It has been 3 months since we lost Lauren. From the outset we knew the importance of honoring Lauren’s work and encourage her remembrance in creative ways. The artists of Two-Thirds Studio have been working on this since learning of her passing. We planned an immediate action, one coming soon, and one to work toward into the future. I want to talk about each of these actions starting with the future, followed by the present, and finish with the past.
Back in July, I applied for a grant to help fund a public art display that would honor Lauren’s memory. The display was to take on the form of a public mural with photography and collage components that would also feature interactive components, all in an effort to honor Lauren’s social practice, photography, and collage mediums. Unfortunately, I was unable to convey the idea adequately and was unable to convince the panel of jurors why this display was important and was denied much needed funds. A bit discouraged, I decided to give up, however I’ve been giving the idea much more thought and decided that this project is very important and if we don’t do this, nobody will. I will continue to try to find funding to make this project a reality. I’ll be working with other local collage artists to create a sketch of what this display can look like and try to fund this project on a more local and personable level. Details on this to come in the future.
It may take up to a year or more before this public art display can come to life, but I’m happy to share that in October, we will have a special Two-Thirds Studio exhibition at the Harrison Center for the Arts! This exhibition will focus heavily on showcasing Lauren’s body of work. We have been fortunate to have access to Lauren’s portfolio and Christina Hollering will be curating this exhibition. Details for this exhibition will be coming very soon.
Lastly, in the days following Lauren’s death, the artists of Two-Thirds studio helped to organize and curate Lauren’s Celebration of Life. I started work on a coloring and activity book that featured several of Lauren’s work from different phases of her career. I took some liberties in creating word searches and mazes to give its audience small glimpses of Lauren’s life. The finished coloring book is essentially a collaboration work between Lauren and I. These coloring books were available for free to guests at Lauren’s Celebration of Life. Lauren’s reach spread way beyond Indianapolis. Unfortunately, many of the people she touched beyond Indy were unable to attend this celebration and obtain a copy of the book. Today, I’m making available 80 copies of the coloring book for those of you who were unable to attend Lauren’s Celebration of Life. these books are free, you will only need to pay for shipping. There is a limit of 2 books per household. Any orders that include more than 2 books or orders from different people delivering to the same address will be cancelled. I ask that you respect this limit so that more people throughout the country can enjoy this book. Unfortunately, once these books sell out, I will not be printing any more. The books can be found in my web shop.