Paradise [not yet] Lost

You are invited to participate in Paradise [not yet] Lost,
a community exhibit about environmental issues, climate change,
and the places we love and want to take care of.

Are you passionate about renewable energy, recycling, preserving land or climate justice? Are there places (near and far) that you love that need care and protection? We invite you to be part of a community dialogue through art: visual, written, performed, etc. All work that relates to the theme will be included. (Some size restrictions possible. Please call if your piece is larger that 3′ in any direction.)

Participation is free and open to all ages and experience!
No prior art or exhibit experience necessary.

Deadline for submissions: January 31, 2015

Opening Reception:
Saturday, February 7, 6pm to 8pm
Performances at 7pm

Show runs through March 31, 2015. Pick up work on April 1, 2 or 3.

For this exhibit, we also invite you to consider

Art as Social Practice:

art as a series of intentional actions
that you do and document,
do and reflect on,
do and do and do,
for whatever transformation
it brings about in yourself
and the world around you.

You can share documentation, images and reflections related to your practice or action[s] in the exhibit, or as a performance at the opening reception. We will also have a Wall of Intentions that you can add to at the opening or during the exhibit.

You can incubate ideas for actions at our January 28 Art For A Change program!

Artists to inspire you: Dominique Mazeaud, Tattfoo Tan

Questions? or to schedule a performance: Please call (413) 625-2782.

 

This Exhibit is funded in part by the following Local Cultural Councils:

Ashfield,

Buckland,

Charlemont/Hawley,

Colrain,

Conway,

Heath,

Leyden,

&

Shelburne.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

New Beginnings and a Five-year Anniversary

Five years ago, on the Winter Solstice of 2009, I officially launched The Art Garden and this website with a slightly sloppier version of this image. My The Art garden is open! email began with:

I’m sending this announcement out on the longest night of the year (or almost)…a bit of Light, I hope, in a season when light and dark do their undulating dance in each of us.

 

The Art Garden has done it’s own undulating dance over these five years; always holding to a core vision that integrates art-making, community-building, sustainable living, creative exploration, social practice, self-direction and the cultivation of a nurturing, non-judgmental environment.

 

Goethe’s words are no less applicable than they were in 2009. Every day is a beginning! This work of making and being…creating art…creating community…creating ourselves!      What a joy!      What a challenge!      What a dance!

 

Thanks to the collaboration, participation, enthusiasm, encouragement, financial support and hard work of so many, The Art Garden is now firmly rooted!

 

We wish you a very Happy Season of Light!

 

 

with love and gratitude,

 

Jane-doll made by Edite Cunha

Please support The Art Garden through Valley Gives Day!

The Art Garden is participating in Valley Gives Day again this year.

This 24-hour e-giving event happens on December 10th, THIS WEDNESDAY!!!!

Please check out our fund-raising page:

http://valleygives.razoo.com/story/Art-Garden

It tells the story of our mission, and the services we provide in our community, through images, testimonials, and the practical ways we use the resources entrusted to us.

We hope you will enjoy the page AND be inspired to support our work!

Doing and Making are Acts of Hope

Quote from Sister Corita Kent

At this time of year, it seems like time is a balloon, stretching almost to bursting. And even if what we fill our shorter days and longer nights with is good…
it can often feel like too much.

This morning I am imagining my particular balloon NOT filled with a confetti of
to-do’s…but rather, the expansive breath of a quiet moment outside,
and the air of delight when I make something…
my lovely morning coffee,
and this little bit of reflection.

On November 22nd, The Art Garden was part of a community-service learning event coordinated by Hilltown Families in Northampton. Artist-board member Laura Iveson and I set up a L-O-N-G work station where children (and their adults!) could paint paper placemats to be donated to local senior centers.

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Even in the midst of what might be considered a hubbub,
creative focus slowed things down.

The magic of painting…
the act of brushing physical color around on a surface…
the do-and-respond…
the idea taking shape, or emerging in the process
(no matter what each person’s skill level)…
was calming,
energizing,
and satisfying.

107 beautiful and wildly different placemats were made in 3 hours!
What a balloon!

Art For A Change Series Begins November 19, 2014

 

Our 2014-2015 Art for a Change program will begin again on
Wednesday, November 19th, 6:30pm – 9:30pm.
Inspiration for the evening: Environmental Issues & Climate Justice

Click here for more info.

Halloween Ball at the Cowell Gym on November 1, 8pm-1am

Join us for a benefit Halloween Ball at the historic Cowell Gym*
in Shelburne Falls on November 1^st, from 8pm to 1am.

Proceeds benefit youth programming
from the Shelburne Recreation Committee and The Art Garden.

Dance your bones off while supporting two good causes!

We’ll have local beer, wine and cider for sale, and free snacks!
DJ dance music and a costume contest!

$10 entry fee with sliding scale. Guests under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

*The Cowell Gymnasium is located at 51 Maple Street.
Please wear soft-soled shoes to protect their new floor.

Questions? Call The Art Garden at 413-625-2782.

Art Garden at Northampton 75%+ReUse Art Show & Sale

The Art Garden is participating in Northampton’s 75%+ReUse Art Show and Sale this Saturday, October 18th, from 9am to 3pm at the Smith Vocational High School. We will be selling artworks (created by volunteers from our collection of re-purposed and up-cycled materials) as a fundraiser for our After School Creative Studio program. 

We’ll also have an activity table where people (of all ages) can make shaker sticks using wire from old telephone cords and the bottle caps, beads and buttons people have donated to us.

The Art Garden is dedicated to re-purposing, re-cycling and up-cycling materials (that would otherwise end up in the waste stream.) Our bins and boxes are full of supplies that have been donated to us from members of our community!