Green Chair Project at Art in Motion
If you have been to or rolled past Art in Motion, You are likely familiar with the large lime green Adirondack chair that greets visitors at the entrance. You may have even climbed into it and felt dwarfed by its enormity. If you have enjoyed morning coffee or live music seated deep into one of the four cedar Adirondack chairs at Art in Motion. Our butts know these chairs intimately, but do they know the story behind their creation?
The Green Chair Project began in 1991 with Artist, Joel Sisson, and Chris Hand in South Minneapolis, Minnesota. The first iteration of the project began with a team of 11 local teenagers who, together with Sisson and Hand, built green Adirondack chairs for every house on a few blocks of their neighborhood. It was an act of unity in this neighborhood of “poverty, crime, and alienation.” (Lippard 231) The project expanded and continued in the following years and culminated in the construction of thousands of these green chairs.
Through the assembly of Adirondack chairs, youth were engaged in a positive activity, learned practical skills, worked towards goals as a team, and made some income through the sale of the chairs.
In 1995, large green chairs were also built and placed around the city and in Washington D.C as an “ instant landmark for neighborhoods that need attention”.
The project went dormant for a few years and then was revived in 2020 by Paul Ramsour (Executive Director of Elipis Enterprises, an agency working with youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness). Through all the hardship and division amongst people in 2020, Ramsour saw the need to revive the green chair project to ignite unity and positivity in communities and the youth.
The 4 standard-size Adirondack chairs at Art in Motion were built in collaboration with youth from the metro and from the Holdingford area on August 25th, 2020 at Art in Motion. It was an opportunity for young people from different backgrounds to learn from each other and work together on a common goal. The large green chair was also placed on the lawn as a welcoming landmark. Since then, the chairs have provided comfortable and sturdy spots for folks to relax and share in conversation in the fresh air. The large green chair is a symbol of welcome, acceptance, and unity, as well as a whimsical place to climb, sit, and appreciate the simple joys of living.
There is something incredibly relaxing about sitting in an Adirondack chair. Please share with us your stories of this humble chair and your pictures of the Big Green Chair at Art in Motion!
Citations:
Lippard, Lucy R. The Lure of the Local : Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society. New York : New Press, 1997. Page 231.
Willms, Jan. Through process, youth learn something and then teach the next person to do it: Green Chair Project helps homeless youth. Minneapolis: Midway Como Frogtown Monitor. Tuesday, August 18, 2020 3:27 pm. http://monitorsaintpaul.com/stories/through-process-youth-learn-something-and-then-teach-the-next-person-to-do-it,1485. Accessed Nov. 16, 2020.