Teds community art project.
A COMMUNITY ART PROJECT BY TED FLOWER
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Hi! My name is Ted Flower and I’d like to welcome you and thank you for taking a little time to look at what I call my community art project.
Myself I’m a local artist here in Edmonton. I do all my work with ball point pen, which you’ll find is quite unique. If you go online you’ll find a few artists who do work in ball point pens, but when you start looking at work like I do, the numbers drop radically and when you get to the scale of work I do, the numbers drop to zero. I have a collection of work in this style ranging in size from 3 ½ x 8 feet to 4 ¼ x 13 feet, which I’m still building. These pieces constitute the larger side of my community art project, as they are being done primarily to benefit the Edmonton food bank. I can absolutely guarantee that you’ll not find another collection of work like this anywhere else in the world.
For me this is something I’ve done all my life. I started working with ball point pens in 1971 and have been hooked ever since. A few years back, in 2009, my younger brother Dave talked me into showing work with him at the Whyte Ave Art Walk. At the time, I was about 80% finished the second of my large-scale projects and didn’t really think I had that much to show. Dave convinced me that the two of us could put on a pretty good show. So, we went out and did the Art Walk and boy, I’m sure glad we did. To be honest, I was pretty overwhelmed by the response to the work. The people at the show were almost comical to watch. I probably saw the exact same response 2000 times or more. People would walk by, look at the large works and something like “oh nice paintings”. Then they’d see the signs saying that it was all done in ball point pens and they’d stop, look a little closer and start to notice the detail in the work and that would get them looking even closer, until their noses were only a few inches away from the page. Then they’d stand back, look at the big picture and say “that’s f_____ insane!!” I swear to god I heard those exact same words 2000 times or more over that weekend. As cool as that was for me and believe me, I love watching people react to the work, so it was awesome.
However, the Art Walk turned out to be a catalyst for local and international media exposure that just totally blew me away! It started with an online interview with the Edmonton Magazine. Then an interview by Access TV Primetime. They did their piece in two parts. First at the studio at my home, then two weeks later at a show I participated in Little Italy. During that time, Dave and I were invited to do the inaugural show at Nina Hagerty’s new Stollery Gallery when it opened in November of 2009. So we did that show for a month. After that, things were quiet until the next fall and I just carried on with my large projects. Then in the fall of 2010, I got a call from David Gerow at the CBC and he came over and did a segment about my work that was carried on CBC, MSNBC, Fox and a number of smaller affiliates across North America over the next month or so. About two weeks later I received a call from Gord Stienke at Global and he came over and did a segment with me that aired on Global National and their affiliates as well. After that things stayed quiet until this spring.
In April of 2016 I finally brought a twelve-year project to fruition with the completion of a 4 ¼ x 13 feet piece I called Canadian Pride, done to celebrate Canadas 150th birthday. Fortuitously, just as I was finishing up, I received a phone call from CTV. They wanted to follow up on the Alberta Prime time segment and see what I was up to these days. They came over and did an interview with me around the beginning of April or so.
Now my original idea for Canadian Pride, right from when I started planning it ten years ago, was to donate it to my community. Early on, I decided on Edmonton Food Banks because, to me, the work they do is critical to the immediate well being of people in our city. After my interview with CTV, I got a hold of them and about a week later had my first meeting with Tamisan, the special events coordinator for the Food Bank.
It was while I was waiting for that meeting that the idea occurred to me to propose a long term working partnership that would allow me to build a career out of feeding the Edmonton Food Bank through my work. I didn’t really know if they’d go for that sort thing or not, but to my surprise, they were excited at the idea. So here we are now putting the second phase of this project to work. Over the long run this project is set up so that the primary beneficiary, in the long run, will be the food bank.
Here’s how the project works. There are three aspects to it. The first, and in the long run, possibly the main part of this project is the large-scale work. In a way, it took me thirty-seven to complete the first piece. The reason I say that is because right from the start with me it was always about working my way up to this scale of drawing. I started in 1971 and it was 2008 when I finished Edmonton, the first successful large-scale work at 3 ½ x 8 feet. Four of these large-scale are finished now and in the hands of the Food Bank. When the Food Bank makes a sale of a large piece they keep 75% of it and pay me 25% on that sale. After that the Food Bank retains all of the intellectual rights to the works and the hope is, that in the long run it will be that intellectual property that creates a larger benefit to the community.
The second part of this project is designed to support me, as well as to build an ongoing stream of revenue for the Food Bank. 30% of all my net proceeds from this part of the project go right to the Food Bank and this is where you get an opportunity to support your community and collect a very unique, rare and beautiful collection of works at prices that can’t be beat for what your collecting.
This collection will feature skylines and landscapes at first from all over Canada and eventually from all over the world. These early editions are strictly limited to 100 pieces each. So, if you like what you see, act now because they won’t last and when they’re gone, that’s it, they’re gone!
For all of you fine people who support this project, from myself and the Edmonton Food Bank, thank you so much! I’d like to invite you to the third and final part of my project. This one strictly to support the Edmonton Food Bank.
Ever wonder what you could build with a million or more toothpicks? Well, in my studio, I have an ongoing project building suspension bridge out of toothpicks. So far there are 1,060,000 toothpicks in the project. It’s over 50 feet long and still growing. Now here’s a chance to meet the artist and see the work as it happens. Twice a year, on the last Saturday in April and the last Saturday in September, I open my studio to the public and all I ask is that if you come, please bring a non-perishable food item for the Food Bank. I’m looking forward to meeting you and once again, thank you so much for your support.