Life is busy and full right now in all realms. And, as much as I'd love to fill you in on all the family stuff, this blog is about all things related to my art! So here is my (long and long overdue) update and upcoming events. Also, be sure to keep an eye on Instagram, I'm much better at updates there than I am here or by email.
I am really and truly so excited about my residence with the Arlington Art Truck this summer in June and July. After nearly two years of planning, revising, problem solving, experimenting in collaboration with Cynthia Connolly, curator of the Arlington Art Truck, we have brought What is Your Guidepost? to the cusp of eight summer activations that start on June 1. For those who are not familiar with the Art Truck, it is a literal truck that goes around to farmers markets, festivals, schools, etc. and brings an art project to be experienced by any and all who are interested. The project, What is Your Guidepost?, will be a chance for participants to make a "paper cairn" postcard consisting of "rocks" cut out of paper then stacked and glued to repurposed cardboard and write a few words about what they are feeling in the moment, which will be mailed back to them at the end of the project in August. The Community Partner for our project is Arlington Neighborhoods Program and they will have volunteers from local civic associations at the activations to discuss their program as well. One of the things I am most proud of with this project is the focus on environmental responsibility. The majority of the materials used are repurposed from other items: Rock Boxes are made from old cigar boxes, postcards are made from cereal boxes, rocks are made from cast off paper and the glue is made from rice or corn starch and can be put in the compost if not used up completely. We have done our best to do away with single use plastic (for example in glue sticks) and repurposed it where possible (for example the windows in the rock boxes). I hope you will be able to come and make a postcard with me this summer and see for yourself. I'm much better at the process (showing) than at the words (telling) and I promise it will be fun!
My other major thing this summer is the next exhibtion with my CoLab group. This is a group of artists working in collage, most of whom are based at the Reston Art Gallery and Studios, who started working together a while back to put on a show at RAGS. We enjoyed working together so much that we decided to look for another opportunity to show together and landed on the Fred Schnider Gallery of Art in Ballston. This next show will take place in July and August 2024 and feature individual works and pieces created in collaboration. I don't have many photos or a full press release for this one yet but stay tuned, I think it will be a beautiful show. Here is one of the collaborative pieces that these artists: Parinaz Bahadori, Jennifer Duncan, Rosemarie Forsythe, Doug Fuller, Julia Malakoff, Molly McCracken, Marthe McGrath, Jennifer Wilkin Penick, Doug Schulte all contributed to:
I am still teaching a couple of classes through the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, an adult class called Mixed Media Expressions and another class with a transitional housing shelter for kids, but for the moment while preparing for the Art Truck, leading classes has taken a bit of a back seat. I'm hoping to offer more classes in the fall because I really love working with people of all ages to bring more art into our lives.
My studio community, Studios at 307 in Falls Church, is hosting an open house on June 1st. I won't be there this time because it is the same day as my first Art Truck activation, but I wanted to let you know about it so you can support the other wonderful artists and small businesses that make the group so special.
And, finally, Pull Up a Chair 2.0 was a huge success at the Bender JCC in Rockville, Maryland for a couple of weeks in April 2024. Sandra Davis expertly curated a show that was both powerful in addressing mental health issues in our community and beautiful featuring chairs created by artists as well as photographs of the artist with their chair and video interviews discussing process and importance. Although this iteration of Pull Up a Chair 2.0 has already closed, keep an eye on Instagram, I hear that there may be another showing in Maryland this fall.
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