A Proposal from the Fitchburg Cultural Alliance Longsjo Subcommittee (Julia Cheng, Gail Bloom and Bill Mixon) for a Community Arts Project

Fitchburg Hosts the Longsjo seeks to create a visual record of community involvement in staging the annual Fitchburg Longsjo Classic. The project intends to reveal the unpublicized roles of citizens, businesses, and non-profit organizations who donate innumerable hours and invaluable resources to producing a world-class event on the professional cycling circuit. Above all, the project offers community members service and learning opportunities to document local history through photography.

The project also closely parallels the imperatives being developed for a Living Memorial or mural commemorating Arthur Longsjo and fifty years of Fitchburg bicycle racing in that it emphasizes community participation both in subject matter and image contributors.

Charged with organizing a community arts project to raise awareness of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, the subcommittee proposes the following:

1) Recruitment of a core group of photographers -- skilled amateurs, photography students and working photojournalists -- to participate in a weeklong documentary project modeled after the recently published America 24/7 (DK Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0789499754; see website www.america24-7.com for more information)

2) Establishment of project headquarters and staff to coordinate race week photography, schedule assignments, and curate the final exhibit

3) Development of a project web page to disseminate information and coordinate assignments

4) Exhibition of the project at Riverfront Park during the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic closing ceremony on July 5, 2004 and again at later dates and venues

For future funding purposes, the project should meet qualifications as a community arts project according to established criteria.

Fitchburg Hosts the Longsjo has received the endorsement and/or sponsorship of the Fitchburg Cultural Alliance, Fitchburg Cycling Club and Fitchburg State College

Recruitment of a core group of photographers

There are many aspects of community participation in the annual Fitchburg Longsjo Classic that deserve more attention, for example, the role of volunteers in staging the four-day event and community attendance at the races. We are recruiting a group of people with experience and/or interest in photojournalism to document these stories, drawing from high school art students, Fitchburg State College photography majors, Fitchburg Camera Club members, arts organizations and the greater Fitchburg community.

This group should provide their own equipment and commit themselves to accepting and completing pre-arranged assignments, developing their own subjects to be approved for coverage as part of the overall project, or searching for feature photos in public during race week. Members must adhere to a tight deadline for submitting digital files or film negatives during race week and should also be prepared to attend a mandatory pre-planning and training session prior to race week.

Currently, project shooters (who mostly shoot digital) and staff include

Dan Cutrona - FSC '02 and Photography Student of the Year, award-winning former S&E freelancer now freelancing at Cape Cod Times

Chris Harrington - MWCC '03, S&E freelancer and accomplished sports shooter

Patrick Oehler - former S&E freelancer, now freelancing for New York Newsday

Casey O'Toole - Bay Path College '07, St. Bernard's Central Catholic High School '03, photo intern at S&E

Allegra Boverman - Nashua, NH based freelance photographer

Michael Duncan - FSC '06, information sciences major and photo minor

Scott LaPrade - Leominster firefighter, S&E photo contributor

Alan J. Brackett - Sturbridge firefighter, freelance photographer, Firehouse Magazine contributor

Robert Burns - S&E staff photographer

Latrice Cooper - Gardner photographer and Fitchburg Cultural Alliance member

Marcia Grillo - FSC photo student

Gail Bloom - assistant project director and Leominster artist

Helen Obermeyer-Simmons - assistant project director and Fitchburg State College Communications Media professor

Coelynn McIninch - FSC Photography Lab Manager

Julia Cheng - Longsjo project director and former S&E chief photographer

Julia Cheng is project director and will be assisted by Helen Obermeyer-Simmons (Professor of Communications Media, FSC) and Leominster artist Gail Bloom. We also hope to schedule some of the shooters, especially the students, to work at project headquarters to participate in

- scheduling assignments: creating assignments, determining times and places, securing photographer access/clearance where needed, general coordination of photo coverage. Allegra Boverman has offered to assist in scheduling.

- editing images: downloading digital files, scanning film negatives, editing and selecting images for final exhibit and website upload, answering phones and e-mails, archiving/backing up images.

- assembling the final exhibit: getting images printed and mounted for exhibit; transporting pieces to Riverfront Park, hanging exhibit, monitoring it during the day.

- updating the project website to keep the master schedule current and to upload photo images as they come in. Michael Duncan has offered to be webmaster.

Staff positions will require a significant time commitment, especially during race week.

Project headquarters will be at Fitchburg State College's Industrial Arts Building, centered around the college graphics (Room 338) and photography labs, and nearby Professor Obermeyer-Simmons' office. Equipment will be available to download digital images, scan negatives, edit images and output prints.

Project headquarters may also hold the work space and art supplies to mount the photos for exhibit.

Development of a project website

The project website, www.fsc.edu/longsjophotoproject, will disseminate information for recruiting participants, make the master schedule available to photographers, and publish images in addition to those exhibited at Riverfront Park. The website may provide interactive or downloadable forms to apply for shooting positions or assignments and an FTP (file transfer protocol) facility to receive digital images.

Mounting of exhibit

Fitchburg Hosts the Longsjo will exhibit a minimum of 20 mounted images at Riverfront Park as part of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic closing ceremony on July 5, 2004.

For impact, we hope to display images no smaller than 11x14 inches. With mats and protective mounting, each piece may be as large as 16x20 inches. Because of time constraints, materials will be pre-assembled and stored at project headquarters to await insertion of the final prints. Photos may also be used in a web-based exhibit, Power Point presentation, or printed and bound into a coffee table style book (there exist firms which do this sort of thing).

The project will provide a statement to participating photographers clarifying ownership, usage and copyright issues regarding images created, submitted, exhibited or electronically published.

Julia Cheng
Project Director, Fitchburg Hosts the Longsjo
(617) 281-0801
thewombats@lycos.com
www.fsc.edu/longsjophotoproject

Fitchburg Hosts the Longsjo is sponsored by Fitchburg Cultural Alliance, Fitchburg Cycling Club and Fitchburg State College