What is the Mile Project?

The Mile Project was formed as an idea two years ago while living in Arlington, Virginia, and begun as an endeavor in summer 2006.

One of the intentions of the Mile Project is to create a single, continuous, monoprint one mile long featuring things people have drawn and donated. That is likely the definition that will resonate with the most people and the easiest one to give, as it will produce something tangible. The project, however, has many definitions and many tasks it was created to fulfill that will leave no such residue.

The Mile Project describes the community of artists, doodlers and owners that will come together to make, divide and buy the print, and the collectors and decoders that will come after to reunite the print and bring it back to life. The Mile Project is part traditional technique, part new media construct, part online community and part spectacle, uniting folks from all walks of life and all levels of talent to make something wonderful, and to make being creative something to be shared, enjoyed and lauded again.

The final physical result of the project will be what I am calling a distributed monoprint. A print created as a single work but existing in fragments, diluted into the populace, linking each owner to the next and creating a community that exists in the minds of the members, through remote interaction via the web, the postal system, and whatever communication medium they choose. They will all hold a piece of a puzzle, a single work that will belong to thousands of people, who will in turn, belong to it.

The Mile Project explodes process for all to see. It offers a shared adventure with anyone who cares to participate. It is about meeting thousands of people. It is about creative collaboration on a scale never before attempted. It is about creating a community around a commonality. It is about trying to make a mark on the world, even a small one by leaving something better than it was found.

Cherry Branch