Francis Beaty

Francis Beaty is a contemporary installation artist, painter and sculptor known for her interdisciplinary work and introspective style. Beaty is an alumnus of the Baum School of Art, and she became Baum’s first Artist in Residence in 2018 with her project IZANAMI - she who invites, involving 500+ students who collaborated to create an Installation in the Walter Baum & Rodale Gallery titled The Arrival. During this six month residency, Beaty also worked with students at the Roberto Clemente Charter School in her class, What is Sculpture? The residency included a camp for the City Parks Summer Program. As a Public Artist in Allentown’s renaissance, she exhibited Square on Grid. Her project The Hatching 2017 in Gallery 724, was a community project where volunteers collaborated on a sculpture made of over 40,000 pages from donated books. Francis Beaty joined the Global Art Project in 2018 continuing to create engaging installations, sculpture and paintings shown nationally and internationally.

“Pods”itivity will be a team effort between the public and myself. I will invite the public to create their own pod, fashioned from a sheet of aluminum foil, into whatever shape they choose. I will encourage participants to create a few pods, as a means of experiencing the tactility of the material while at the same time actually creating their own mini sculpture. Signage will be positioned explaining the project with the foil easily accessible to the participants. Participants will place their pods into a basket for me to insert into the larger pods that I will be fashioning at the same time, using aluminum screening. My intention is for them to observe me creating my piece and the “ease” with which I create my pods.  

Each participant will be invited to “sign their work” by adding their name to a large board that will be posted near the completed large sculpture. I intend to create a minimum of 25 Shocking blue screening pods of various random sizes and shapes. The sheets of aluminum screening will be painted by myself off site beforehand using outdoor acrylic paint. Emphasis is on the action of our hands and noticing the evolving shapes. Participants’ silver foil pods will be inserted inside my blue screening pods, creating a contrast of color, texture and dimension. If the site permits, I will add lengths of ½” plastic tubing, painted the same Shocking Blue, to the completed sculpture, as if they are roots or tenticles, which may wrap around trees or be strung overhead. The addition of this tubing is experimental and may help to create a story that stimulates the viewers’ imaginations. The 'completed' pods may be joined together to form one large amorphic sculpture, depending on the site, or may be randomly hung or staked into the ground throughout the park. My goal is to create a wow factor as the Shocking Blue will contrast with the park foliage and/or the concrete paving in the park areas. Solar lighting may be added on Day #2. The entire process will focus on fun, experimentation and comradery.  

Day #1. Setup signage, setup foil pod making area, begin fashioning large blue pods, invite participation Day #2. Continue creating large pods, invite participation, assemble large sculpture, insert solar lighting, add tubing (if possible, site dependent) Day #3. Continue creative building and assembling process with participants, hang pods wherever possible to complete the wow factor.