camp firebelly + the causeway challenge: part 2

Jul 31 2014

On August 1, Causeway is releasing applications for our first Causeway Challenge. We are asking you: What would you do with $2,500 to create a more connected Chattanooga? We will award the top 20 ideas with $2,500 for implementation. Connection can take place between any two things. The possibilities are endless, and sometime that makes it hard to get started. Here are few things that our Director of Creative Engagement, Chelsea, learned through a small-scale civic intervention with Tomorrow Today at Camp Firebelly that might be helpful when thinking about your idea for the Causeway Challenge.

As I detailed in my last post, my partner and I were inspired by the bees that were making hives in Chicago’s abandoned parking meters. We connected two unrelated things, bee hives + abandoned space, and designed an abstract structure on one of the meters to draw attention to the unused space around it with the hope of inspiring someone to make the space useful again. The entire process took place over the course of 36 hours, and I learned a few things that might be helpful when brainstorming ideas for the Causeway Challenge.

1. Enforce your own constraints.

We could have spent the entire 36 hours deciding on a goal (animate something inanimate) or a color or a typeface. Making those decisions early on, and sticking to them allowed us to spend more time on the concept, logistics and implementation. My advice for the challenge? Don’t wait for an idea to come to you. Set your own constraints and work in that simplified space. Choose a neighborhood, a group of people, an issue, or a material you want to work with. Challenge yourself to come up with an idea within those constraints.

2. Connect unlikely things.

Bees and parking meters? Historically they do not have a lot in common. But we were able to create meaning in the space between those two things. What happens when you connect fundraising to birthdays? Or bikes to gardens? Or music to color? Inspiration comes in the connection of two unlikely things. What are two things you care about? How could you connect them in a meaningful way? Start there.

3. Keep it simple.

A simple idea is not a weak idea. Spend your time thinking about how to creatively implement your simplest idea. We are not expecting you to fix all of our city’s problems with $2,500. But could you change someone’s day? Their commute? Their loneliness? Their education? That’s the challenge.

If you’re interested, come by our space on Patten Parkway any Wednesday in August from 12–1. I would love to brainstorm with you!

Applications for the challenge open August 1 at causeway.org/challenge.

Originally published at www.causeway.org on July 31, 2014.