1st Annual MAPA Art Exhibition

This has been an amazing month for MAPA! Our ranks continue to grow, members have travelled far and wide spreading the gospel of Midwest Animation and a number of our ranks have been honored for their dynamic contributions to the art.

We plan to continue this momentum with a very exciting announcement: the First Annual MAPA Wall Art Exhibition. (If you have a catchier title, please let me know quickly.) The event will be in cooperation with NBC Action News, Blue Valley Schools, The Motion Station, Adobe and their KC Core Groups. Channel 41 has graciously agreed to allow air time to promote this event and Adobe generously offered funding for internet marketing. Furthermore, NBC Action News anchor Elizabeth Alex has offered to MC the event and bring a photographer with her for on-site promotion. We expect at least 200 movers and shakers from the KC Art Community to attend.

Admission will likely be free at the door until 9PM and $25 for non-members who want to stay for the private after-party until 12:00. MAP-Animaniacs would be free all night.

We have a couple suggestions for fundraising at the event. We could simply accept donations or there has been some interest in holding a silent auction of artwork donated by members. If we did this, we could work out some kind of deal where 50% of proceeds would go to the artist and 50% to the club, or something like that. Proceeds would be used to fund MAPA future endeavors including our publication, a database of talent and Kansas City's First All-Animated Film Festival in 2011.

We spent the latter part of June scouting art galleries. Owners from six different spaces expressed interest in hosting our exhibition right around Sept. 3rd. We understand with both First Fridays and Labor Day traffic, we could move even more spectators through that night.

One of those locations also shares patio seating with the KC Crossroads Live stage. A major country music headliner is scheduled to play that night. If we were to decide to use that venue, our visitors would have prime viewing of the concert. We could NOT advertise for the performer, you understand, but we could get a nice word-of-mouth buzz going.

MAPA Members are entitled to first placement of their works at the exhibition, should they choose to submit. This will provide our artists with marquee display of their work to visitors. Other artists will also be allowed space to round out the exhibition.

Please let me know if you have interest in being a featured artist, or if you know someone who would like to participate in this very exciting milestone. You can reply to this email or call me at 816-267-0719.

Sincerely,

Dylan Dietz
Midwest Association of Professional Animators