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THE COASTERS ARE IN!!

The Coaster Project was a huge success this year with over 20 designs submitted! Thanks artists for all of your entries!

The jury judged the designs anonymously and chose these five designs:

Mark Fullenkamp
Iowa City Foreign Relations Council

Brian Wleklinski
Iowa Donor Network

Dennis Lenzie
The WiderNet Project

Erin Hawes
Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance

Dennis Lenzie
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County

Look for the coasters downtown!

Welcome to The Coaster Project

Let us serve you something different in Johnson County.

The Coaster Project is a 501(3)c endeavor of The James Gang that seeks to promote local non-profit organizations through a competition amongst artists to create 4 inch beverage coasters to be distributed by bar and restaurant sponsors.

Our mission is to bring together different aspects of Johnson County, such as art, non-profit services, and food and drink establishments, to share one another's talents through a simple delivery mechanism, in this case an innocuous beverage coaster.

Artists will be given a non-profit to research and design an image to represent on a coaster. While the artist may choose any non-profit in a Johnson County area, we have asked various organizations to permit artists to use their organization as a source of inspiration. We have compiled a list of these organizations in the WHO section.

To enter artwork into the Coaster Project:

Contact Joe Mrkonich at joe-mrkonich@mchsi.com and he will assign you to a non-profit, to ensure that all NPOs will be represented by artist's entries. Requests will be considered but are not conclusive.

QUESTION: "What Is The Coaster Project?"

It’s a community development project that promotes Johnson County non-profit organizations (NPOs) on designed beverage coasters, distributed in local food and drink establishments.
It's a contest of artistic wit and public service.
It's a way to bring different groups together for a common cause to share what we have to offer with others.
All of the above.

[ANSWER: d]

Non-Profits

The James Gang called for non-profits to register to participate in the Coaster Project through the James Gang website. The non-profit organizations registered and summarized their organizational aims with the hopes of being represented on a coaster to create additional awareness of their organization within the community.

Artists

The James Gang called for entries from local artists through word of mouth and print advertising. Artists selected a non-profit organization and the artists pitched conceptual ideas for the coaster to the non-profit organizations. The non-profit and the artist agreed on a concept and the artist created a Coaster Project entry. Artist benefits included the experience of working with a new medium, the exposure of their art to the public, and additional candidate material for their portfolio.

Bars and Restaurants

The James Gang visited local bars and restaurants and invited them to help sponsor the Coaster Project. In exchange for sponsorship they received 1,500 coasters with 8 unique designs, prominent placement in a full page ad in the Art and Jazz Fest booklets, and the opportunity to create a unique experience for patrons to enjoy original artwork and learn about local non-profits.

The James Gang

The James Gang brought each component of this endeavor together to continue it's organizational mission to foster community-oriented actions, attitudes, and experiences by providing innovative frameworks in which creativity and service thrive

The Coaster Project

Judges decided on the winning coaster designs and 10,000 coasters with 7 unique designs will be distributed throughout the community, primarily at our sponsoring bars and restaurants during River Fest, while supplies last. Members of the community will be exposed to these artistic creations and the work of local non-profit organizations in a unique way.