Public Art Sparks Debate

After a ten-year absence, EvolveArts is returning to Santa Barbara with a new message: The Dialogue Project. The public art installation, going up on Stearns Wharf this Saturday October 11th, will showcase eclectic quotes from noteworthy people throughout history covering a wide range of topics including love, politics, community, and character. These quotes will be displayed across ten 7 x 8 foot free-standing screens, creating a powerful visual image.

The display is organized by the same group that ran controversial, unauthorized public art installations in Santa Barbara a decade ago, and is anticipated to create a similar buzz. The Dialogue Project will be followed the next night by a feature-length documentary at the public library’s Faulkner Gallery showing the trials and triumphs the team faced in 2006 while touring through cities across America including Chicago, Washington DC, and New York. The overwhelming response elicited from viewers along the way, including footage from its stop in Santa Barbara, will also be included in the film.

The Dialogue Project is always arranged in busy metropolitan areas such as town squares, tourist attractions, parks, and other highly trafficked areas. One of the artists behind the project, Mike Garibaldi Fritz, claimed it was “becoming one of the most popular national public art projects in United States history.” The Dialogue Project has achieved such status, Fritz says, by promoting freedom of expression, engaging the creative process, and generating personal reflection and inspiration. By setting up the installments in public areas, the artists bring together people of diverse backgrounds and often inspire communication and meaningful conversation.

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The Dialogue Project will be on display Saturday October 11th at Stearns Wharf. The documentary screens at the downtown public library’s Faulkner Gallery on Sunday October 12th at 8pm. To learn more about The Dialogue Project, check out dialogueproject.net.