So where to start? That backdrop of this virtual studio framework is our first comic series, The Back of the Yards, which was created as a result of our first in-person collaborations with participating youth in the West Side of Chicago. Now, as you may or may not know, this project didn’t even start out as a comic project, much less a “virtual studio.” No, in fact, this project started in 2013 as a modest community project intended to connect artists with youth to generally collaborate with one another on independent creative projects. That simple premise then evolved into a comic-based project based on those initial collaborations with participating youth in the West Side of Chicago.
It was great that we were able to ultimately develop a comic based on these initial collaborative youth sessions and ideas, but on the flip side, those in-person collaborations took time. A lot of time. And a high degree of coordination between after school programs, youth and our own adulting lives. With that in mind, we wanted to try to figure out how to scale this modest grass roots project up so that we could more effectively enable collaborations with other after school programs and youth, and continue to develop comics.
Our solution? Try to bring some of these basic collaborative concepts into the virtual realm. We will explain how below, but first, we present a quick video to help set the stage but first answering a seemingly simple question … what is creativity?
“Art is just an expression of creativity.” That’s a statement from the short video above that really resonated with us. Creativity can come in many different forms and settings. Art is a primary form, to be sure. But creativity is also essential to business, public services and all the sciences. Indeed, Albert Einstein once said “creativity is intelligence having fun. And on a slightly more serious note, Einstein also said:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” – Albert Einstein
Of course, none of us is Einstein – at least none of us administering this project to be clear. But if creativity and the imagination were deemed to be that essential to Einstein, then maybe it’s worth trying to cultivate some of those creative sparks within us, also? And it was with that mindset that we worked to develop this modest virtual platform that allows interested youth to take a peak behind the curtains of this little comic production, along with all of the themes and prior collaborations that inspired the comic, and with that, give any interested youth the opportunity to also collaborate with us.
And maybe along the way we could help spark your own creative thoughts and projects. So, with that context in mind, here’s an overview of of this thing actually works…
A Quick Overview
A Project Manual
For those of you that may be interested in more of a deep dive into the “how to” and “why’s” of this project, we’ve also put together this little informal project manual. We thought this might be particularly helpful for any interested after school administrators who would like to share some of these collaborative opportunities with their own programs and youth.
Before we jump to some featured Action Card collaborations, just one more quick video which we thought might help to inspire participation below. We will update this part of the page with a featured video regularly in that regard. We found this particular video on the Stash Magazine youtube channel. It is directed and animated by Andrew Vucko, and here’s what he said about his own inspiration for the video:
“For many, originality means drawing inspiration from a variety of sources to create a new idea. The script for ‘Original’ is meant to be an adaptation of this belief: proving that unique ideas can be inspired by existing concepts, objects and experiences. This piece combines influential quotes from the world’s most creative minds over the past five decades (Pablo Picasso, Jim Jarmusch, Woodrow, Wilson, Lincoln Steffens, Dieter Rams, Jean Luc Godard, etc.) to create a single narrative that defines what it means to be original.”
It is here that we will regularly feature five Action Card collaborations on this Studio landing page. We will regularly update these 5 featured collaborations, publishing a “This & That” blog update on this website with each update.
This current set of featured collaborations is pretty simple – we are starting with Action Card collaborations #1 through #5. So, without further ado, here’s Action Card collaboration 1 though 5 for your collaborative consideration.
Action Card #1
With this Action Card #1 collaboration, we invite you to help us create our fictional Back of the Yards comic neighborhood? How, you ask? Simply by submitting places from your own neighborhood that may be meaningful to you. That could be an old house. A playground. A church. A general store. It can quite literally be any place from your own neighborhood. And, based on your submissions and descriptions of those places, they will those some places will become a permanent part of our fictional Back of the Yards comic series, appearing in comic scenes as soon as our next comic issue.
If this collaboration interests you, here’s a little more information and background…
And if you want to participate on this collaboration, just click here!
Action Card #2
With this Action Card #2 Collaboration you will have the opportunity to help develop an upcoming comic scene for our Back of the Yards comic series. You would do that simply by responding to a creative challenge that our comic character, Mr. Castaneda, presents to his students as part of his after-school arts program at New City High.
If this collaboration interests you, here’s a little more information and background…
And if you want to participate on this collaboration, just click here!
Action Card #3
Action Card #4
Action Card #5