Mural Day Three: Transferring the Image

Tonight, our fabulous mural artistic team worked together to transfer our delicious mural image onto the wall.

Using a projector, wax pencils and lots of patience, the crew of Sara Lunsford, Jacquelyn and Coleman Norris, Sara Charles, and the mural designer, Todd Decker, worked diligently from 6 - 10 p.m.

Several neighbors stopped by to say hello, and several Indy Food Co-op board members came by to watch the progress, including Deb Sluss, Chris Barnett, Kyle Hendrix, Mary Bowling and Julie Rhodes.

A great time was had by all and we look forward to finalizing the transfer this week and moving towards the April 10 mural painting event. Please join us!

Mural Day Two: Priming the Wall

Last Saturday, March 27, Indy Food Co-op hosted a volunteer workday and many volunteers came out to help! We primed the east exterior wall in preparation for our mural.

A big thanks to Dawn Charonneau for donating lots of supplies and snacks; to Denise Walker for an extension ladder; to George Rudbeck for shop-vaccing the paint chips; and to all the volunteer painters, Kelli Barker, Debbie Pigeon, Bruce Polson, Diane Clark, Kyle Hendrix, Mary Bowling and the Bowling kids (Ben, John and Rachael).

We now have a perfectly white canvas in which to create our mural. Thanks to all who helped make this day such a success!

Mural Day One: Pressure Washing the Wall

Today, co-op member Bob Bronson shared his time and his pressure-washer with the co-op! Bob worked with general manager, Greg Monzel, to clean up the east exterior wall of the store building in preparation for our mural. This blank, white wall will soon be transformed into a beautiful and delicious-looking piece of art. Follow the progress here, or better yet, come out and help:

Priming party: Saturday, March 27, noon - 4 p.m.

Mural painting: Saturday, April 10, noon - 4 p.m.

Let us know if you can help out or have painting supplies, ladders or drop clothes to share - jrhodes4@indy.rr.com

Volunteers Needed THIS Saturday, March 27

THE MURAL IS COMING, THE MURAL IS COMING - AND WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!

We have two important volunteer workdays coming up and we hope you can help!

Please join us THIS Saturday, March 27, from noon - 4 p.m. for a Mural Priming Party! We will be priming the east exterior wall of the co-op building in preparation for our beautiful, new mural. Bring yourselves, your friends and if you have a ladder, drop cloth or paint rollers and pans to share, please bring those along. Please RSVP to jrhodes4@indy.rr.com if you can help out and tell me what supplies you can share!

Also, we will be actually painting the mural on Saturday, April 10, so plan to join us from noon - 4 p.m. that day as we transform this space into a work of art. It will be paint by numbers thanks to our incredible all volunteer artist team: Todd Decker (the mural designer), Sara Lunsford, Jackie Norris and Sara Charles!

Please join us for this very fun event to create something to help the transformation of Pogue's Run Grocer and East 10th Street.

What's Happening at Pogue's Run Grocer

There is a lot of activity these days at 2828 E. 10th Street, and it's getting busier and busier every day.

Community Health Network produced a beautiful new "Coming Soon" banner recognizing all of our critical community partners - drive by the store and check it out!

Our seed sale with Nature's Crossroads is a huge success (order seeds through www.IndyFoodCoop.org and 25% of the sale comes to Pogue's Run Grocer).

We just received word that we will receive $5,000 from the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center for landscaping and will work with dozens of volunteers to beautify the space on April 10 and May 1! Join us!

Food Con was an amazing event where we met literally thousands of people! Thanks to those who stopped by the booth to say hello.

We have a fabulous group of artists helping plan for an upcoming mural. Mural painting begins April 10 - join us!

We are getting ready to roll out a great, grassroots marketing campaign. Our first friend-raising event was a big success and we are planning more (contact us if you are interested in hosting one)!

We currently have 251 members and are seeking 300 members by store opening this Spring! And, there's lots more good news to share very soon. Stay tuned!

Local firm gives Pogue's Run Grocer a boost

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 11, 2010

Contact: Cody Fague

Cell phone: (317) 640 – 4817

Email: cody@cododesign.com

Local firm gives Pogue’s Run Grocer a boost

Design team CODO donates branding services to upcoming co-op

Local firm CODO Design mixed “urban utopia” with “freakin’ delicious” in their recent pro bono branding project for the Indy Food Co-op’s upcoming community-owned market, Pogue’s Run Grocer. The grocer, set to open late spring 2010, will offer fresh, local and organic foods, household products, and educational programs.

“This is an exciting step for Indianapolis; we wanted to lend our knowledge of branding, marketing and graphic design to help Pogue’s Run grow,” says CODO Design partner Cody Fague.

Pogue’s Run Grocer, soon to be located at 10th and Rural Streets, will be the only community-owned cooperative grocery in Indianapolis.

“The location at 10th and Rural does pose some interesting marketing challenges,” according to Fague. “Pogue’s Run needs to send the right message to people from many different backgrounds. The key is to get folks excited about the role that fresh, delicious food can play in revitalizing one of our city’s richly historic urban areas.”

CODO Design assembled large boards with inspirational image clippings side-by-side with Indy Food Co-op members. The boards that members found most appealing—the aptly named “urban utopia,” a visual homage to the quaint neighborhood markets of yore, and “freakin’ delicious,” a celebration of fresh, tantalizing foods, became the basis for the grocer’s brand identity.

CODO Design provided market research, logo development and art direction for the food co-op.

“CODO undertook our brand development by getting into the trenches, talking to people in the community, our members and our partners,” said Kyle Hendrix, president of Indy Food Cooperative, Inc. “The process they used was inclusive, and just what a community-owned project needs to lay the ground work for its future success.”

“The energy of the Indy Food Co-op is undeniable,” according to CODO Partner Isaac Arthur. “We worked with some formidable local talent on the project, including interior designers, architects and a logo designer. People are excited about what Pogue’s Run means for the community, and that shows through in the branding.”

“Every successful organization needs to connect with its customers and tell a compelling story,” Arthur adds. “That’s what branding is all about.”

“The CODO team was very enthusiastic about the co-op mission,” said Hendrix, “but we were most impressed with their expansive efforts to understand our diverse customer base and develop a brand that would resonate. As a start-up non-profit, we could never have been able to budget for such high-quality branding services, making the work of CODO invaluable to our community effort.”

For more info about joining Indy Food Co-op or Pogue’s Run Grocer, visit www.indyfoodcoop.org.

For more information about CODO Design, visit www.cododesign.com.

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CODO Design is a branding and graphic design firm located in Indianapolis. Their recent projects include the rebranding of Indianapolis Early Music, the rebranding of the Indiana Humanities Council program Novel Conversations, and the design of the exhibition Dillinger! Forging a Hoosier Legend at the Indiana State Library.

Ready for Spring Planting - Order Seeds Today

The warm, sunny days remind us that spring is just around the corner! Have you been dreaming about what you will plant in your garden this year? Now is the time to place an order for your seeds, and what better way to prepare than to order seeds from Nature's Crossroads through the Indy Food C0-op? By ordering your seeds through www.IndyFoodCoop.org, 25% of your purchase will come back to support the co-op. So, why not do your part to support healthy, local eating, by growing your own food this year -- and at the same time, you will be supporting a local company and a local non-profit by ordering through www.IndyFoodCoop.org. Fruits, vegetables, herbs and more. Check it the fabulous selection of seeds today!

P.S. In order for Indy Food Co-op to benefit, you must order through the www.IndyFoodCoop.org website. If you look now but purchase later, please remember to re-enter the website through the co-op website.

P.S.S. Please share this information with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers!

Don't Miss FOOD CON!

Join Indy Food Co-op on March 5, for Food Con, an unconventional convention that features art exhibitions, poetry, films and lectures, hand-on activities, and, of course, food. Food Con will be a first-of-its-kind showcase and exploration of the art and culture of food in Indianapolis. Food Con is being touted as a food event for foodies in the same vein that GenCon is to gamers.

The free Food Con event will be held at the Harrison Center for the Arts from 6-10 p.m., during IDADA’s popular First Friday tour. In the gym, Indy Food Co-op and other representatives from local farmer's markets, urban gardens, neighborhood supper clubs will be on hand to answer questions, share recipes and discuss their passion for food. Artists exhibiting that night include Bruce Campbell, Kyle Ragsdale, Carolyn Springer, Penelope Dullaghan, Ben Valentine, Leah Gauthier and Kristin Hess.

Food Con is a joint project between the Harrison Center for the Arts and the Indiana Humanities Council’s Food for Thought program. Stop by and say hello at the Indy Food Co-op booth!