Screen shots from @deadquarewalking
Writing my MFA thesis has kept me pretty busy throughout the first quarter of 2014. My final thesis submission was approved this past week and as the dust settles, I am slowly getting re-oriented to life outside of writing, editing, defending, formatting, etc. an ETD. I think I am now pretty much set to finally graduate on May 1! This in itself is such a thrill!
Yet it has dawned on me that I have had some really amazing and wonderful opportunities materialize over the past couple months including working with Pat Greene on TrIP, collaborating with TheArtStarter.com, presenting at Nathan Selikof’s Processing Meetup, being a guest on Ryan Price and Kathryn Neel’s BATT podcast and having my geo-social photography featured in The Orlandoan. I can’t thank all of these individuals and organizations enough for their support and promotion of my creative work. I’m definitely feeling the love in Orlando as well as in Brooklyn and Chattanooga!
I am beyond thrilled and honored that @deadquarewalking was featured as an arcade game selection this past weekend at the Different Games Conference in Brooklyn, NY. We now have a working prototype published online as well! Thank you to everyone involved with Different Games for considering this project that myself and Dr. J. Michael Moshell have been working day and night on for the past several months. The prototype is still somewhat barebones, but I think we have a thought-provoking concept which will continue to evolve.
This coming Wednesday, I head to Chattanooga, TN for Next City’s Vanguard Conference. This is another mind-blowing opportunity, and I cannot wait to join the rest of the Vanguard 2014 class in Tennessee. I think this is going to be a life-changing experience.
This has been a great year so far. I truly believe the best is yet to come, and we still have a lot more work to do in terms of pedestrian and transit rider advocacy, community-building, coalition-forming, creative-placemaking, etc. in the Orlando metro region. I’ve also been behind on dedicating time to supporting Pat Greene with the TrIP project so I’m looking forward to focusing more energy on this important public art collective over the upcoming weeks. We have many, many, more submissions to post from #TrIP_Roanoke (which I unfortunately missed out on at the last minute…kind of a long story) and TrIP: The Knight Fantastic.
Onward!
David Thomas Moran 