[Recently Northern Lights and mnartists.org commissioned Abigail and Michael Mouw to produce an iPhone/iPod Touch application, which will allow anyone to present their views – visual and verbal – on art in the public sphere. We will blog more about this in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, Mike and Abby will be posting regular updates about their project.–mediachef]

Abigail + Michael Mouw (left) at Art-a-Whirl

We demonstrated ideas for our artists’ iPhone/iPod Touch app at Art-A-Whirl in Minneapolis, during the weekend of May 15-17. Approximately 35,000 artists and supporters attend this open studio event in the northeast warehouse district.

Artists iPhone app Goal

We are artists-in-virtual-residence at Northern Lights and mnartists.org, as both organizations are providing the virtual studio space that will allow us to create an iPhone/iPod Touch app. Our goal for the app is to connect artists and arts supporters in Minneapolis-St. Paul to public art in our area. We hope the app will allow users to identify their favorite public art, locate it on a map, and share thoughts and feelings with each other about the work. We hope to launch a free app through Apple’s iTunes store in spring 2010.

Feedback from Art-A-Whirl attendees

Art-A-Whirl was an excellent venue to discuss ideas around our app-in-progress. Our target audience of local artists and supporters were in attendance. They responded positively to the concept, and understood the wide appeal of an app that runs on the iPod Touch, which works on any wireless network, and doesn’t need a phone contract. The positive potential of the app for the local arts community was communicated through the informal front-end testing of our concept.