At the beginning of this month, Epicenter was honored to host our first annual Summer Summit. This year, we invited all of our past Frontier Fellows, volunteers, staff, supporters, and collaborators for a weekend conference as well as some fun in the sunny desert of Utah. With over thirty attendees, from as far as London, England, the epic weekend’s agenda consisted of live music, campfires, river rafting, horseback riding, camping along the riverbank, communal meals, Show & Tell sessions, a tour of Epicenter projects, and a (of course) few dance parties. See the bottom of this post for a full list of our Summer Summit 2013 attendees.
Day One: Nick Zdon at Ray’s Tavern, the whole gang at Ray’s Tavern, and a dance party in Richard’s barn. (click to enlarge)
Day Two: River rafting, horseback riding, live music by Dustin Hamman, Swasey’s Beach, and paper lantern ceremony. (click to enlarge)
Round table discussion. (click to enlarge)
Day Three: Tour of Epicenter projects, collaborative art projects, and Crystal Geyser. (click to enlarge)
Day Three of the Summit was strictly business. We discussed the present state and future of Epicenter, fielded questions about practicing within the social art/design realm, brainstormed multiple topics, and worked on a few collaborative art projects. Throughout the day, attendees were invited to do presentations. Dustin Hamman (aka Run On Sentence) played an acoustic set for us on the banks of the Green River at sunset. Nick Zdon made us all fall in love with his El Camino and his passion for learning a new skill set. Sarah Baugh presented her recent successful collaboration with Epicenter, the Green River Newspaper. Chris Lezama taught us about saving face through deconstructing YouTube videos. Megan Deal inspired the entire room with her recent lessons learned presentation. And, finally, our current Frontier Fellow, Zach Bulick gave us a glimpse of the amazing work he’s doing in Vancouver, B.C. with the Union Gospel Mission. All of the presentations were more inspirational and informative than we could have imagined. Further proof that Epicenter’s extended network is diverse and multitalented.
Closing Ceremony at Crystal Geyser
The Summer Summit Attendees at sunset standing on Crystal Geyser near Green River, Utah, on June 2, 2013 (left to right, click to enlarge): Zach Nichols, Matt Voegtle, Nick Zdon, Justin Queen, Christian Ayala, Ashley Ross, Sarah Baugh, Megan Deal, Emily Howe, Taylor Massey, Kyle Durrie, Armando Rios, Jack Forinash, Wes Funes, Dustin Willis, Ali Osborn, Maria Sykes, Dustin Hamman, Trevor Adams, Aimée O’Carroll, Chris Lezama, Zach Bulick, Miles Mattison, Dan Teed, and Steph Crabtree (not pictured: Dijana Alickovic, Kelly Gregory, Jeremy Hobbs, Erica Dixon, and Adam Siefkas)
Conference attendees:
Adam Siefkas of Boulder, CO – artist / metalworker – 2012 summer intern
Aimée O’Carroll of London, UK – architect – collaborator since 2009
Ali Osborn of Brooklyn, NY – artist – Jan 2012 Frontier Fellow
Armando Rios of Mountain Home, AR – architect – Aug 2012 to present
Ashley Ross of Long Beach, NY – artist – Jun 2012 to present
Chris Lezama of Daly City, CA – sociologist – Aug 2011 to present
Christian Ayala of New York, NY – architect – collaborator since 2009
Dan Teed of Salt Lake City, UT – architecture grad student – current summer intern
Dijana Alickovic of Salt Lake City, UT – architect – collaborator since 2009
Dustin Hamman of Silver City, NM – musician – collaborator since summer of 2011
Dustin Willis of Atlanta, GA – architect – 2010 summer intern
Emily Howe of Philadelphia, PA – designer – Sep/Oct 2012 Frontier Fellow
Erica Dixon of Denver, CO – artist / non-profit work – 2012 summer intern
Jack Forinash of Birmingham, AL – architect – Nov 2008 to present
Jeremy Hobbs of San Francisco, CA – artist – new!
Justin Queen of Detroit, MI – non-profit manager – Aug 2009 until Oct 2011
Kelly Gregory of Oakland, CA – architect – 2010 summer intern
Kyle Durrie of Silver City, NM – letterpress printer – collaborator since summer of 2011
Maria Sykes of Dothan, AL – architect – Jun 2009 to present
Matt Voegtle of Warrenville, IL – student – Nov 2010 AmeriCorps NCCC
Megan Deal of Chattanooga, TN – designer – collaborator since 2009
Miles Mattison of Petaluma, CA – photographer – Aug 2011 Frontier Fellow
Nick Zdon of St. Paul, MN – designer / filmmaker – Aug 2011 Frontier Fellow
Sarah Baugh of Portland, OR – designer – Aug 2012 Frontier Fellow
Steph Crabtree of Salt Lake City, UT – architecture grad student – current summer intern
Taylor Massey of Montgomery, AL – architect/muscle – collaborator since 2009
Trevor Adams of Grand Junction, CO – musician / librarian – entertainment since summer of 2010
Wes Funes of Daphne, AL – designer – Jan 2010 until Oct 2010
Zach Bulick of Vancouver, BC – designer – current Frontier Fellow
Zach Nichols of Lodi, WS – student – Nov 2010 AmeriCorps NCCC
Epicenter Timeline Collaborative Art Project (click to enlarge)