Tiimo Mäng

You Might Recognize:

"Agrarian Calling" - Wheat Ridge, CO; "Modern Nobility" - Tooele, UT; "Sanctuary" - Loveland, CO

Public Art Average Success Rate:

Less than 1%

 Rejected Project Proposal

Proposed Project Location:

Health and Human Services Building, Broomfield, CO

Concept:

I proposed a wall mural for the waiting room at Broomfield's Health and Human Services building consisting of concrete, steel and wood that was 6 feet tall and approximately 20 feet long. An interpretive version of the sun with the word CHANGE was defined by the text "A solitary journey born of the humility to act on our heart's silent guidance".

At the time of this proposal, I was recovering from alcoholism and was coming to grips with the difficulty in changing my habits to remain sober. This was especially true of my need to control everything and everyone around me. Through intense therapy and my own introspection, I started to understand my own intuition, or my "Heart's Silent Guidance", and started to become more aware of choices that were sabotaging my recovery though I was still unable to change much of the time. I felt a strong connection to the people that would be coming through the Health and Human Services building and decided to share this insight as it felt like an appropriate place to do so. It also made me feel terribly uncomfortable to share this kind of insight because I feared judgment but decided to do it anyway because I was recently introduced to the idea that bringing fear into the light was the only way that I could be released from fear.

"I Regret to Inform You..." Artist Response:

Crushed and relieved at the same time. This was only the forth or fifth proposal I ever presented and I had worked so hard on the idea, the images and the statement that it completely knocked the wind out of my sails. I took the rejection personally which is not something that's very healthy to do when you learn that rejection is the norm when applying for public art, not the exception. But to be honest, part of me was also relieved because I did not have to put myself out in front of the public eye and deal with their judgement.

In hindsight, I was eventually able to accept rejection as a normal and necessary part of the public art realm. For many commissions, hundreds of artists apply and the odds of getting in front of a selection committee are utterly slim. Instead of focusing on this problem, I have chosen to focus on the solution. Get as many proposals out there as I can, make sure they are completed correctly and put my heart into the statements. Do I still struggle? Sure. I stop applying for a bit and catch my breath, recuperate from the rejections and then get back at it.

Additional Thoughts:

My experience is that making a living in the public art world is a tough gig. You have to be relentless and you need to have support. In my world, this support comes from a small group of friends, a mentor and from my wife. Without my wife's support, I would not be where I am today. Her patience, understanding and occasional frustration have all come together to keep me motivated and focused on what I need to accomplish to continue being successful in this arena.