"Corpitopia" was a community-based project in Corpus Christi, Texas, exhibited at KSpace Contemporary in Corpus from January-March 2010. CC Mayor Joe Adame unexpectedly attended the opening and addressed the audience during a stimulating reception that was almost a town hall meeting.

In preparation for the exhibition I facilitated discussion seminars on the state of the community, and what its future holds, with local residents of varying ages and backgrounds by asking participants to inform me of the issues. After thought-provoking commentary, students generally then made drawings of hypothetical additions to the cityscape, while adults made maps idealizing and reconfiguring the town.

The sessions were recorded, materials gathered, and the resulting exhibition is a rambling creative community studio of sorts: my large architectural drawings (in this case of vacant lots and open waterfront) are interspersed with residents' maps and drawings, projected comments, a floor map/game where viewers toss bean bags onto areas of the city to "score" (downtown wins automatically), plus a workstation with computer, desk, and library.

The goal is getting people involved in a creative way, with markedly individualized interpretations of the city, as well as generating energy and materials, and creating an art exhibition that is democratic, fluid, amorphous, and open-ended. The show has begun before it opens, does not stop changing once it does open, and can even be accessed remotely, through the project blog. It's quixotic and fragmentary and contradictory and hopefully mirrors the urban itself while (potentially) contributing to it.