Region served Worldwide Type Nonprofit organization | Founder/Director Richard Saxton Headquarters Byers | |
Key people Kirsten Stoltz
Todd Bockley
Matthew Fluharty
Margo Handwerker
Kris Harzinski
Stuart Hyatt
Jared Walters
David Wyrick Formerly called municipalWORKSHOP (2002-2007) | ||
M12, aka M12 STUDIO, is an American artist collective and non-profit organization based in Byers, Colorado that features an evolving group of artist practitioners, curators, and designers. Together they create artworks, research projects, and education programs that explore rural cultures and landscapes. Initially formed as the municipalWORKSHOP in 2002 in York, Alabama by Richard Saxton when he was an artist-in-residence at the Rural Studio, an architecture studio run by Auburn University, the group evolved into M12 in 2007 when it became incorporated as a non-profit organization. The core members have created over 20 projects since founding; their work was featured in the 2014 publication "A Decade of Country Hits: Art on the Rural Frontier."
Contents
History
The municipalWORKSHOP was created in 2002 by Richard Saxton based on an effort to bring a "rural renaissance" to the small town of York, Alabama. This art laboratory aimed to work with municipalities and communities to develop more creative approaches to living in rural America. The organization's first project was called Utility Now!, a series of pedal-powered street-sweepers and utility tricycles and bicycles for city crews to better maintain York.
From 2002-2007, the municipalWORKSHOP created public art projects with local communities throughout the United States. Projects range from a Music Integrated Kiosk Environment (M.I.K.E.) produced for the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin to the AutoTour Vehicle built for the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Wendover, Utah. In 2007, the collective formalized as M12, and expanded its reach to communities in Europe, South America, and Australia.
M12 has exhibited at the 13th International Venice Architecture Biennale, The Kalmar Konstmuseum in Sweden, The Chicago Cultural Center, Franklin Street Works, Wormfarm Institute, The 2011 Australian Biennial (SPACED), The 2010 Biennial of the Americas, The Center for Land Use Interpretation, The Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture at the University of Tennessee, The John Michael Kohler Arts Center, The Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, Wall House #2 in the Netherlands, and The Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. The group now develops projects worldwide and operates out of a renovated feed store in Byers, Colorado and maintains a 40-acre site in Last Chance, Colorado.