Page 35 - WilmU - Spring 2017

art spaces are used as the handmaidens of gentrification.”
Bringing economic opportunity is one way to ease this scenario. Kalmbach is keenly aware of the need to create jobs in the city, especially for the people he sees every day. “One of my favorite quotes in my own recovery was from Keith Richards, when he said, ‘I don’t have a drug problem. I have a cop problem.’ But I’d say after five years of working in downtown Wilmington, I don’t think we have a behavioral health problem. I think we have a job problem.”
So he does what he can to help.
“I’d say after five years
of working in downtown Wilmington, I don’t think we have a behavioral health problem. I think we have a
job problem.”
—Michael Kalmbach
Proposals are in the works for future mosaic installations, including a two-story building façade in the city once approvals are secured. “We’re hoping we’ll be able to conduct workshops just with this huge nexus of stakeholders in that community,” says Kalmbach. “There are a lot of voices and lots of speech that will ultimately be infused into the pattern for this wall.”
Art is evolving, and there are always new things to learn. Kalmbach wants to start working with pebbles as a new mosaic material by arranging them in patterns similar to works found in Portugal, Spain, or ancient China and Rome. “That could really expand our portfolio, and they’re doable here for our public works team,” he says. “We’ve been doing a lot of research on it, but unfortunately there’s no market for presorted pebbles. So part of the process of making these is going to be accumulating the appropriate stones.”
Kalmbach is working with his team to develop a variety of designs and begin working on grants to fund public art projects using the pebbles. He sees great benefits in working with this material. “It’s something we can bring to the fore, an artistic process that’s really process-based,”
he says. “It’s very accessible. Lots of people can be involved. And when you’re making these, you’re kind of forced into a contemplative space when you’re creating.”
He smiles, adding that for his group, “Mosaic walls are going to have a lot of legs, but breaking into this, too, would almost be like bringing a piece of Longwood Gardens right into the neighborhood.”
Kalmbach is excited about the potential of what new art materials like the pebbles and new projects can do to increase work for his members, as well as helping to open the door to personal satisfaction and inner peace for each person who puts his or her hands to work in creating a masterpiece.
“With work like this, we’re really getting into the neighborhood, we’re really moving the needle, and it’s happening through the arts,” he says. “I think there are major impacts to be had.” WU
Volunteers, student internships and donations to The Creative Vision Factory are always welcome. For more information, visit the creativevisionfactory. org, michaelkalmbach.com, or call (302) 397-8472.
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