A Second or Third Anniversary for #iThinkOutsideMyBox - A Celebration Either Way

#iTOMB.Emily painting on the High Line 09.08.12

When I look for our first painter at #iThinkOutsideMyBox on the High Line I find Emily, above, from exactly two years ago today. But when I look for the first painter at 22nd St., our current location, 9 September, 2012 comes up, so that puts our 2nd anniversary of painting on the High Line solidly at this week. But the entire concept dates from nearly a year before that at Occupy Wall Street in New York.

#iTOMB Little Girl painting at Zuccotti Park 10.25.11

Here, on 25 October, a little girl paints with me in Zuccotti Park as I sit in one of the first actual boxes at the Occupation in the days when the one-line joke of a man sitting in a box that said "I Think Outside My Box" was the big idea. Below, the box that launched it all and was featured in the Wall Street Journal on 7 October, 2011.

David Everitt-Carlson at Occupy Wall Street, 10.07.11 Photo: Brian Derballa for the Wall Street Journal

And so we have evolved, from an activist statement encouraging creativity to solve real world problems, to a vehicle for spontaneous self expression celebrating the First Amendment, to today – simply engaging the public in Public Art. And with us has grown our list of contributors and original artworks.

#iThinkOutsideMyBox Founder David Everitt-Carlson - Photo: Matt LaVere

Today, as #iThinkOutsideMyBox nears 20,000 paintings in two years, we are actively promoting the project to both museums and galleries and would still like to see some significant journalistic attention to what has become the most attended and successful public engagement activity on the High Line park in New York City - and for these activities, and our continued success, we could use your help.

#iTOMB 2nd Anniversary Family Fun. Photo by @mattlaverefoto on Instagram

Below are a number of things that are integral to our survival and would just be fabulous anniversary gifts:) Should you be able to help in any of these areas, or know of someone who can, please let us know or contact me by email, Facebook or on Instagram @iThinkOutsideMyBox.

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1) FUNDING: #iThinkOutsideMyBox is a global community studio and gallery that supports itself through contributor donations. We receive no funding from the High Line park and are most definitely not a trust-fund project:) To help with significant donations, please see the lefthand sidebar and buttons for Fractured Atlas, our fiscal sponsor (tax deductible) or PayPal (Donate button).

Currently we are in great need of an Apple computer to maintain this site and keep our online profile visible and growing. This will cost $1000 minimum - or we would be happy to take a pre-owned Mac as a donation. Either way, your support is crucial to our being able to continue and grow.

2) PRESS: I am always asked, "Hasn't the New York Times written you up?" And the answer is, no, not yet. But it's also not like you send a press release to the NYT and they send a reporter over that afternoon. Press is best attained by referral, so if you are familiar with writers for the Times or other significant media: print, TV or digital, please pass us along as a story suggestion. In the menu bar above is a link to our press kit. Please feel free to download and forward.

3) SCHOOLS/NON-PROFITS/CORPORATE: #iTOMB is available for schools and private events. Our rates bill at 1/2 day and full day. Contact me for details. I am also personally available for creative staff motivation, training and public speaking. With an impressive background in the advertising business I have worked with McCann Erickson and others to open avenues to more creative and productive thought. Please contact me for more details on customized presentations to help any business staff think outside their box.

4) MUSEUMS: Each week I am actively exposing the #iTOMB project to museums around the world as well as those in town.  But as in journalism, referrals carry more weight than I ever could by sending press releases or otherwise tooting our own horn. I have had productive discussions with both the Children's Museum of the Arts and the Smithsonian's Cooper/Hewitt National Museum of design, but so far, nothing finalized. If you know somebody, or know somebody who knows somebody, or are somebody:) we are very interested in pursuing museum associations. Contact me.

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So whether we're really having our second or third anniversary, is no matter. It's an anniversary all the same, and one I couldn't have forecast 3 years ago when I found a box and what I thought was a thought provoking idea. Who could have known that public painting by the public could be so powerful? I thank you all and look forward to growing the project with your support. Over the next few weeks I'll be inviting musicians and other performing artists to come celebrate with us. Join us on the High Line at 22nd St. and express yourself freely with a little public art:)

#iTOMB Absolutely Stellar at Night 09.07.14