of prints as the cover art on the project.
• Craig Coleman created a video animation and one 11”x14” photographic print, using a still from the animation, for each shareholder. The video animation and resulting prints were created using a DSLR camera with the commercial lens removed in order to capture light refractions and shadows that occur on a small scale and cannot be seen any other way.
• Macon Writers Group published a collection of original written works from its members in a short-run literary-magazine-style publication, exclusive to CSA shareholders. Along with the physical journal, an ebook of the collection was also created to be made available for download by shareholders.
• Katy Olmsted created Natural Art “Fluxus Kits” for the CSA: Macon program. Each shareholder will receive one kit, made using a cigar-style wooden box, and including several different items with instructions for creating ephemeral art using the kits. Shareholders will be able to use their kit to create art using natural materials. Olmsted encourages each shareholder to document the work they create and submit images to her. Using those images, she will create a blog documenting the work created by shareholders.
• Rachel Veal created 50 mixed media compositions utilizing photography and printmaking techniques featuring abstracted imagery of the historic buildings, winding streets and icons of Macon and Bibb County.

“We’re really excited about the variety of work represented in this program – everything from interactive art to animation, from writing to music. The range of Macon’s talent is represented here, and we look forward to supporting their work through this project,” said Melissa Macker, executive director of The 567.

For more information on the Community Supported Art: Macon program,  read “Five Reasons to Purchase Shares of Macon’s First Community Supported Art Program.” Laura Zabel, executive director of Springboard for the Arts, tweeted, “One of the best #CSArt descriptions I’ve read…,” so it’s probably worth a read.

Community Supported Art: Macon is supported by funding from the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Springboard for the Arts.

The 567 Center for Renewal: 533 Cherry St., Macon; 478-238-6051; www.the567.org Macon Arts Alliance; 486 First St., Macon; 478-743-6940; www.maconartsalliance.org