Ohio Pen - City of Akron Welcomes Temporary Public Dance Floor Installation in Lock 4

Trending...

A Large
A Medium
A Small
Text Size

FRONT International showcases open-access public dance floor created by Dansbana!

City of Akron Press Release
From the desk of City of Akron Press Office
Published: 08-17-2022

Akron, Ohio, August 17, 2022 — The City of Akron is pleased to announce the completion of a temporary dance floor installation in Lock 4 in downtown Akron. The dance floor depicts large scale hands wearing rings and a bracelet, and includes Bluetooth speakers which members of the public can connect to in order to play their favorite music. The installation, created by Swedish architectural collaborative Dansbana! in collaboration with FRONT International, highlights the value of dance as a tool of personal and collective transformation. This project is funded by a Knight Arts Challenge Akron Award.

In order to utilize the dance floor, residents can head down to Lock 4 anytime between 10am-10pm through October 2, 2022 to connect to the Bluetooth speakers through their cell phone or other compatible device. Once connected, they can choose a song or playlist from any music streaming platform. The device will allow up to 20 minutes of connectivity before it will disconnect to allow anyone else in the vicinity to enjoy the installation.

More on Ohio Pen

"FRONT International is thrilled to partner with the City of Akron and Dansbana! on the Lock 4 installation," said FRONT Triennial founder Fred Bidwell. "Local artists and dance organizations sharing their vision for public space helped to create this collaborative platform for dance and creative expression in the heart of downtown and we hope Akron residents and visitors will enjoy engaging with this installation."

Dansbana! was founded in Stockholm in 2015 by the architects Anna Fridolin, Anna Pang, and Teres Selberg. Since 2015, the trio have designed public, Bluetooth-powered, open-access dance floors through a community-driven research process. Initially developed by the all-female architecture group as a response to a lack of public recreation spaces for young girls and women in and around Stockholm, each Dansbana! dance floor is conceived together with local participants and is site-responsive in its approach.

The Akron dance floor's program and design was developed through a series of workshops in Fall/Winter 2021–22 with dancers from the Akron community, cultural organizations, and local artists. The goal was to create an ongoing dialogue around movement, recreation, and music—an architecture of joy and collective healing.

The dance floor was installed as part of an ambitious artistic presentation across the region by FRONT International, a free public art festival that takes place across Cleveland, Akron, and Oberlin every three years. Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows, the second iteration of FRONT International, runs from July 16 through October 2, 2022.

More on Ohio Pen

Other FRONT exhibitions and performances in the area include a major group exhibition at the Akron Art Museum featuring local, regional and national artists, two exhibitions at The University of Akron, and an installation at Quaker Square in collaboration with Curated Storefront. For information on all FRONT International sites in Akron, please visit www.frontart.org.

To access events taking place on the dance floor installation, visit https://www.downtownakron.com/calendar.

FRONT exhibitions in Akron are presented by Richard and Alita Rogers, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, GAR Foundation, and the Akron Community Foundation.

##

About FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art

Launched in 2018, FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art is a free, public, contemporary art exhibition comprising artist commissions, performances, films, and public programs. The inaugural edition brought over 90,000 visitors from more than 25 countries and generated $31 million in economic impact in the region. Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows, the second iteration of FRONT International runs from July 16 through October 2, 2022. Building on the success of the first edition, FRONT 2022 furthers the Triennial's commitment to the belief that by supporting creative communities and stimulating new cultural encounters in the region, contemporary art can be an important catalyst for positive social change. For more information, visit frontart.org or follow @FRONTtriennial.

For further information, contact:
Stephanie Marsh
Chief Communications Officer
Phone: 330-375-2754
E-mail: [email protected]

Filed Under: Government, City

0 Comments

Latest on Ohio Pen