Yesterday was beautiful and HOT! With the Tour Dem Parks. Even amongst the trees, it was unbearable weather! For those that rode in the tour or came out to participate with Baltimore: The Urban Forest Project, THANK YOU!

During this event, Fastspot created a 156 ft long banner showcasing roughly 1500 leaves created by artists, community people and designers all over the globe. We pulled out 8 defined leaves that tell a story about the personalities and culture of greening. It was a spectacular installation because it really incorporated so many different people from so many walks of life.

Thank you to Fastspot for designing, developing and creating this wonderful masterpiece!

Here is the story of how it came to be:
In this iteration of the Project, Fastspot asked for the help of the community to make their banners. In order to foster community involvement, Fastspot created a Website where users were asked to contribute a portion of the banner by using online drawing tools to create a customized leaf. Through online submission, these leaves became part of larger banners designed by Fastspot and hung on the street lights all over the city.

View and interact with the program here: www.fastspot.com/client/urban_forest

As part of their involvement in the project, Fastspot was asked to contribute to the event in Carroll Park on June 8, 2008. Fastspot felt that the event reinforced the Project?’s message of sustainability and green-consciousness, while engaging the citizens who made their banners possible and showcasing the artwork itself. The event gave citizen leaf designers the opportunity to find their leaf amongst the over 1,500 individual submissions that made our project possible. These leaves were displayed on banners and markers throughout Carroll Park that invited attendees to “Find Your Leaf”, reinforcing the strong community involvement necessary in keeping our city clean and green.

The Fastspot banners are now available for sale as wall art or as bags at the closing exhibition. If you would like to purchase beforehand, feel free to contact us directly to buy: ufp@tiltstudioinc.com.

All photos were taken by Fastspot’s Stacy Spakowsky

Happy Green Valentines Day everyone! Danny here! Its a good week to be part of the Urban Forest Project everyone! We are wrapping up sponsorship for the banners on Monday, so its your last opportunity to show a little love for Baltimore, art, and a healthy sustainable community. If you are feeling generous today and want to show your support to the community please click here. For an individual, a small business, or even a large corporation its your chance to show that you support and value the Baltimore community through sponsorship of this city-wide exhibition and event! Your name will be displayed prominently on a banner in the exhibition, and when they are recycled into tote bags and sold, the side panels will show your name prominently (see below). So come on! Its Valentine’s day. Show a little Bmore-love. Sponsor Now!

And check out a special “Green” Valentine made by our friend Doug Retzler from Art for Green Spaces / Art In Common artincommon.org & GreenCityBaltimore.org

Thanks Doug! Happy Valentines day everyone!