Inside Out: Artists in the Community II:
Lee Walton

Check out behind-the-scenes images on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/secca/sets/

In Case You Missed It:

Art Educator Professional Development Workshop: Art as Experience with Lee Walton

Nationally-exhibiting artist Lee Walton (Greensboro, NC), who participated in SECCA's Inside Out: Artists in the Community II exhibition program, led this unique workshop for area art educators. Walton organizes subtle and playful performances where we would least expect them. Amplifying and repeating the theatrical moments of everyday life, Walton assembles ad hoc casts of artists, performers, and ordinary people into unexpected events. As performers emerge out of daily routines and familiar places, Walton leads us to look more closely at the people around us, and the ways life and theater overlap.

During this workshop Walton shared project ideas that emphasize creativity through collaboration, performative acts, and spontaneity. He focused on learning through process, re-directing attention away from the finished "product" as the ultimate objective, and re-valuing it more as documentation. Walton offered suggestions on how to utilize found objects, available environments, and people, in this creative process as a great way for students to explore and connect with the world around them.

This workshop was offered as part of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County's Staff Development Training.

Life/Theater Community Day with Lee Walton

SECCA, Elsewhere Artists Collaborative, and Inside Out: Artists in the Community II participating artist Lee Walton, cooked up a fun filled day of interactive art making for visitors of all ages creating collaborative works of performance art and video postcards inspired by Lee Walton's Small Plots series. Visitors were able Explore Elsewhere's living museum with works built by hundreds of artists from the contents of this former thrift store. Walton delivered an engaging artist's presentation as part of the festivities.

Artist's Talk with Lee Walton

Lee Walton's performances call into question the boundary separating life from theater, audience from performer, and are often built on moments of wonder, surprise, chance, and participation. As part of SECCA's Inside Out: Artists in the Community II program. Walton -- working with a diverse group of local volunteer actors -- created six performances/events called Small Plots. The Small Plots occurred in a variety of unexpected public places in and around Winston-Salem throughout May 2009. From old friends re-uniting to a couple breaking up on a park bench, errant speed walkers to a lost business man, Walton's interventions surprised, delighted, and engaged many who bore witness. During his presentation Walton recounted his experiences creating Small Plots.

Lee Walton
Small Plots Performance Series

Referring to both geography and drama at once, Small Plots used parcels of Winston-Salem as the platform for short vignettes snatched from everyday life. As such, everything from street corners and park benches to supermarkets, shopping malls and residential neighborhoods became potential stages for artist Lee Walton to orchestrate a performance. In this context, a man singing to his headphones, a woman carrying too many groceries, or a couple arguing on a park bench all slid between everyday occurrences and inconspicuous theater. They happened with an audience of hundreds or none; in crowded places or quiet corners; with the knowledge of onlookers or ignored by all. They were performed by the people all around us, and even offered audience members the opportunity to participate in the unfolding of the plot. The beauty and magic of these acts was that -- somewhere between social experiment and staged event -- the very distinction between life and theater grew dim. Instead, the city and people of Winston-Salem were activated as players on a shared stage where no one was entirely sure of the parameters.

Small Plots consisted of six performances/events, that each took place three times over the course of the project. They took place in a variety of locations across Winston-Salem, every weekend between May 3-30, 2009.

"Too Many Oranges"

Saturday, May 9 at 2:00pm -- Mooney's Mediterranean Cafe, 101 W 4th Street
Saturday, May 16 at 2:00pm -- Whole Foods, 41 Miller Street
Saturday, May 23 at 3:00pm -- Bus Terminal C4, W 5th & N Liberty Streets