Edison students, staff, Beacons, community and neighborhood schools come together to celebrate the arts. The assembly of Medallions took place this week at Edison. These medallions will be used to help James Brenner, a renowned Northeast artist, construct another masterpiece! See the pictures and read the story and watch the video

We are working to help James Brenner, a renowned Northeast artist, construct another masterpiece!   James Brenner?  Masterpiece?  Who and what are we talking about?  Right around Edison High School you probably have noticed the backstop named Innovation, Double-Flux on the NW corner of the basin, the backdrop to Edison’s electronic billboard, and In-Flux near the wading pool in Jackson Square Park. All of those are James Brenner's works.  Just like those masterpieces, it will take a village to raise the next Brenner art project - the Medallions are the physical tool that will help us do it.   
 
What is the Medallion Public Arts Connector?
MPAC is a psychographic, creative, synergistic, quantifiable, collaborative and comprehensive marketing & public relations initiative - connecting residents, local businesses, organizations, and artists in the common work of raising funding for public/community arts projects and education.  The central piece, the Medallion, is a small art piece that travels the community, touching the hearts of stakeholders, serving as the key to building community connections, and empowering individuals to take action collectively!
The release of the Medallion editions will be staged.  The first edition titled “In Flux” will be limited to a run of 1500 and will be launched at HNIA's Hotdish Revolution on April 21, 2013. 

How Does it Work?
HNIA and other connecting organizations will distribute Medallions to stakeholders at a one to one ratio.   The representative distributing the Medallion will verbally explain MPAC and supplement the explanation with a MPAC informational brochure, which will include a list of participating businesses.  The stakeholder is encouraged to patronize the listed businesses and to turn in his Medallion at point of sale.  HNIA will retrieve the Medallion from the business. With the help of a connecting organization, a replacement Medallion will be distributed to the stakeholder, thereby completing the process and allowing for the cycle to be repeated.
Each individual Medallion will be stamped with a unique number.  When a Medallion is distributed, HNIA will log the name, contact info, and Medallion number of the recipient stakeholder.  When the Medallion is turned in to a participating business and subsequently retrieved by HNIA, the number stamped on the Medallion will make it possible for HNIA to know what stakeholder is in need of a replacement.
Each participating business will make a donation to HNIA on a per Medallion basis; this means that each Medallion turned in by a stakeholder will translate to dollars earned for art!   Participating businesses will set minimum purchase requirements for accepting Medallions at point of sale.