Ready Go at People’s Center

Clinic patients and staff, community members and businesses in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood participated in 14 art-making events in summer of 2017. Participants visiting the clinic or passing by on the street took time to pause, talk openly about healthcare, make social connections and relieve stress through art creation. A part of Springboard's Ready Go collection of mobile art tools, participating art projects included:

sPARKit is a mobile trailer/ pop up park, with all of the amenities needed to turn a green/ common space in to an activated destination spot. The “sPARKit” mobile trailer is a community conversation tool used to “spark” conversations in a fun family friendly environment. A colorful pop-up park is set up with items that travel in the teardrop trailer. The set up creates a colorful celebratory environment that invites the public to come and play games and engage each other in conversations.

Streetcorner Letterpress is an interactive project designed for public or private events. These 100-year-old letterpresses produce 4×6 postcard-style prints with the push of a lever, and can be operated by people of any age or ability. The unique letterpress kiosk draws a curious crowd, who are then invited to print their own postcards with images and colors customized to your event theme. Whether prints are taken home, framed, put on the fridge, or mailed to a friend, they are art worth saving.

The Instant Box Camera is a mobile box camera that houses a darkroom that produces one of a kind black and white photographs. Experience sitting for a portrait, 19th-century style, and receive a portrait totake home. There is no negative, so the image made in the Instant Box Camera is the only one that exists, making it a unique piece of art.

The Mobile Sign Shop (MSS) is inspired by the vernacular of cabin name signs found in Northern Minnesota. At the beginning of roads leading to a lake with cabins, there can often be found a collection of wooden/engraved/painted/ handmade signs bearing the names of residents. The MSS is housed on a trailer that provides an attention getting location stocked with sign making supplies. Inserting a non-standard, incongruous tool into public space, brings out people’s curiosity and willingness to engage.

The Temporary Table Tennis Trailer (TTTT) engages residents, business owners, patrons and passers-by in the sport of ping pong (also known as table tennis), through creating Popup Ping Pong Parks. An Olympic sport, table tennis can be played by people of any age or skill level including singles and doubles. The Popup PP Parks are places for play, conversation and connection.