City skyline over Lake Monona.
Planning

Paint the Town in Paper

Artists Leilani Chun and Evan Johnson will spend August in Madison creating temporary public art. Their residency is part of their community-based project, "Paint the Town in Paper." Chun and Johnson will create site-specific artwork at 11 Madison Parks. They will host workshops at Parks Alive events at each of the sites to create the works. After, their ephemeral paper pulp works will remain on trees in the parks for the community to enjoy. While in town they will also connect with Madison's arts community.

For us, this project has become a practice of creating peaceful connections between the community and the ecosystems within the city. We hope this project provides a space for others to find their own peace and healing, embrace creativity, and forge strong connections. The artworks will be created by hand in collaboration with the community, and stand as a representation of these values. We are excited to meet and work with everyone in the beautiful parks of Madison! 

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Evan Johnson & Leilani Chun

  • Two people standing next to a tree with cups of paper pulp
    Image credit: Leilani Chun and Evan Johnson at Parks Alive at Elver Park
    Image credit: Leilani Chun and Evan Johnson at Parks Alive at Elver Park
  • Abstract paper pulp design on a tree
    Image credit: Example of Paint the Town in Paper
    Image credit: Example of Paint the Town in Paper

About the Project 

Leilani Chun is a Multimedia artist, costumer, and tailor. Evan Johnson is a hand papermaker. Together they use their knowledge of textiles to explore the role of art practice in ecological life cycles. They create site-specific work that responds to existing natural forms and seeks to remind viewers of their part in an interdependent ecosystem in the midst of an urban environment. 

Evan and Leilani call viewers to consider their role in stewardship of the ecosystems they live in by inviting interest in the natural forms highlighted by their augmentation. They use an intuitive drawing practice via application of cellulose paper pulp to trees and other landscape elements in public spaces. 

Line and mark making combine with elements of sculpture as topographical lines and lichen-like forms begin to grow on the surfaces. They hope to engage with the community by inviting passersby to apply pulp to trees and take pride in having contributed to public art in their city. 

Physically the artwork mimics the ephemerality of the seasons: the work will appear suddenly, harden with the remarkable strength of hydrogen bonding present in papermaking, and safely return to the earth when it is ready to be washed away after 6 months or more.

Schedule

  • August 3: Elver Park
  • August 4: Worthington Park 
  • August 5: Meadowood Park 
  • August 6: Penn Park 
  • August 10: Allied Park 
  • August 11: Aldo Leopold Park
  • August 12: Warner Park (on Trailsway Ave)
  • August 18: Sandburg Park 
  • August 19: Hammersley Park 
  • August 20: Owl Creek
  • August 24: Galaxy Park 

 

Thank you

This project was funded by a grant from the Evjue Foundation with additional support provided by the Friends of the Madison Arts Commission.

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