Creative Flagstaff is happy to announce that Michelle Meyer has installed her piece, Retro Maven, in downtown Flagstaff! You can find Retro Maven at 2 S Beaver St #100 in front of Thrift for Goodness Sake. A huge thank you to Sunshine Rescue Mission for hosting Retro Maven in front of their Thrift for Goodness Sake store.

Creative Flagstaff and a partner organization teamed up to bring Retro Maven to downtown Flagstaff.

Michelle Meyer

Artist Statement

Retro Maven is a free standing sculpture created to play off of its environment. Each material choice creates a range of experience opportunities for viewers. Beginning with the hair: the Moire Effect is employed, which creates an optical illusion of movement while walking around the piece. The rectangle area that designates the eyes is outfitted with a mirrored surface that gives the piece the ability to reflect its surroundings, each moment creating a new view for the observer as well as the sculpture. The skin treatment utilizes the science of retro-reflection, commonly found in street signs. The goal of this piece is to inspire curiosity and to prompt people to take in their surroundings.

I am also the Creator of Snoodmen, and Founder of Snood City. Snoodmen is a gesture-based creature that uses only body language and movement as communication. They have a lollipop head and an upside-down triangle face and are dedicated to instigating shenanigans and freedom of expression. Snood City, with Snoodmen as its mascot, functions as an arts collective, production house, neon shop, and entrepreneurial incubator. The motto of Snoodmen and the residents of Snood City is, Stay Unconventional. It is a platform for interactivity and growth where we honor the life force within us all.

Big inspiration for me comes through identifying natural phenomenas and displaying them in a way that generates unique experiences for each viewer: Life observing Art, Art observing Life.