Hand-Painted Signs: Call for Information or Images

Fresh Cuts: Open Call for Material about Hand-Painted Signs

CALL FOR MATERIAL: DEADLINE July 3, 2006

Mess Hall wants to know more about hand-painted signs in Chicago and beyond.

Hand-painted signs advertise all kinds of things: services available and rooms for rent, yesterday's sale and tomorrow's move, nursing supplies, motor oil, or fresh tomatillas. Signs mark territory and make declarations.

Styles of hand-painted signs range from simple typography to vernacular imagery to idiosyncratic flair. Their makers include craftspeople, businesses, itinerant painters, activists, artists, or anyone with something to sell or something to say.

We want to know more about these signs and the people who make them. As a start, we're looking for pictures of your favorite hand-painted signs and stories about why you care about them. If you know who made them (or if you know any sign painters), let us know that too.

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SUBMISSION INFORMATION

DEADLINE JULY 3, 2006 for email submissions

–Send digital files to [email protected]

OR

–Drop off hard copies at Mess Hall in Chicago by July 3.

–Materials received by July 3 will be presented in the Fresh Cuts exhibition at Mess Hall (July 7-August 6, 2006) and added to the Fresh Cuts exhibition archive.

–After July 3, those in Chicago can **bring materials to the space and add them to
the display—d.i.y. materials provided.** We can't guarantee that email submissions received after July 3 will be displayed.

PREFERRED IMAGE FORMAT
Hard copy: up to 8 1/2 x 11 inches
Digital file: 300 dpi

TEXT

Please answer these questions and include your answers with your submission:

–Where is this sign?
–When was it photographed?
–Do you know who made it? If so, who?
–Why do you care about it?

PREFERRED TEXT FORMAT
–Hard copy: print on 8 1/2 x 11 paper
–Digital file: format for 8 1/2 x 11 paper (if possible); Word or PDF files are best

For more information, contact Mess Hall at [email protected], Stephanie Smith, Jane Palmer, or Marianne Fairbanks (organizers) at [email protected] or call 1-773-465-4033.

Those in Chicago, please join us for an opening party at Mess Hall on Friday, July 7 from 7-10 pm!

Mess Hall is an experimental cultural center in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Mess Hall hosts a printed matter archive, exhibitions, workshops, lectures, public projects, actions, events, meals, and more. All events at Mess Hall are offered free of charge.

Mess Hall
6932 N Glenwood, Chicago
just across from the Morse stop on the Red Line
(773) 465-4033
www.messhall.org
http://plus.calendars.net/messhall