The Feminine Soul Project in VR
**LIVE NOW** VR Version of Feminine Soul Project - Grand Rapids 2021: https://bit.ly/FSGR21
//Remember to use the GOTO Menu to meet all 100 Women and hear the complete project audio.//
It was only 10 years ago this week that a few of us got together to merge tech and art for the Stop Light of Hope art piece. We showed it at the City of Grand Rapids Police Department during Art Prize 2011. It was then that I started to look at art differently. Now I am constantly thinking of how technology can add beauty and dimension to "art". Art Prize season always brings a playful vibe to Grand Rapids, so I was excited to learn about the artists and get a backstage view from the team at Harris Building and the Little Space Studio as a volunteer.
According to their website, ArtPrize® is an open, independently organized international art competition which takes place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It celebrates artists working in all mediums from anywhere in the world, and is open to any creative with an artwork to enter and a venue willing to host it.
For 18 days, art is exhibited throughout the city in public parks and museums, in galleries and vacant storefronts, in bars and on bridges. ArtPrize awards $450,000 directly to artists, through grants to support their ambitious work and through prizes which the public decides through the ArtPrize website.
Since its inception in 2009, millions have participated in ArtPrize, displaying their work, opening their spaces to artists and visitors from around the world, and sparking countless conversations about what art is and why it matters.
Through the Little Space Studio and their hand selected pieces for this year themed “Our Reflections”, I learned about the Feminine Soul Project and raised my hand. It is then I met Tiffany Manning. She is the artist behind the project and brought her art alive through the portraits and powerful words featured in her project. She interviewed 100 local Grand Rapids women to take their portrait as they sent a message through their eyes and compile anonymous audio of something they would never tell a stranger.
The Feminine Soul project comes alive with a huge banner displaying the portraits in the space beaming with a glow of pink which serves as a tribute to the origin of the project, a woman with pink hair on a subway. Read more about that here in her NPR Feature.
Once I met Tiffany and knew we are still navigating the COVID world, the tech diva in me wondered if we could bring this project to VR. That way, more people unable to attend live in Grand Rapids could experience the beauty of her art. Then, this collaboration manifested. I threw a post on LinkedIn looking for recommendations and among many great recommendations for this use case was FrameVR I learned about from Nathalie Mathe. As a side benefit, It was cool to see the amazing body of work she has done and how she is inspiring women in VR! Check out her work and connect with her here. She is a true tech diva!
I dove in just to see how hard it could really be to get an MVP and make this real. It looked really possible and I was able to work a little bit with a wonderful woman tech lead at FrameVR to ramp within about a week and load the 100 portraits and hour of audio in 4 connected galleries. Shout out to Ravneet from FrameVR for her help. Exploring the VR space with her made me even more excited to launch this project.
I got to spend one night with Tiffany in the space before Art Prize to prep. It was the night before Art Prize and I was excited for the space to be on the dawn of an awesome few weeks hosting. I wanted to make sure that as I placed the images and created the space, it tried to replicate the vibe of the work and I also wanted to get her feedback. Those are the connections that I believe Art Prize is about! Community and Connection!
I am honored to have met a woman innovator in the art space who come to find out has even performed in a VR environment before. She is recognized in her field for innovating as she did with her project this year. I am always innovating, so for us to come together and create a VR world to mirror this piece was so much fun.
I loved getting to know the 100 women involved through their portraits after hand placing each one in the space and hearing their voices share a variety of emotions both live with the piece and in VR. I loved getting to know Tiffany and the Feminine Soul crew alongside her. Lastly, I loved reconnecting to Art Prize this year. What a fun way to get involved to reflect on the past experiences and be a part of the future with this VR aspect.
Speaking of getting involved, the Harris Building hosts Feminine Soul as well as many other pieces and we are still looking for volunteers to help greet people in that space. Feel free to grab a volunteer shift HERE. I encourage everyone to stop by the Harris Building to see its beauty and the art inside.
The beautiful thing is that the art piece from Art Prize 2011 was dedicated to the homeless. So it is wonderful to serve today on the board for the Covenant House Michigan and I am hosting another fundraiser for this organization that helps youth 18-24 get off the streets. It was in 2011 that I felt called to help the homeless and has continued this legacy. This is my third year to sleepout for this cause and I am the co-chair for this edition, so I really need to meet my goal as well of $5k! Read more about me sleeping outside this November and consider even a $5 donation!
Thank you! Read more and donate here by Nov 17: https://www.sleepout.org/participant/TechDiva
CHEERS TO ART AND NEW FRIENDS!
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the VR Space we created from the Feminine Soul Project - Grand Rapids.
Visit her Art Prize Homepage for the Feminine Soul Project.
**LIVE NOW** VR Version of Feminine Soul Project - Grand Rapids 2021: https://bit.ly/FSGR21
//Remember to use the GOTO Menu to meet all 100 Women and hear the complete project audio.//
Thank you Tiffany for being open to a collaboration and for including me in your piece.
Drop a comment below and let us know what you think. We would like to hear from those going live and seeing it in VR to see what you think too!
