Sean Murphy – Crosstown Arts

2013 Winner: Jeannie Tomlinson Saltmarsh: Are there fish in Lick Creek?

Presented by Crosstown Arts in collaboration with Vollintine Evergreen Community Association and V&E Greenline

Sponsored by Commercial Advisors and Southern Sun Asset Management

SOLD OUT

Locally-sourced dinner catered by chef Miles McMath; music from Deering and Down; and artist presentations of proposals for public art projects for the Greenline.

FEAST (Funding Emerging Artists with Sustainable Tactics) is an annual public dinner designed to use community-driven financial support to democratically fund emerging art makers. MemFeast is Memphis’ local version founded and facilitated by Crosstown Arts, helping to rethink how the arts are financed and experienced communally.

The mission of MemFeast is to support a diverse cross section of contemporary artistic and social practices, and to provide local artists with new opportunities to produce work that engages the community. Unlike many conventional grant programs, MemFeast brings people together for a communal dinner and conversation centered on creativity and innovation, where artists receive funding immediately and are enabled to make timely work.

At each MemFeast, anyone from the community can buy a ticket for a locally sourced dinner, along with drinks and a ballot to vote on the night’s presentations. During the meal, a selected group of local artists make presentations of their proposed projects. At the end of the night, the audience votes for their favorite idea and the project with the most votes is awarded $5,000 (from the ticket sales and other sponsorships) to produce the work.

Crosstown Arts will present the fourth MemFeast in collaboration with the V&E Greenline Committee and Vollintine Evergreen Community Association (VECA). Local artists, designers, and community members are invited to submit proposals for site-specific public art projects along the V&E Greenline, a 1.8 mile “linear park” and first “rails-to-trails” project in Memphis. The trail stretches between the Sears building at N. Watkins & North Parkway, to Springdale St & Vollintine Avenue, and has intersections at Stonewall, Evergreen, McLean, and Jackson.

MemFeast 4 celebrates the V&E Greenline as a sustainable stimulus of community in midtown Memphis, engaging a diverse range of users and uses both socially and geographically. To learn more about the V&E Greenline visit http://www.vegreenline.org.

The MemFeast dinner will take place on May 18, outdoors at the intersection of the V&E Greenline and Tutwiler in the Vollintine Evergreen Historic District.

Click here to download PDF of this information and call for proposals

In 2011, Sean Murphy began recording an album in the Sears Crosstown building using only its vast and abandoned spaces to capture and create a one-of-a-kind recording, Sketches of Crosstown. We’re pleased to commemorate the record release with a live performance at the building followed by a reception and talk with the artist and his collaborators.

Watch the promotional video for the album, documentary, and concert here.

Purchase performance tickets here.

“It has been a long road but I can honestly say that this is the most inspiring musical project on which I’ve had the pleasure to work.”
-Sean Murphy

Record Release Concert & Party

4 pm: Performance at Sears Crosstown Building featuring Sean Murphy, Jim Spake, Jason Northcutt, & The University of Memphis Slide Society. Tickets include a copy of the limited edition 180 gram vinyl record. Space is very limited and you must purchase your ticket in advance. Please note, you must be able to climb stairs for the performance.

This will be one of the final opportunities to enter the building before renovation begins in 2014 and the only opportunity to ever hear the building talk live!

6 – 8 pm: Artist Talk, Film Screening of Mary Jane Adams’ documentary about the recording of Sketches of Crosstown, and Reception at Crosstown Arts (430 N Cleveland, Memphis, TN, 38104.) Free and Open to the public.

Sean Murphy is a multi-disciplinary artist living in Memphis, Tennessee. He is a musician, composer, teaching artist, instrument maker, producer, nature lover, listener, explorer. Born in Scooba, Mississippi and raised in Memphis, he attended the University of Memphis earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Music History with an emphasis on Ethnomusicology. He was trained to play western classical and jazz on tuba; but his fascination with world cultures and music has led him to play innumerable instruments. He has been afforded the opportunity to perform throughout the United States and Europe as well as sharing the stage with The Meters, Galactic, Robert Randolph, Paul Winter, William Eaton, Rufus Thomas, and Clyde Stubblefield to name a few. Sean has released four solo albums, and currently splits his time between performing and recording as a solo artist (often accompanying yoga classes taught by his artist wife, Anne J. Froning) as well as with his group the Mighty Souls Brass Band. He also builds musical instruments for outdoor classrooms through his business Being:Art.