TASK Midwest
  • Home
  • 2010
    • ISU
    • Drake
    • Twin Cities
    • F.A.T.T.
    • via[ESC]
  • 2011
    • Augsburg TASK
    • UMSL
    • Scott and Westdale Elementary Schools
  • 2012
    • UWO TASK
    • NAEA
    • Washington Community High School
    • Thomas Metcalf Laboratory School
  • 2013
    • Oregon Elementary School
  • Resources
_TASK is an improvisational event with a simple structure and very few rules developed by artist, Oliver Herring, in 2002. TASK can be a planned, more formal set-up, with an application process and a pre-determined number of selected participants (TASK Events); a more open structure without any limitations of size or divisions between viewers and participants (TASK Parties); or an adaptable framework tailored for use in classrooms (TASK Workshop). All TASK structures rely on the same basic infrastructure: a designated area (usually but not necessarily made from construction paper), a variety of props and materials (cardboard, plastic bags, pencils, tables, cling wrap, tape, markers, ladders…), and the participation of people who agree to follow two simple, procedural rules—write a task on on a piece of paper and add it to a designated “task pool,” and pull a task from that pool and interpret it any way they want using whatever is on (or potentially off) stage. Once this task is completed, the participant writes a new task, selects a new task, and so on.

TASK’s open-ended, participatory structure creates almost unlimited opportunities for people to interact with one another and their environment. TASK’s flow and momentum depend on the tasks written and interpreted by its participants. In theory anything becomes possible. The continuous conception and interpretation of tasks is both chaotic and purposeful. TASK is a complex, ever-shifting environment of people who connect with one another through what is around them. It is also a platform for people to express and test their ideas in an environment without failure or success (TASK always is what it is) or any other preconceptions of what can or should be done with an idea or a material. People’s tasks become absorbed into other people’s tasks, as objects generated from one task are recycled without issues of ownership or permanence.

-Oliver Herring

TASK Midwest


This website serves as a repository of information related to the momentum of TASK Midwest. 


February 6, 2010: ISU TASK, University Galleries of Illinois State University, Normal, IL
April 12, 2010: TASK Party, Painting and Drawing Dept., Drake University, Des Moines, IA*
April 20, 2010: TASK Twin Cities, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN*
April 23, 2010: F.A.T.T. (Fieldcrest Art Three TASK) Party, Fieldcrest High School, Minonk, IL*
April 29, 2010: TASK+VIA[esc], Art House, University of St. Francis, Joliet, IL*
May 1, 2010: TASK Party, Principia College, Elsah, IL
May 15, 2010: Tisket TASKet, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH (linked by webcam)
May 15, 2010: Tisket TASKet, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (linked by webcam)
February 17, 2011: WAC Attack TASK Party, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
April 14, 2011: TASK Party, Augsburg College, St. Paul, MN*
ongoing in 2011-2012: Classroom TASK, Scott and Westdale Elementary Schools, 
     Melrose Park, IL and Northlake, IL
October 21, 2011: UMSL TASK, Gallery 210, University of Missouri-St. Louis*
February 18, 2012: UWO TASK Art Jam, University of Wisconsin-Osh Kosh*
February 23, 2012: Classroom TASK, Thomas Metcalf Laboratory School, Normal, IL*
March 3, 2012: NAEA TASK, National Art Education Conference, Sheraton Hotel, New York, NY
May 4, 2012: TASK Party, Washington Community High School, Washington, IL*
May 18, 2012: TASK Party, Colene Hoose Elementary School, Normal, IL*
May 22, 2012: TASK Party, Thomas Metcalf Laboratory School, Normal, IL*
May 31, 2012: TASK Party, Kipling Fine Arts School, Chicago, IL*
August 29, 2012: TASK Party, Oregon Elementary School, Oregon, IL*
February 23, 2013: UWO TASK Art Jam, University of Wisconsin-Osh Kosh*
September 20, 2013: UWO TASK Art Jam, University of Wisconsin-Osh Kosh*
October 5, 2013: TASK Party, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
March 9, 2014: Chicago Artery TASK Party, Fulton Street Collective, Chicago
June 14, 2014: Northern Spark TASK Party, Minneapolis College of Art and      
     Design, Minneapolis, MN
November 8, 2014: Girl Scouts TASK Party, Children's Discovery Museum, Normal, IL*

September 24, 2015: Principia TASK Party, Principia College, Elsah, Illinois
April 22, 2016: ISU TASK 2016, School of Art, Illinois State University, Normal, IL*
March 16, 2017: TASK Party, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa*

*ISU TASK served as a catalyst for additional TASKs throughout the Midwestern United States. 
Oliver Herring's TASK blog
TASK book
To find out more about organizing your own TASK Party or to list your TASK Party on this website, please click to send an email.
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