public ART

Welcome to the UH public ART blog. This is an outlet to share research, projects, and inspiration for the University of Houston course public ART (Art4392) during the Fall 2016 semester.

Our first project for the class was on Mail ART - using the US Postal system to distribute our artwork.  We researched the work of W. Reginald Bray, the subject of the book, "The Englishman who Posted Himself", and also Ray Johnson who started the New York Correspondence School.

Mail is one way of getting art out into the world and sharing it with a larger public. A piece of Mail ART could be sent to a gallery, a museum, or a collector. It could also be sent to family, a friend, or a stranger. Fun to send and fun to receive!

Mail ART by Alton DuLaney, made in and mailed from Marfa, Texas, Summer 2016.

In June 2016, I spent several weeks in Marfa, Texas, doing an artist's residency. One of my projects was the above ART Mail, which I created in and mailed from Marfa. I used recycled/repurposed envelopes (saved from bills, hotel stays, and even the Judd Foundation), which I stenciled with my signature ART motif, and adorned them with a variety of philately including the new Elvis stamps. My "letters from camp" were well received by everyone I sent them to, and was a fun way for me to share my residency experience and inspiration found in Marfa.