“The Dayton Flight kinetic mobile represents the Blue Sky Project model to its fullest extent,” said Peter Benkendorf, founder and president of Involvement Advocacy. “Public artist Lisa Nonken and local high school students collaborated to incorporate a seminal part of Dayton history into an ambitious work of contemporary art to share with the community.”
The mobile was developed and constructed in collaboration with Artem Voevodin, a University of Dayton student, and five local youths: Diana Colonia, Wesley Langford, Ariel Phoenix and Travis Waller, all of Dayton; and Tessa Kellner of Kettering.
“In our increasingly virtual world, a physical creation gains influence from its rarity, and I am compelled by art’s power to confront the viewer in a shared space,” said Nonken, who has a master of fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Nonken has already received numerous residencies and awards for her art, even though she received her MFA in 2010. Besides the Blue Sky residency, she’s won a Vermont Studio Center Full-Fellowship residency. She also earned two grants for 2008: REMET “Shaping the Future,” and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. She also assisted on several large-scale monuments, including the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial, and the Cesar Chavez Monument in Austin, Texas.
Benkendorf said, “Blue Sky Project is a summer experience that empowers professional artists and Dayton-area youths to collaborate and build community through the creation of ambitious works of contemporary art and performance.”
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