foundry publishing

Profile Video Now Available

2011-02-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

This short video profile was completed after the grant project had its gallery opening in May 2009. The grant making organization, Create Here, produced mini features on a selection of recipients. For "And The Iron Did Swim" they followed Mary Barnett into some new territory at the former U.S. Pipe Foundry site, then back to her studio with some of the printed works, and at the opening night reception at Tanner Hill Gallery.

Project Competes: Please Vote!

2011-01-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

Friends - I have entered my project in a new competition for funding and gallery exposure in NYC. Part of this is public voting so please check the link and vote for my work. If you are feeling it, please share the link. Voting ends January 28th. thx!! ♥

CLICK TO SEE + VOTE TODAY

http://www.artistswanted.org/portfolio.php?preview=true&artist=marybarnett

Where are they now?

2011-01-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

Check out this profile on former Wheland Foundry employee, Jerry Green.

2010-10-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

a fitting self-portrait

made in scenic city::found in garden state

2010-10-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

FUNDRAISER A BIG SUCCESS!

2010-08-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to you, we have raised $6200 in two short months on Kickstarter!

If you were generous enough to be a backer and chose one the original documentary arts pieces, I wanted to let you know that production is beginning on the prints, magnets, and chap books. These are each so much fun to make and are really an inspiration to me for this project. Can't wait to get these to you!

Also, if you were part of the Founding 41 and pledged $50 or more, don't forget, you get to pick your print! Iwill be in touch soon and see what you would like, or i can help guide you thru a choice based on your preferences between Documentary and abstract photography, as exhibited in 2009 at The Tanner Hill Gallery, "And The Iron Did Swim"

Thank You

2010-07-25T22:37:00.001-07:00

this campaign ends on july 28th at midnight. Together we've raised 104% of the goal! This is fantastic for the public archive and for the continuation of the documentary. I am still hoping the final day will bring us up to at least 100 backers by the very end. That would be something! Thanks again for checking on things here. Hope to see you soon.

Updates from the Campaign Trail

2010-07-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

click to read more!

2010-07-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

Old Machine Shop

U.S. Pipe + Foundry

Chattanooga, TN

Many of you may have arrived at this website looking for updates from the documentary and production entries from the field. What you have found today are the exciting updates from a summer fundraiser for the project and information about various things I am making with the photographs for the fundraiser. Please check in often, as this campaign is winding down - officially ending on July 28th - and we can return to the work more fully. Thank you for your interest and support. If you are interested in helping financially at any level please click on the green button in the upper right to learn more. For every donation there is a reward of original art from the archive of images. Its like buying art and helping make art happen in one gesture. Please read more and see if you would like to participate.

in the spirit of independence:

2010-07-01T12:42:00.001-07:00

Welcome New Visitors!

I would like to thank the Chattanooga History Center for choosing this project as the cover story for the Summer 2010 edition of The Connections newsletter. The story, "Arts Commission ABC Grant Aids Double-Pronged Project," aptly describes the ambitious goals of the oral history, exhibition, and documentary sides of this multi-platform public history project.

What readers may not realize today is that this effort has largely been an independent undertaking, self-funded and self-propelled. This ABC grant is a great start to creating partnerships within Chattanooga and the state of Tennessee. But it is a small start. $3500 is a wonderful award, but it will take continuous and substantial support to continue and complete the work.

So, to compound the impact of the grant and the momentum of the field work now underway, I have initiated an independent fundraiser online so the interviews with foundry workers can continue after the ABC Grant. As we head into a holiday weekend celebrating Independence Day, I encourage you to check out the fundraiser and salute the independent spirit that sparked this project in 2006. Make a donation of any size and let freedom ring!

click on the link in the paragraph above, or click on the green "backer" button to the right of the article at the top of the page.

Thank you -

Mary Barnett

FUNDRAISER NEWS

2010-06-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

check out some of the new rewards that will be offered to new backers of the documentary via the Kickstarter website. These design-inspired pieces make an artful tribute to industrial Chattanooga! For those who would like a fullsized print, you can check out the upper level rewards and make your selection. No matter what, you will receive something beautiful!

handmade resin-coated neck pendants

approximate size is 3/4" square

handcut 4 piece magnet set featuring reconstructed and deconstructed scenes from the U.S. Pipe Chattanooga plant. Sets are themed in many ways from totally abstract colorplays to architecture, tools and textures. Sizes of each piece and each set varies to serve the theme. Most single sets have at least 6 pieces.

more pendant designs composed from larger images around the foundry.

scale: pendant designs on the left and another magnet set on the right.

2010-06-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the afternoon with a few of the Ryon-Lyndsay women whose grandparents hail from Coal Creek, TN, and whose great grandparent's started the Lyndsay Mill in Campbell County in the 1800's. Like many families in the late 1800's, the men moved around looking for a day's work and hoping to find a steady job. Often separated from loved ones, letters were plentiful in this Tennessee family as courtships formed via mail, and plans were made long distance after finding work at The Wheland Foundry and a home in St.Elmo, TN.see more photos from Mary Frances Ryon's trunkful of local and family history: Become a backer of the project at any level on the documentary's Kickstarter online fundraiser. Follow the links to the right and you will have exclusive access to more updates and news from the production this summer.

2010-06-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

big red, and green c2008 -mary barnett

notes from the Field

2010-06-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this entire project is to collect the stories of Chattanooga's foundry workers - past and present - create a public archive, and produce an original documentary from all of the personal, archive and original material.

Thanks to a grant that the project received a few weeks before the kickstarter campaign began, the field work is back in production and we are setting up interviews and other exchanges. Today, I met with a retiree from the Soil Pipe Plant in Chattanooga. He was kind enough to loan me some of his personal memorabilia, including company reports, displays, presentations and photographs I had not uncovered anywhere else. The Soil Pipe Plant closed in 1990.

We met on the phone yesterday and got together briefly today to exchange face-to-face introductions and a shared commitment to the story. We plan to get together again for an official interview and a day trip of local history.

[“The origin of cast iron soil pipe manufacture both in the United States and abroad is interwoven with historical developments in the production of cast iron pipe. Prior to 1890, general information and statistical data on cast iron pipe did not distinguish between pressure pipe which is used to transfer liquids under pressure, and soil pipe which was developed to serve as a companion product for gravit-flow purposes”]

from the Cast Iron Soil Pipe Handbook

-Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute
Chattanooga tn

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
On May 17, it was announced that Barnett would serve as artistic director and photographer on an oral history project with the Chattanooga History Center. Supported by a $2,000 Arts Build Communities (ABC) grant administered by Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga and funded by the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Tennessee General Assembly, Barnett will capture oral histories from former plant workers. Additionally, the grant will be matched by the History Center, with funds and in-kind services.

2010-05-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

The project has received unbelievable support in the first days of the campaign over the long Memorial Day Weekend. In 4 short days the project has gained 51 individual backers, one Executive Producer, and $3470 in pledges from California. New York, New Jersey, Utah, Oklahoma, Tennessee and the Netherlands. With 56 days remaining, "And The Iron Did Swim" is poised for success at 58% funded. On day 1, the project reach 35%; on day 2 the project was selected for the network's Recommended Page. On day 3, the project received its first backer at the Executive Producer level and blew past 50%. According to the Kickstarter website, "Recommended collects projects that we like, and we think you will too. They showcase creativity and passion. We think they're brilliant." wow and thank you. This is an inspiring and certain testament to the interest in this material. It is also a personal strong vote of confidence from many people near and far. I am really excited about what is ahead.

Anyone interested in supporting this project or learning more can visit the website http://kck.st/9A3XVp.

2010-05-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

60 Windows
U.S. Pipe & Foundry
Chattanooga, TN

57% FUNDED with 57 DAYS to GO!

2010-05-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

image is from the Fetish Series,
taking us beyond the documentary.

The first of The Documentary Arts Patron Awards has been claimed!

There are only 5 remaining at this award level. As a seriously committed patron of the documentary arts, this level includes the esteemed title of Executive Producer. As executive producer, you also receive a special edition art piece from the Fetish Series that goes beyond the documentary with an abstract tribute to manufacturing in a totally original modular concept.

We are certain to succeed with boosts like this. Thank you amazing backers!!!

memorial day weekend goal: $3000

2010-05-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

2010-05-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Big day today i couldn't be happier.
Thanks for bringing it, posting it, swearing to it, showing up, and showing love.

2010-05-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

From the David Magee Show at Rock Point Books. We simulcasted the pitch video and entire interview segment on the Business Talk Radio Network online, an on Business Network Television cable stations in 24 markets coast to coast! Become a backer on the first day of the campaign: http://kck.st/9A3XVp

We Have Officially Launched on Kickstarter!

2010-05-28T04:36:00.000-07:00

Launch Day Special for Backers

2010-05-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

1 Day Only: Friday, May 28th anyone who backs the project on kickstarter.com on the first day of the campaign at the print pledge levels will get to choose their print. After the first day it will be my choice - and just as great - but perhaps you've had your eye on something already? Help make the first day as big a success as it can possibly be!

industrial poetry magnets for you

2010-05-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

individual sets will be created as part of the exclusive rewards for backers of "And The Iron Did Swim - a documentary" on the kickstarter.com network. Each set contains 6 pieces. Single, double and triple sets will be offered for donations of $10, $20 or $30. Original prints from the documentary's still photography collection will be offered for donations of $50 and above. Six limited edition Documentary Arts Patron Award packages are also available beginning May 28th. Project page goes live Tomorrow! Friday 5/28. email us if you would like a gentle reminder sent tomorrow during the day.acmecatalyst@gmail.com

2010-05-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

60 Days To $6000!

Friday, May28, is PUBLIC LAUNCH PARTY FOR HISTORICAL CHATTANOOGA FOUNDRIES DOCUMENTARY

Local Filmmaker/Photographer Seeks Community Support Using Unique Method

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.

(May 25, 2010) – The public is invited to a launch event for And the Iron Did Swim, a locally produced documentary on Chattanooga foundries and their workers. The Chattanooga-based documentary photographer and filmmaker Mary Barnett is hosting the event downtown and online to kick off a two-month fundraising campaign for the film using an “all or nothing” approach via kickstarter.com. The event will be held at Rock Point Books, 401 Broad St. in downtown Chattanooga, on May 28 from noon until 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

"I hope to build some local excitement and support for this effort,” said Barnett. “I think it’s a cool thing to be a part of! This is public history. It belongs to everyone. This is our project, really. And Kickstarter is a great model. They have so many success stories. With Chattanooga’s help, I can't wait to be one of them! There are all levels of interest in this kind of work, so there will be all levels of donations accepted."

The project was recently awarded a two-month ABC Grant thru the Chattanooga History Center, which funded the field work for May and June 2010. The funds raised during this two-month Kickstarter campaign will allow the fieldwork to continue after the grant is over at the end of June.

Barnett’s fundraising goal of $6,000 must be met 100 percent online by July 28 in order for the funds to be released for the documentary. All who pledge to support the film—from $5 to $500—will receive a “thank you” gift, such as original art. Incentives for pledges depend upon pledge levels. Pledging launch event attendees, however, will receive an additional limited edition original print from Barnett’s exhibit collection of photographs from the documentary.

Launch event attendees may bring their personal laptop to pledge online using Rock Point Books’ free Wi-Fi, or may use an available laptop at the store.

On kickstarter.com, interested backers for the Chattanooga documentary can view a short video pitch from Barnett along with a project description and budget details.

A live radio and television interview will be recorded during the event. Barnett will be interviewed for “The David Magee Show,” which is produced and broadcast to more than 20 cities nationwide including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

Rock Point Books is located on the corner of 4^th and Broad Streets in downtown Chattanooga. Rock Point Books is an independent bookstore and offers Chattanooga a large selection of classic literature, Southern literature, new releases, nonfiction, history, children’s books and more. Rock Point Books also offers gift certificates and original art, and their café is open daily.

For more information about the documentary, visit www.foundrypublishing.com. For more information about Rock Point Books and upcoming events, please call (423) 756-2855 or visitwww.rockpointbooks.com.

Barnett is initiating this fundraiser on her own so that the work can continue beyond the short length of the local grant. The grant, an Arts Build Communities Grant, administered by Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga and funded by the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Tennessee General Assembly, will support artist fees incurred to gather one-on-one interviews with generations of former foundry workers from the Chattanooga area, including the few remaining active foundries.

“This project is an important part of telling the story of Chattanooga through the voices of those who made our city,” said CHC Executive Director,Dr. Daryl Black. “This project fits perfectly with the mission of the Chattanooga History Center--to connect the past, present and future by exploring the land, river and people of Chattanooga.”

Artistic director and photographer Mary Barnett says pre-production has already begun and that the initial series of interviews will focus on the older generations of foundry workers. The ABC grant will allow the CHC to collaborate with Barnett, who created, “And the Iron Did Swim,” a series of photographs that documented the closing of Chattanooga’s most prominent remaining industrial site, the U.S. Pipe Foundry.

Barnett says she started recording conversations with workers during the demolition of the foundry and hopes to continue a broad gathering of voices.

“The goal right now is to capture the earliest time period of Chattanooga’s industrial storyline. We want to ensure that the oral history will not duplicate the written record, but will supplement it, adding unique material available nowhere else,” she said.

Those who are interested and feel they can contribute to the industrial story of Chattanooga are asked to contact Mary Barnett directly at 423.822.0289 or acmecatalyst@gmail.com.

About Kickstarter

Kickstarter is a new way to fund and follow creativity, and has been featured in the New York Times, Wired, Pitchfork and on NPR among others. It is an online funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, explorers and creative endeavors of all kinds. Participants and their projects have up to three months to raise a set goal of funds for the project. Backers are given incentives to make a small donation, bigger incentives for bigger donations. Successful campaigns on Kickstarter have ranged from books, to films, to shaved-ice trailer upgrades.

smalls signs of life

2010-04-24T15:37:00.001-07:00

update on foundry oral history project:(chattanooga, tn)

"And The Iron Did Swim" Director, Mary Barnett, has recently announced a new partnership with the Chattanooga History Center thanks to an ABC Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission thru Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga. This grant will support the artist's fees to research and conduct videotaped oral history interviews with Chattanooga's former industrial workers. It will initiate the creation of a public history digital archive that will be used for exhibits, enrichment, education and research. Technical Sponsorship for the project is provided by The Association for Visual Artists and AVA Digital Media Lab. The material will also be used in Barnett's original documentary project, "And The Iron Did Swim", which premiered as a solo photography exhibition in May of 2009 as a documentary arts expression that was equal parts editorial and impressionistic. The exhibition featured 45 large prints including abstract modern/modular art conceptual installations derived from the artist's imagination as a self-proclaimed "maufacturismist." The Arts Builds Communities grant will cover field work completed by June 30th, 2010. Additional fundraising will be conducted to continue the field work and complete the project. The work will premiere at the re-opening of the Chattanooga History Center in their new riverfront location scheduled for March 2012.

watch it grow

2009-02-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

ideas are on the table

2009-01-01T19:01:00.000-08:00