Clean Graffiti Art Grant Progress: Talking Design Ideas

Clean Graffiti Art Grant Progress: Talking Design Ideas

#thesavageway won an art grant sponsored by Project Art Aid’s Queen City Soup. The grant is to execute positive Clean Graffiti messages/art around high-risk Charlotte neighborhoods. Upon winning, #thesavageway partnered with Project LIFT & West Charlotte High School to make a larger, more direct community impact. As this project unfolds, #thesavageway will be documenting their experience working with the students.

On December 18, 2014 we met for round 2 with the West Charlotte High School students. Today we brought along one of our videographers, Jacob Teer, to capture our progress and record the class for a future video we are having produced.

Paula & Torrie with art teacher Mrs. Beverly Smith.

Paula & Torrie with art teacher Mrs. Beverly Smith.

Jacob Teer - Teer Drop Photography

Jacob Teer – Teer Drop Photography

Since our last visit, the students have been broken into two groups and they have done some incredible research on graffiti artists and Clean Graffiti as an art form. We sat down with each group to get their feedback on the method and to answer questions. These IB art students started pulling away the layers of what Clean Graffiti could be and how they see themselves using it for our art grant. As this project is now part of their curriculum, they are required to create a portfolio piece on Clean Graffiti. Here is a small sampling of their initial research work.

Research by the students on the art form.

Research by the students on the art form.

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Next we started talking design ideas for the Clean Graffiti art grant. Every idea we heard was impactful, well thought out and meaningful to these students. We threw around the idea of pollution prevention and protecting the planet, making a statement that Black Lives Matter, and different positive thoughts in a more deconstructed form. We were blown away at how focused the students were, as well as how serious they are taking this project.

West Charlotte High School IB art class via #thesavageway blog.

West Charlotte High School IB art class.

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To sit back and listen to how this project has ignited a spark in these west Charlotte students is awe-inspiring. We always wanted Clean Graffiti to be used in a positive way, but to have first hand input on what will ACTUALLY speak to these kids is an incredible experience.

“Personally, I have taken this task seriously because we are not just creating artwork, but we are also inspiring positive actions from our peers,” stated Mathis Gales, one of the art students. His powerful words continued, “This task has been a huge blessing because this is our opportunity to give back not just to our school but our community as well. Our project has the potential to have an immense effect that will go beyond the walls of West Charlotte. . . Many people at our school don’t have someone in their life giving positive messages, and our Clean Graffiti project will provide that for them.”

Group talk about the Clean Graffiti art grant at WCHS.

Group talk about the Clean Graffiti art grant at WCHS.

Chatting with the Clean Graffiti groups at WCHS.

Chatting with the Clean Graffiti groups at WCHS.

This project is turning into more than just a simple positive message campaign. It is challenging these students and hopefully inspiring a community. We are excited for the progress. Stay tuned for more updates in the New Year!

2014: A Year in the Life of #thesavageway

2014: A Year in the Life of #thesavageway

2014. A year that brought many Happy moments and many challenging ones. Here at #thesavageway, we are beyond grateful to have made it another year in business and still remain passionate about what we are doing in this world.

At the end of each year, we like to take time to reflect on the moments that defined us, inspired us and that simply made us happy. Here is a look at a year in the life of #thesavageway:

#thesavageway Team Expanded!

At the beginning of 2014, Paula came on as a full time partner! This was a huge moment for the company and one that we had been working on for some time.

Other areas of growth in Charlotte include our residential Clean Graffiti division, Clean Graffiti Kids. However, our biggest move has to be our expansion to New York. Our sales team in NYC is bringing our sustainable medium of Clean Graffiti to the dirty (and perfect) streets up north!

We Met the “Steve Jobs” of Our Industry!

#thesavageway Skypes with Green Graffiti.

Torrie & Paula on a Skype session with Jim and Mike of Green Graffiti.

Never in a million years did we think we would meet our European competitor let alone become friends and partners with him! We traveled to Nashville, TN in June of this year to meet Jim Bowes, founder of Green Graffiti and crusader for all things sustainable media. Talk about eye opening and inspiring! Our future with Jim and his team is developing as we write this and we cannot wait to see how together we can make change!

We Won an Art Grant!

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Queen City Soup Proposal.

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Talking Dirt at Queen City Soup!

On a whim and some encouragement, we applied for Project Art Aid’s Queen City Soup micro grant. After a fairly hilarious skit in front of 200 people, we were awarded the grant for our Clean Graffiti project. The premise was to put down positive messages in high-risk areas of Charlotte in both English & in Spanish. Upon winning we decided to partner with Project LIFT as they were already established in West Charlotte and would allow a more direct impact in the community. Our project is ongoing with the West Charlotte High School IB Art students. Stay tuned for the finished project around March 2015.

We got to work with some pretty rad people…

As a small business, your clients are your bosses and we have to say that we have had some of the best. Huge shout out to this amazing bunch of clients, partners and friends that we’ve had the opportunity to work with this year!

28toLife, AIR – Aerial Fitness, Breathe, Bruks Bars, Carolina Textiles, Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte Gastroenterology & Hepatology, CPCC The Curious Advertising & Graphic Design Club, CrossFit 704, Cruise Carts, Crunch Bistro, CustomEpic ApparelFaceMounts, Flex + Fit, Four Sisters Boutique, Green Graffiti, Green Teacher Network, Idolize, Justin Driscoll Photography, Libretto’s Pizzeria, LiveUptownNow.com, MADabolic, Midtown Search, NoDa Brewing Company, NoDa Neighborhood, NoDa Brewing Run Club, OrthoCarolina, Pink Toast Ink, Playing for Others, Progressive Urban Real Estate, Project Art Aid, Project LIFT, Queen City Church of Christ, Ready at 7, Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte, Second Helping Charlotte, Stache House, Tech Talent SouthTRi Yon PerformanceUNC Charlotte PRSSAWine & Design Charlotte, Yelp CharlotteYMCA of Greater Charlotte

We Fell BACK in Love with Coffee.

The Daily Press via @pmbartlett

Delectables from The Daily Press.

If we didn’t love this sweet nectar of the gods before, the coffee scene in NoDa sure made us obsessed. We’ve always had a soft spot in our hearts for Smelly Cat Coffeehouse & Amelie’s French Bakery, but we were blessed with the opening of not one but three coffee shops this year. Ozpresso and Boquette Mountain Coffee became a staple for our client meetings. However the introduction of The Daily Press has to be our favorite. Their hand crafted treats bring a smile to our faces every time we sample them (hello fall favorite Piccadilly Fog). Needless to say there is no excuse to be tired in this neighborhood!

Networking Became Enjoyable Again!

Corri & Amy of #InstaBeerUpCLT

The lovely Corri & Amy, creators of #InstaBeerUpCLT. Photo courtesy of @corriasmith Instagram.

We’ve all been there… a stuffy networking event that is more uncomfortable than meaningful. Well two pretty rad ladies decided that the Charlotte networking scene needed a shake up. Enter #InstaBeerUpCLT. Corri Smith & Amy Herman created a fun monthly event where social media followers could meet in real life! These networking socials bring together the movers and shakers of the social media world at different hot spots around town. Bravo ladies! Looking forward to the next one!

We also look forward to the 2015 development of the new Charlotte group, #WeLoveCLT. Bringing together awesome people to talk about making our city an even better place. YES!!! Stay tuned for more details here.


This is simply a snapshot of the monumental moments in the #thesavageway world. To us, a successful year is one where we get to work with people that we believe in and collaborate on projects that make a difference in the world. 2014 was fantastic and we look forward to 2015 with excitement, passion and possibility.

Cheers!
Paula & Torrie

TSEliot

 

Clean Graffiti Art Grant Progress: Meeting the WCHS Students

Clean Graffiti Art Grant Progress: Meeting the WCHS Students

#thesavageway won an art grant sponsored by Project Art Aid’s Queen City Soup. The grant is to execute positive Clean Graffiti messages/art around high-risk Charlotte neighborhoods. Upon winning, #thesavageway partnered with Project LIFT & West Charlotte High School to make a larger, more direct community impact. As this project unfolds, #thesavageway will be documenting their experience working with the students.

December 4, 2014
Last week marked the first meeting with the West Charlotte High School (WCHS) students. We joined Beverly Smith, WCHS Art Director, during her International Baccalaureate (IB) Art class. As stated on the program’s website, “the IB Diploma Program is an academically challenging and balanced program of education with final examinations that prepares students for success at university and beyond.” To say that these kids are talented is an enormous understatement.

West Charlotte #thesavageway blogIntroduction to Clean Graffiti
We spent the afternoon meeting the teens and introducing the concept of Clean Graffiti to them. We explained how our use of this eco-friendly medium came about for #thesavageway (aka playing around with a pressure washer) and we showed examples of past clients (pictured here).

Clean Graffiti campaign for OrthoCarolina and the UNC Charlotte  Inaugural football season.

Clean Graffiti campaign for OrthoCarolina and the UNC Charlotte Inaugural football season.

Artistic Clean Graffiti campaign for Wine and Design Charlotte.

Artistic Clean Graffiti campaign for Wine and Design Charlotte.

MADabolic Clean Graffiti Blog Post #thesavageway

Two Clean Graffiti images for client MADabolic.

Next we introduced Paul Curtis (aka Moose) to the class. Moose, was the first person to ever do a reverse graffiti campaign. His work can be seen from San Francisco to London and beyond. His latest piece was in collaboration with Nissan Leaf, the world’s best selling electric vehicle. See video here. No one in the class had seen Clean Graffiti before and as artists, their interest was immediately peeked.

We also showed the class examples of one of the first companies to make sustainable advertising a business, Green Graffiti. When we first began our Clean Graffiti journey, GG founder Jim Bowes was an idol, that person we wanted to model ourselves after. Within the past year, we have been lucky enough to form a partnership with Jim and his team in the Netherlands.

Green Graffiti example use of Clean (or Reverse) Graffiti.

Green Graffiti example use of Clean (or Reverse) Graffiti.

Reverse Graffiti example from #thesavageway blog

Green Graffiti example use of Clean (or Reverse) Graffiti for Starbucks.

Introduction to the Art Project
The students began questioning how they were going to be involved. We introduced them to the project and how they would play a pivotal role. The gist is to put down a positive, yet artsy, Clean Graffiti installation (in both English & Spanish) at each of the nine Project LIFT schools. We will also target a few of the walking paths around West Charlotte High School. Here is how it is going to work:

  • Students are broken into groups and will work as a team.
  • Design ideas will be discussed and sketched out for review.
  • #thesavageway team will return to help guide the students in the right direction in regards to stenciling.
  • In the New Year, the groups will present their proposals to #thesavageway then a winner will be chosen.
  • From here execution of the project can begin.
  • The IB art students will be present the day of execution at the high school so they can obtain that first-hand experience.

Thoughts from initial Meeting
We are BEYOND excited at the excitement and talent that these creative students exhibit. The fact that they are able to experience this new concept from the ground up is sure to be a wonderful learning experience. We could see their wheels turning and even brainstormed a few ideas on the spot.

#thesavageway team with some of the WCHS IB art students

#thesavageway team with some of the WCHS IB art students.

The initial goal of this project was to put down some positive vibes in high-risk neighborhoods in Charlotte, however with this collaboration, the opportunity has grown to making a direct impact in this community.

Stay tuned for the next blog when we return to WCHS to help the students in the design phase.

 

 

Clean Graffiti & Queen City Soup: Update

Clean Graffiti & Queen City Soup: Update

Update time! As you know, we were awarded Project Art Aid’s Queen City Soup art grant a few months ago for our Clean Graffiti project (YAY!). You can read more here but the basics of the project are that we are putting down positive, inspiring messages in lower income neighborhoods around Charlotte in both English & Spanish. Our goal is for the community to see how something as simple as cleaning can change someone’s perspective.

#thesavageway team at the Queen City Soup proposal night!

#thesavageway team at the Queen City Soup proposal night!

In all honesty this project was simply an idea at first. It was that project we’ve always wanted to do but couldn’t afford to do on our own. We had no idea that we would actually win and get to do our community art project. So after winning the grant we decided that it would be best to find a partner in the community that could help streamline our project. We wanted to find a way to make the biggest impact on these lower income neighborhoods and align ourselves with an existing mission. Enter West Charlotte High School and Project L.I.F.T!

Project L.I.F.T. Facebook Page

Project L.I.F.T. Facebook Page

Project L.I.F.T (Leadership & Investment For Transformation) is a non-profit organization right here in Charlotte. They are seeking to transform the way students, who traditionally perform poorly in school, are educated in reading and math and culture using a unique approach to teaching and learning. Their work directly impacts nine schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System:

We’ve teamed up with the Art Director at West Charlotte High School, Beverly Smith, to incorporate her advanced art students in our QC Soup project. They will learn about sustainable media and what Clean Graffiti is all about. During several class talks, we will work with the students on the design process and guide them through the actual messaging that will speak to them. Students will also help select exact locations around the campus that could have the most impact. Through this project, these art students will put together presentations and present the final design ideas to the #thesavageway team. Then we will choose a winner and get the design into production. The execution of our QC Soup project will take place primarily around West Charlotte HS with a few locations in the community where students walk everyday. In addition, each Project L.I.F.T. School will also get a Clean Graffiti spot to tie the entire project together.

#thesavageway Queen City Soup Grant Proposal flyer.

#thesavageway Queen City Soup Grant Proposal flyer.

We know that by partnering with a community member like Project L.I.F.T. we will have a more direct connection to these neighborhoods as well as creating a conversation with our project. When we embarked on this journey, we had no idea that we would be able to work with these West Charlotte students and have a chance to help boost their morale to and from school. It has been such a pleasant surprise. We are BEYOND excited at our direction! We will be sure to give continuous updates as things unfold! Stay tuned!

An Inspiration : Playing for Others

An Inspiration : Playing for Others

Fearless. Giving. Empathetic. Kind. These are the characteristics of one Jen Band – Executive Director of Playing for Others (PFO). We’ve gotten to know Jen and PFO over the last few months. From that first cup of coffee we shared at Smelly Cat Coffeehouse in NoDa, we both knew that she was put into our lives for a reason. Jen is the kind of person that gives you that “You will change the world” feeling and you believe it. Her sincerity is refreshing and something we all need more of in this world.

Playing for Others Executive Director, Jen Band.

Playing for Others Executive Director, Jen Band.

Playing for Others is an organization that “provides a space for teens to explore and answer the questions, “Who Am I?” and “How will I give of that?” through programming in Personal Development, Service and the Arts.” The main focus of this non-profit is to develop teenagers into the thoughtful, compassionate and accountable leaders of tomorrow.

We love how PFO addresses the very questions we should all be asking ourselves everyday, “Who am I?” and “How will I give of that?” Taking time to reflect on your purpose in this world is one of the many reasons we love this group. Later this year we will be given the chance answer the question “How will I give of that?” when we speak to the PFO leadership committee about social media and how each of them can be thoughtful media practitioners.

Recently, we joined several other people who believe in what Jen is doing at a PFO Gratitude Dinner. We were treated to a five-course food and wine pairing at the lovely Café Monte in Southpark. The evening was a beautiful showcase of the incredibly talented teens in the program. Singers, slam poets, writers – PFO has it all.

PFO Gratitude Dinner at Cafe Monte.

PFO Gratitude Dinner at Cafe Monte.

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Photo Credit: Cafe Monte

PFO slam poet Lucy Murrey.

PFO slam poet Lucy Murrey.

Now on the surface you may be wondering why #thesavageway, a sustainable media company, is spending time getting involved with PFO. However, for us it is simple. It’s not about “what will we get in return,” it’s about aligning ourselves with companies who are doing impactful, positive things that we want to stand behind. What Jen has created at PFO is the exact type of organization that we want to support.

We believe in everything this group stands for – empowerment, confidence, leadership, entrepreneurship and creativity! We’ve left every single encounter with the PFO team feeling that we could make significant changes in the world. There’s no issue too small, no dream too big, and if you believe you can make a change – you will!

2014 Playing for Others teens!

2014 Playing for Others teens!

One of the most powerful talks from Jen that we’ve heard was that morning over coffee at Smelly Cat. It was her story, her journey from taking this little idea and turning it into what it is today – PFO, a successful non-profit that is directly impacting over 80 teens per year, over 30 children with disabilities and countless local charities.

Jen’s story is so powerful that the forward-thinking folks at TEDxCharlotte thought that other people should know about it too. Jen took the stage on October 24 and ignited a spark in every person in the audience.

“Today. Today is yours, claim it. This life is yours, live it,” stated Jen as she recited her Grandfather’s inspirational poem.

One of our favorite statements from her talk was, “If you’re going to jump, you might as well leap. See when you jump, you get to good. But when you leap, you get to great.”

More here: http://www.tedxcharlotte.com/live-jen-band

We are beyond excited to have a hand in such a positive, motivating venture. Jen has created something truly powerful. Do yourself a favor and check out their next event. You might just leave with the confidence to leap, and we mean truly leap to your potential!