Valley F.E.A.S.T. (Funding Emerging Artists through Sustainable Tactics) is a project that Now.For.Art is currently working on with Portal Arts Group.
Valley F.E.A.S.T. is a recurring series of events that coalesce local agriculture, culinary talent, and music and art to put funds into the hands of young and emerging artists.
At every F.E.A.S.T., the public is invited to come enjoy a fresh, innovative and locally sourced menu that is prepared by a special guest chef, to experience a unique line up of live entertainment and to also vote on proposals that are presented by artists who need funding. Entry to Valley F.E.A.S.T. is set at a sliding scale with a suggested donation of at least $10.
At the end of the night, the winning artists take home the evenings proceeds with the community supported responsibility to go make their art, which is later presented at the next Valley F.E.A.S.T.
Right now we are scheduled to host our first F.E.A.S.T. here in downtown Northampton on January 22nd 2011!
We also have a Kickstarter Campaign up in order to raise money to make this project possible. We have less than two days left to go! You can visit our Kickstarter Campaign HERE.
We’d like to extend a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who helped us reach our goal!
We’d also like to ask one last time that if you have not already pledged to our Kickstarter campaign to please consider doing so in the final hours we have left to raise greatly needed funds for Valley F.E.A.S.T.
If you are wondering why you should contribute even after we’ve reached our goal, please consider these following things.
We purposely low balled our goal since Kickstarter is an all or nothing fundraiser, we had to set a goal we could reach in 20 days in order to get any money at all.
With that, the money we raise from this Kickstarter campaign is our total budget to get this project off the ground, this is start up money that we need to generate multiple events over the course of a year and it is an EXTREMELY tight budget.
As our budget grows we will be better able to invest in green & re-usable supplies and stronger marketing.
Lastly, neither Now.For.Art or Portal Arts Group who are working to bring this project to Northampton are receiving ANY type of compensation, this is all being organized completely voluntarily. Now.For.Art has never received any compensation for any projects we've ever organized.
Also, please consider re-posting this to your Facebook, blog, or Twitter since obviously we don’t know everyone in the area that may either be interested in contributing to our Kickstarter campaign or in participating in any other aspect of this project!
Additionally, if your an artist working in any medium in the Pioneer Valley area, it is definitely time to check out our guidelines for submitting proposals at the Valley F.E.A.S.T. Blog and to begin preparing your proposal. Also never hesitate to contact us with any questions, email us at valleyfeast@gmail.com
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Papergirl Northampton, happened like, over a month ago...
Today we bring you a long over due peak at how Papergirl Northampton 2010 went over. Sadly this year we were very strapped with time and resources and unfortunately our documentation suffered a great deal. Non the less these not so great photo's will illustrate a basic idea of what things looked like.
I will attempt to offer more in the way of words to describe Papergirl 2010. This year we tapped in at just under 400 pieces of art work from about 70 participating artists.
We had two different packages come from Germany, one of which was part of the Papergirl Post Office being established by the crew in Berlin, responsible for the concept and origination of Papergirl. The "Post Office" is being set up as a way to keep the original crew involved and also to draw stronger connections to the many, MANY Papergirl camps around the world. In the near future we will be starting up collections to send over to the Berlin Post-Office to be re-distributed all over creation.
We also had submissions from as far as California, Florida and also the UK! It's wonderful to see folks taking initiative to get their work into other states and countries just so it can be given out for free.
This year we also had a table with art supplies set up at our reception so that folks who'd missed our deadlines or just straight up didn't know, could whip up something to throw into the pile. The results were great, seeing strangers sitting at a table together making art to give away! Supper rad and big thanks to Brendan McCauley for the idea and making it happen!
Over all I think this years distribution was a bit more romantic than last years, we only had 5 cyclists to hand out over 100 pieces of art work. All of them being close friends, collaborators and huge supporters it was absolutely terrific to get to send fewer cyclists out with more work so they could really take time and enjoy handing out the work. I don't doubt that last years group had fun but I think they all wanted more time on the street!
And here is just a moment to thank all the super people who make Papergirl possible:
C3 for setting us up in the Dynamite space yet again!
Karen and Tim Romansky for their fantastic catering services and help with installation!
Brendan McCauley for all your flyer design and distribution as well as adding a new, awesome component to PG Noho!
Eben, he did some stuff. j/k, he screen printed all our art-roll covers, distributed flyers and installed, not to mention came up with the idea of bringing Papergirl to NOHO!
Taryn, Jeff, Andrew, Hayley and Chris for being champions and showing up on a Saturday morning to make all our rolls and cycle around town handing them out.
And last but not least, all of the amazing artists who selflessly contribute art work, not just to Papergirl Northampton, but to all Papergirl chapters everywhere, with out your generosity and willingness to share your creativity in a leap of faith, Papergirl wouldn't be possible at all and the fact that there are so many of you willing to participate makes us all love the world a lot more!
If you've missed Papergirl this year in Northampton check out the Papergirl World blog to see where other chapters of Papergirl are coming up that you can mail contributions to.
We will run our third round next year but we've got A LOT of big changes coming up with Now.For.Art so we will see what kind of adaptations might happen to Papergirl Noho next year.
Keep it on lock down.
I will attempt to offer more in the way of words to describe Papergirl 2010. This year we tapped in at just under 400 pieces of art work from about 70 participating artists.
We had two different packages come from Germany, one of which was part of the Papergirl Post Office being established by the crew in Berlin, responsible for the concept and origination of Papergirl. The "Post Office" is being set up as a way to keep the original crew involved and also to draw stronger connections to the many, MANY Papergirl camps around the world. In the near future we will be starting up collections to send over to the Berlin Post-Office to be re-distributed all over creation.
We also had submissions from as far as California, Florida and also the UK! It's wonderful to see folks taking initiative to get their work into other states and countries just so it can be given out for free.
This year we also had a table with art supplies set up at our reception so that folks who'd missed our deadlines or just straight up didn't know, could whip up something to throw into the pile. The results were great, seeing strangers sitting at a table together making art to give away! Supper rad and big thanks to Brendan McCauley for the idea and making it happen!
Over all I think this years distribution was a bit more romantic than last years, we only had 5 cyclists to hand out over 100 pieces of art work. All of them being close friends, collaborators and huge supporters it was absolutely terrific to get to send fewer cyclists out with more work so they could really take time and enjoy handing out the work. I don't doubt that last years group had fun but I think they all wanted more time on the street!
And here is just a moment to thank all the super people who make Papergirl possible:
C3 for setting us up in the Dynamite space yet again!
Karen and Tim Romansky for their fantastic catering services and help with installation!
Brendan McCauley for all your flyer design and distribution as well as adding a new, awesome component to PG Noho!
Eben, he did some stuff. j/k, he screen printed all our art-roll covers, distributed flyers and installed, not to mention came up with the idea of bringing Papergirl to NOHO!
Taryn, Jeff, Andrew, Hayley and Chris for being champions and showing up on a Saturday morning to make all our rolls and cycle around town handing them out.
And last but not least, all of the amazing artists who selflessly contribute art work, not just to Papergirl Northampton, but to all Papergirl chapters everywhere, with out your generosity and willingness to share your creativity in a leap of faith, Papergirl wouldn't be possible at all and the fact that there are so many of you willing to participate makes us all love the world a lot more!
If you've missed Papergirl this year in Northampton check out the Papergirl World blog to see where other chapters of Papergirl are coming up that you can mail contributions to.
We will run our third round next year but we've got A LOT of big changes coming up with Now.For.Art so we will see what kind of adaptations might happen to Papergirl Noho next year.
Keep it on lock down.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Information Nation
So here are the specs on the Papergirl exhibit...
The show will be up from September 25th through October 1st
Daily open hours will be from 3-6 pm.
Closing reception on October 1st from 6-9 pm
With a live dj set from BOBBY MOUTHCHEW
Located at the old dynamite space in Thornes Basement at
150 Main St Northampton MA
We will also have a table set up with supplies for folks dropping in so they can make art work to add to the collection!
There is a massive array of art work from all different kinds of folks from all over the world, we hope to see you there!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Updates on Papergirl!
We've decided to expand our deadline to September 20th so we can hopefully get some submissions from all the recently returned college and high school students in the area.
Last year our deadline was well before most students returned and we wanted to make sure that this huge and important population would have an opportunity to participate this year. After all, this is about community and students are a big part of this community!
This year our exhibit will be from September 26th through October 1st with a closing reception from 6-9 pm on the 1st, all taking place in the dynamite space of Thornes at 124 Main st in Downtown Northampton.
Again submissions can be dropped off or mailed to:
103 State St Apt. 4
Northampton MA, 01060
Last year our deadline was well before most students returned and we wanted to make sure that this huge and important population would have an opportunity to participate this year. After all, this is about community and students are a big part of this community!
This year our exhibit will be from September 26th through October 1st with a closing reception from 6-9 pm on the 1st, all taking place in the dynamite space of Thornes at 124 Main st in Downtown Northampton.
Again submissions can be dropped off or mailed to:
103 State St Apt. 4
Northampton MA, 01060
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
About Papergirl
As promised I wanted to take a little time to expand on some of the motive and function behind Papergirl. The majority of this text is copied from a listing I posted on Valley Art Share, which if you are an artist working in Western Mass, or interested in Western Mass art happenings, you should join.
I feel like this sort of explanation is some what warranted, and I actually wouldn't even really call it an explanation except we are asking artists to give us their art work so we can in turn give it away for free. I can understand that from the perspective of most artists, they may feel their work is too precious to throw into the wind, and I can't argue the validity of any sentiment resembling that notion.
Papergirl began in 2005 in Berlin Germany, it was conceived by Aisha Ronniger and her pals and was developed as a means to combat tightening laws and penalties for graffiti. For them, Papergirl was about developing a means in which everything important about street art could be retained, but under a circumstance where no one could get arrested or fined.
For us, Papergirl is a way to bring our community together, to promote artists in an area where opportunities are bleak despite the reputation of being an artists community, to extend ourselves to the rest of the community that may or may not be active in the arts community or even interested, and to inspire selflessly via creative productivity.
The premise of the project is to collect works of art on paper which are then displayed for public viewing, after which all the art work is rolled into bundles and distributed via cyclists. The project has a number of objectives, the initial being that art is for everyone, much in the same way that graffiti, although illegal and sometimes not always tasteful, possesses a really progressive idea about art in that sometimes art can be free, and it's really great when people don't expect it. Yes, we give the rolls of artwork away for FREE, once your artwork becomes a part of Papergirl there is absolutely no monetary value attached to it anymore, obviously we will take good care of it, but it can not be bought.
Papergirl is such a beautiful concept because it breaks down all the pre-conceived notions that most people hold about the art world when they have never had any direct experience with it. Papergirl breaks down the barriers of who and what consists of an art audience. Much like graffiti, Papergirl makes no assumptions about its audience. Papergirl is for everyone and can be experienced and enjoyed by anyone. Papergirl says you don't have to have an art degree to understand this or to appreciate it, you don't have to be a connoisseur art collector, you could have not a penny to your name and become an art owner. It's really important that the art world makes a move to extend itself beyond the walls of its glass house to prove to the world at large that the contributions of artists are extremely important. The "art world" has a bad rap for being snobby, self righteous and reserved for those with complicated and inaccessible conceptual applications of so called beauty, people who love wine and cheese and people with fat wallets. Especially at a time when here in the States, funding for the arts is cut year after year and if once a year we do Papergirl and other types of highly accessible art based open community projects, year after year we extend ourselves to a new and random public, that might for the first time realize how important art is and might start to advocate for the arts and maybe, just maybe, we can start to change how funding for the arts is determined from the ground up.
Another important element is about community and Papergirl is designed in such a way that it defies the typical perceptions of community. Papergirl manages to remove the commonality of geography from the idea of community, which is brilliant and necessary in the art world and especially at this time. Last year we had art work come in from all over the U.S. and even the UK.
Papergirl has been around now for a few years and it has sprung up in communities all over the world. Last year when we had Papergirl in Northampton for the first year, the turn out was amazing, we had artists from 8 years old and up, we had artists from all over the map, all different races, different levels of skill, we had photographs, drawings, paintings, screen prints, wood cut prints and it was exciting and inspiring to stand in the basement of Thornes in the Dynamite space to see all this represented. It was exciting to walk around town after the distribution to see people carrying their rolls of art work, and to see how surprised and grateful the lucky random recipients of a free bundle of art work were.
It seems a fair percentage of our local population has caught wind of Papergirl but this year we want to make it even bigger and better, we want everyone to know what papergirl is and what it stands for and why it is so important.
So make some doodles and send them our way, and spread the word.
I feel like this sort of explanation is some what warranted, and I actually wouldn't even really call it an explanation except we are asking artists to give us their art work so we can in turn give it away for free. I can understand that from the perspective of most artists, they may feel their work is too precious to throw into the wind, and I can't argue the validity of any sentiment resembling that notion.
Papergirl began in 2005 in Berlin Germany, it was conceived by Aisha Ronniger and her pals and was developed as a means to combat tightening laws and penalties for graffiti. For them, Papergirl was about developing a means in which everything important about street art could be retained, but under a circumstance where no one could get arrested or fined.
For us, Papergirl is a way to bring our community together, to promote artists in an area where opportunities are bleak despite the reputation of being an artists community, to extend ourselves to the rest of the community that may or may not be active in the arts community or even interested, and to inspire selflessly via creative productivity.
The premise of the project is to collect works of art on paper which are then displayed for public viewing, after which all the art work is rolled into bundles and distributed via cyclists. The project has a number of objectives, the initial being that art is for everyone, much in the same way that graffiti, although illegal and sometimes not always tasteful, possesses a really progressive idea about art in that sometimes art can be free, and it's really great when people don't expect it. Yes, we give the rolls of artwork away for FREE, once your artwork becomes a part of Papergirl there is absolutely no monetary value attached to it anymore, obviously we will take good care of it, but it can not be bought.
Papergirl is such a beautiful concept because it breaks down all the pre-conceived notions that most people hold about the art world when they have never had any direct experience with it. Papergirl breaks down the barriers of who and what consists of an art audience. Much like graffiti, Papergirl makes no assumptions about its audience. Papergirl is for everyone and can be experienced and enjoyed by anyone. Papergirl says you don't have to have an art degree to understand this or to appreciate it, you don't have to be a connoisseur art collector, you could have not a penny to your name and become an art owner. It's really important that the art world makes a move to extend itself beyond the walls of its glass house to prove to the world at large that the contributions of artists are extremely important. The "art world" has a bad rap for being snobby, self righteous and reserved for those with complicated and inaccessible conceptual applications of so called beauty, people who love wine and cheese and people with fat wallets. Especially at a time when here in the States, funding for the arts is cut year after year and if once a year we do Papergirl and other types of highly accessible art based open community projects, year after year we extend ourselves to a new and random public, that might for the first time realize how important art is and might start to advocate for the arts and maybe, just maybe, we can start to change how funding for the arts is determined from the ground up.
Another important element is about community and Papergirl is designed in such a way that it defies the typical perceptions of community. Papergirl manages to remove the commonality of geography from the idea of community, which is brilliant and necessary in the art world and especially at this time. Last year we had art work come in from all over the U.S. and even the UK.
Papergirl has been around now for a few years and it has sprung up in communities all over the world. Last year when we had Papergirl in Northampton for the first year, the turn out was amazing, we had artists from 8 years old and up, we had artists from all over the map, all different races, different levels of skill, we had photographs, drawings, paintings, screen prints, wood cut prints and it was exciting and inspiring to stand in the basement of Thornes in the Dynamite space to see all this represented. It was exciting to walk around town after the distribution to see people carrying their rolls of art work, and to see how surprised and grateful the lucky random recipients of a free bundle of art work were.
It seems a fair percentage of our local population has caught wind of Papergirl but this year we want to make it even bigger and better, we want everyone to know what papergirl is and what it stands for and why it is so important.
So make some doodles and send them our way, and spread the word.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Big Wheels Keep On Turnin. . .
Last weekend Art In The Park yielded one sale of a Now.For.Art shirt, we have 8 dollars as an organization. At least that will be one round of flyers that doesn't come from my or anyone else's pocket. Thank you to our number one fan, who ever you are.
More importantly a lot of really excellent dialog about art, specifically in Northampton, took place at least in the one day + hour and a half I was able to be present. I feel like a lot of exciting things are going to start popping up in Northampton, perhaps finally living up to its (currently unwarranted) tag as being an art hub.
In other news, Now.For.Art will be picking up a couple extra hands this fall, and we will also be implementing a monthly artist's t-shirt series. Featuring a new artist every month, we will show case and sell 3 original shirts, hand printed on organic U.S. made shirts.
Im keeping this vague so I can keep your interest, shit is going to get exciting.
Oh, and pass the word on Papergirl 2010, again mail or drop off submissions to
103 State St Ap. 4
Northampton Ma
01060
See this post, for a few more details.
I will write more indepth about Papergirl in the next few days for those who aren't totally keen on what the deal is.
Email Now.For.Art@gmail.com for questions/comments
More importantly a lot of really excellent dialog about art, specifically in Northampton, took place at least in the one day + hour and a half I was able to be present. I feel like a lot of exciting things are going to start popping up in Northampton, perhaps finally living up to its (currently unwarranted) tag as being an art hub.
In other news, Now.For.Art will be picking up a couple extra hands this fall, and we will also be implementing a monthly artist's t-shirt series. Featuring a new artist every month, we will show case and sell 3 original shirts, hand printed on organic U.S. made shirts.
Im keeping this vague so I can keep your interest, shit is going to get exciting.
Oh, and pass the word on Papergirl 2010, again mail or drop off submissions to
103 State St Ap. 4
Northampton Ma
01060
See this post, for a few more details.
I will write more indepth about Papergirl in the next few days for those who aren't totally keen on what the deal is.
Email Now.For.Art@gmail.com for questions/comments
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Art In The Park, Follow Up
So the itinerary for Art in The Park, as compiled by the great organizer Andrew Huckins is quite lengthy to the extent that I don't have the time to re-post it here at this moment.
Im a busy person.
I highly recommend heading over to Facebook and Joining their group, so you can be better informed about what is happening when and where and which artists will be pitching tents in Pulaski park over the 4 day event.
Im a busy person.
I highly recommend heading over to Facebook and Joining their group, so you can be better informed about what is happening when and where and which artists will be pitching tents in Pulaski park over the 4 day event.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Art In The Park
Next week is Art in The Park, an initiative by the B.I.D. to allow free booth space to artists in downtown Northampton in conjunction with the towns side walk sale.
Brendan McCauley, Eben Kling and myself, amongst many other folks will be present selling artsy goods.
I believe Brendan and Eben will be selling works on paper along with some paintings. I on the other hand will be selling shirts for which the proceeds will go towards NOW.FOR.Art's operational expenses. This is one of three designs, the other two which will miraculously formulate somehow between now and Thursday.
Here's a sneak peak, or rather a lousy photo from my phone.
A full itinerary for the weekend, which will also include performances, is expected late this weekend, I'll post when it comes out.
just be groovy.
Brendan McCauley, Eben Kling and myself, amongst many other folks will be present selling artsy goods.
I believe Brendan and Eben will be selling works on paper along with some paintings. I on the other hand will be selling shirts for which the proceeds will go towards NOW.FOR.Art's operational expenses. This is one of three designs, the other two which will miraculously formulate somehow between now and Thursday.
Here's a sneak peak, or rather a lousy photo from my phone.
A full itinerary for the weekend, which will also include performances, is expected late this weekend, I'll post when it comes out.
just be groovy.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Papergirl Rides Again!!
Brendan McCauley whipped up this super sweet poster for this years run of Papergirl!
Again, drop off or mail submissions to 103 State st Apt 4. Northampton MA 01060
Untill August 31st!
Jammin!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Pt. 2/2: 60 Days is a long time
Along with the steam roller printmaking workshop we've also seen the close of another project that has been long in the works. & In One Another was a project that we began putting together many months ago. This was a very ambitious project were we enlisted about 85 artist across the U.S. to make one drawing a day for sixty days in response to daily prompts.
We sent out 85 uniform 7.5" x 10" Moleskine extra large blank Cashiers note books. Eben and Myself along with Michael Gundlach and Bobby Toher, generated a massive list of ideas of assignments which I narrowed for the final cut of 60 prompts.
We started February 5th with the prompt "Your House" and finished 60 days later on April 5th with "Now Draw Yourself", with everything between ranging from "Tales From The Ripped ", "Least Favorite Person","Lazy apparition/ Half hearted haunting " to "What I Ate Today".
The idea of collective unconscious came up early in talking about the kinds of things we thought would result from this project and when the books came back it was present across the board. A lot of people drew Cat Stephens for the prompt "Cat Man Starring", Most people literally drew exactly 20 Beasts for the assignment "Twenty Beast", A few references to Jack Shepherd from Lost for the assignment "Cool Doctor" where a lot of other people drew ambiguous doctor's smoking with sunglasses.
All in all this project was such a huge learning experience for us and the artists involved. We wanted this project to generate a sense of community amongst people that didn't know each other, in some instances lived on opposite sides of the country, and amongst people that would possibly never interact with again, even if the interaction was sharing the experience of going through this project, again, collective unconscious.
This project was more of an experiment than a project and we didn't even realize that for ourselves until we got towards the end. We attempted to cancel the show when the return was low, we neglected to consider all the people who finished and instead we concentrated on the terrible retention rate, thinking we had failed some how. Maybe our assignments were lousy, maybe the project was a bad idea. Well neither was true and we learned the hard way that if you can get 30 people to do a drawing a day for 60 days, on top of all the other people who made it part way through, it is a success and it speaks volumes and deserves celebration.
We had the show and the response was overwhelming, at the opening reception people swarmed the the books, people just camped down on the floor and didn't move for the three hours of the reception. This project made me realize again, as Papergirl did last year, that a true measure of success is when someone you have never met before comes in and experiences the art that is going on and then you talk to them, they are so ecstatic and you can tell by the look on their face that they want to go home and make something.
It was also fantastic to see the artists who participated in the show, go through the other books, having the experience they had, the ideas they had for the prompts, and getting to see what other people came up with, drawing connections between themselves and amongst the whole group.
At the moment we are in the process of returning everyones book and from there we are going to encourage people to scan some of their drawings to post to a group flickr. Link to follow soon.
All in all, as previously stated, this was an experiment and a learning process for us and we will run this project again, with improvements on our end of organization and a little restructuring. So keep an eye out, late next fall, it will be sketch book time again.
We sent out 85 uniform 7.5" x 10" Moleskine extra large blank Cashiers note books. Eben and Myself along with Michael Gundlach and Bobby Toher, generated a massive list of ideas of assignments which I narrowed for the final cut of 60 prompts.
We started February 5th with the prompt "Your House" and finished 60 days later on April 5th with "Now Draw Yourself", with everything between ranging from "Tales From The Ripped ", "Least Favorite Person","Lazy apparition/ Half hearted haunting " to "What I Ate Today".
The idea of collective unconscious came up early in talking about the kinds of things we thought would result from this project and when the books came back it was present across the board. A lot of people drew Cat Stephens for the prompt "Cat Man Starring", Most people literally drew exactly 20 Beasts for the assignment "Twenty Beast", A few references to Jack Shepherd from Lost for the assignment "Cool Doctor" where a lot of other people drew ambiguous doctor's smoking with sunglasses.
All in all this project was such a huge learning experience for us and the artists involved. We wanted this project to generate a sense of community amongst people that didn't know each other, in some instances lived on opposite sides of the country, and amongst people that would possibly never interact with again, even if the interaction was sharing the experience of going through this project, again, collective unconscious.
This project was more of an experiment than a project and we didn't even realize that for ourselves until we got towards the end. We attempted to cancel the show when the return was low, we neglected to consider all the people who finished and instead we concentrated on the terrible retention rate, thinking we had failed some how. Maybe our assignments were lousy, maybe the project was a bad idea. Well neither was true and we learned the hard way that if you can get 30 people to do a drawing a day for 60 days, on top of all the other people who made it part way through, it is a success and it speaks volumes and deserves celebration.
We had the show and the response was overwhelming, at the opening reception people swarmed the the books, people just camped down on the floor and didn't move for the three hours of the reception. This project made me realize again, as Papergirl did last year, that a true measure of success is when someone you have never met before comes in and experiences the art that is going on and then you talk to them, they are so ecstatic and you can tell by the look on their face that they want to go home and make something.
It was also fantastic to see the artists who participated in the show, go through the other books, having the experience they had, the ideas they had for the prompts, and getting to see what other people came up with, drawing connections between themselves and amongst the whole group.
At the moment we are in the process of returning everyones book and from there we are going to encourage people to scan some of their drawings to post to a group flickr. Link to follow soon.
All in all, as previously stated, this was an experiment and a learning process for us and we will run this project again, with improvements on our end of organization and a little restructuring. So keep an eye out, late next fall, it will be sketch book time again.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A lot has happened since we last spoke: Pt. 1/2 Steam rollers are for suckers
The 2010 Northampton Steam Roller Printmaking Workshop went down on Saturday May 15th, as some what planned. Months of planning came together in the early hours of this day were for once in New England, mother nature was on our side.
I tailed behind one of my dearest friends, Dave Provost to the storage yard of the steam roller that Dave set us up with through a very gracious and greatly appreciated personal connection; his former employer Bousquet Excavating. I had not yet seen the steam roller and I was afraid of the possibility of it not being quiet what we needed, but it was and it was in fact quite cute!
(Dave Provost, our steam roller driver. Image from Frances Kidder, Steam Roller printmaking participant)
Meanwhile, Eben was on sight in the walkway between Thornes and the Northampton Parking Garage which we were set up with permission to use via C3. Running around like a maniac, Eben was getting set up with another one of our outstanding cohorts in this endeavor, Zea Mays Printmaking who offered their unwavering labor and equipment for the day to which we would not have been able to do this with out.
After some more setting up, we finally started rolling out prints and the first one seemed kind of bleak, we needed more ink, the second one, not so hot either. This was going to be a trial and error kind of day that honestly, I worried that after all these months of preparation and anticipation, people would not be very happy about it.
We only pulled a few prints with the steam roller, and I think the general feeling in the air was that this wasn't coming out as good as people expected. And then came a blessing in disguise, the steam roller broke, yes it broke.
At this point the real beauty of the day finally made itself known to us. Before the steam roller broke, it was as though everyone was milling around in a state of limbo, worried about the quality of prints being pulled and wondering when their turn was.
I am pretty sure this was Liz's idea, once again revealing herself as our super hero from Zea Mays, equipped with barren's, we all got on our hands and knees and hand pressed these massive prints. One at a time, side by side, getting sweaty, making our introductions, testing our muscles and personal space, we finally came together as a community. When the steam roller broke, we had to rely on the groups collective dedication towards the groups collective agenda; to make some big prints. When the steam roller broke, we almost instantly became a tight knit community lending all of our hands one at a time to help each other as individuals, one at a time.
(Images C/O Carolyn Webb, who's print is being hand pressed and pulled here)
It was also immediately clear that we as a group, with only our arms and some pieces of plastic and unbridled determination, were a better make shift press than our steam roller, the hand pressed prints were coming out better. Who knows, maybe our cute steam roller didn't weigh enough, maybe it was because we had to roll every print 2, 3, and I think in one instance 4 times, maybe it's that human determination and artistic spirit in conjunction with community drive are more powerful than 2 ton construction equipment. Yes, that was cheesy, but whatever some how it worked and we learned that a steam roller is only a vice in the world of over size printmaking.
Another really beautiful element of the day was all the people who just showed up, had no connection to anyone involved in any part of this workshop and got on their knees with a barren to help us out. One such man, from South America randomly happened upon us and helped out for quite a bit. Before he left, he told Eben that it was the best day he had had in America and that he wanted to go back to his home country and tell everyone about it and make something similar happen there too! Talk about a few simple words and how they alone seem to make all the work that goes into putting something like this together, more than worth it.
One important part of this project that really needs mentioning, not just because we are required to do so, but because it is really important on a greater level than crediting. We received a grant from the Northampton Arts Council through a grant round that was funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. With the grant we supplied free non-toxic Akua Ink, cleaning supplies, saw horses to prop boards to roll ink on, and other wooden supports for the workshop. Everything else was very generously donated and required the dedication and coalescing of a huge community for a one day event. Because of all this, we were able to require that our participants only supply their own blocks to carve and their own paper. It's not always clear how these things come together, who pays for what and where that money comes from. When people see, participate in, and experience, these kinds of things, the result is not always the turning of gears in their heads over the subject of funding for the arts. Well now is a good time to think about what is behind determining public funding for the arts, make your opinion known when these issues come about and think about donating to the arts because the pay off is huge for everyone.
So much of mine and Eben's time goes into organizing these kinds of things, and we are not paid, we actually spend a lot of our own money, which yeah, sucks but it's worth it. All the organizations that volunteered and donated time and equipment to this one majorly inspiring, productive and meaningful day were not paid and if the pool of funding for the few small things we were able to supply at this workshop were greater, we could have paid everyone involved, rightly as they deserve to be. These are the things that make our communities exciting and vibrant and despite being invaluable as it stands, this is all really great but it could be fucking mind blowing.
A lot of people benefited from this experience and we will do it again, we will do other things like this. If you live in or around Northampton, check out all the organizations that helped us make this possible (follow the highlighted text) and think about how you can help this become even bigger the next time around. If you aren't from around here, think about who in your community is making similar kinds of art related events that you can support and in what ways you can do that. And remember, it doesn't always have to be money, be creative, just like us.
I tailed behind one of my dearest friends, Dave Provost to the storage yard of the steam roller that Dave set us up with through a very gracious and greatly appreciated personal connection; his former employer Bousquet Excavating. I had not yet seen the steam roller and I was afraid of the possibility of it not being quiet what we needed, but it was and it was in fact quite cute!
(Dave Provost, our steam roller driver. Image from Frances Kidder, Steam Roller printmaking participant)
Meanwhile, Eben was on sight in the walkway between Thornes and the Northampton Parking Garage which we were set up with permission to use via C3. Running around like a maniac, Eben was getting set up with another one of our outstanding cohorts in this endeavor, Zea Mays Printmaking who offered their unwavering labor and equipment for the day to which we would not have been able to do this with out.
After some more setting up, we finally started rolling out prints and the first one seemed kind of bleak, we needed more ink, the second one, not so hot either. This was going to be a trial and error kind of day that honestly, I worried that after all these months of preparation and anticipation, people would not be very happy about it.
We only pulled a few prints with the steam roller, and I think the general feeling in the air was that this wasn't coming out as good as people expected. And then came a blessing in disguise, the steam roller broke, yes it broke.
At this point the real beauty of the day finally made itself known to us. Before the steam roller broke, it was as though everyone was milling around in a state of limbo, worried about the quality of prints being pulled and wondering when their turn was.
I am pretty sure this was Liz's idea, once again revealing herself as our super hero from Zea Mays, equipped with barren's, we all got on our hands and knees and hand pressed these massive prints. One at a time, side by side, getting sweaty, making our introductions, testing our muscles and personal space, we finally came together as a community. When the steam roller broke, we had to rely on the groups collective dedication towards the groups collective agenda; to make some big prints. When the steam roller broke, we almost instantly became a tight knit community lending all of our hands one at a time to help each other as individuals, one at a time.
(Images C/O Carolyn Webb, who's print is being hand pressed and pulled here)
It was also immediately clear that we as a group, with only our arms and some pieces of plastic and unbridled determination, were a better make shift press than our steam roller, the hand pressed prints were coming out better. Who knows, maybe our cute steam roller didn't weigh enough, maybe it was because we had to roll every print 2, 3, and I think in one instance 4 times, maybe it's that human determination and artistic spirit in conjunction with community drive are more powerful than 2 ton construction equipment. Yes, that was cheesy, but whatever some how it worked and we learned that a steam roller is only a vice in the world of over size printmaking.
Another really beautiful element of the day was all the people who just showed up, had no connection to anyone involved in any part of this workshop and got on their knees with a barren to help us out. One such man, from South America randomly happened upon us and helped out for quite a bit. Before he left, he told Eben that it was the best day he had had in America and that he wanted to go back to his home country and tell everyone about it and make something similar happen there too! Talk about a few simple words and how they alone seem to make all the work that goes into putting something like this together, more than worth it.
One important part of this project that really needs mentioning, not just because we are required to do so, but because it is really important on a greater level than crediting. We received a grant from the Northampton Arts Council through a grant round that was funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. With the grant we supplied free non-toxic Akua Ink, cleaning supplies, saw horses to prop boards to roll ink on, and other wooden supports for the workshop. Everything else was very generously donated and required the dedication and coalescing of a huge community for a one day event. Because of all this, we were able to require that our participants only supply their own blocks to carve and their own paper. It's not always clear how these things come together, who pays for what and where that money comes from. When people see, participate in, and experience, these kinds of things, the result is not always the turning of gears in their heads over the subject of funding for the arts. Well now is a good time to think about what is behind determining public funding for the arts, make your opinion known when these issues come about and think about donating to the arts because the pay off is huge for everyone.
So much of mine and Eben's time goes into organizing these kinds of things, and we are not paid, we actually spend a lot of our own money, which yeah, sucks but it's worth it. All the organizations that volunteered and donated time and equipment to this one majorly inspiring, productive and meaningful day were not paid and if the pool of funding for the few small things we were able to supply at this workshop were greater, we could have paid everyone involved, rightly as they deserve to be. These are the things that make our communities exciting and vibrant and despite being invaluable as it stands, this is all really great but it could be fucking mind blowing.
A lot of people benefited from this experience and we will do it again, we will do other things like this. If you live in or around Northampton, check out all the organizations that helped us make this possible (follow the highlighted text) and think about how you can help this become even bigger the next time around. If you aren't from around here, think about who in your community is making similar kinds of art related events that you can support and in what ways you can do that. And remember, it doesn't always have to be money, be creative, just like us.
Friday, March 26, 2010
A few more Spaces
We can accommodate a few more spaces for the Steam Roller Printmaking Workshop on May 15th in Northampton.
Interested folks should follow the guidelines (download starts automatically) and get us a proposal ASAP, preferably by Friday April 2nd. We know this is just a weeks time and suggest you follow the guidelines a little loosely.
We really just want to get some more printmakers on board to take advantage of the opportunity!
Email questions to Now.For.Art@gmail.com
Cheers!
Interested folks should follow the guidelines (download starts automatically) and get us a proposal ASAP, preferably by Friday April 2nd. We know this is just a weeks time and suggest you follow the guidelines a little loosely.
We really just want to get some more printmakers on board to take advantage of the opportunity!
Email questions to Now.For.Art@gmail.com
Cheers!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Steam Roller Printmaking Workshop Date Moved
We've moved the Steam Roller Printmaking workshop date to May 15th! Download the PDF with all the details here, Download starts automatically.
Just under two weeks left to get your proposal in! Email us if you have any questions!
Now.for.art@gmail.com
Just under two weeks left to get your proposal in! Email us if you have any questions!
Now.for.art@gmail.com
Friday, March 5, 2010
We're Doing It Again
Now.For.Art is proud to announce the 2010 call for original works of art on paper for Papergirl Northampton 2010!
Papergirl Northampton is modeled after the original Papergirl Berlin initiated by Aisha Ronniger. For this project, original works of art on paper are collected, exhibited and then distributed for free to random street goers via a team of cyclists.
Last year we collected over 400 pieces of art that we exhibited for two weeks, had a rad closing reception and then passed all the work over to our cyclists who gave away all the art to people on the streets of Northampton!
It was a great time and we’re doing it again. We’ve extended the open call so we can get even more free art work into the hands of strangers this year.
This year we will exhibit and distribute art work in August!
It’s a long way to go but now you have the heads up,
so get to work!
You can drop off or mail work to
Katherine Romansky
103 State Street Apt. 4
Northampton MA 01060
For drop off their will be a bin to the right of the entrance!
For questions email
Papergirlnorthampton@gmail.com
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Deadline Extended
We've extended the deadline for proposals for the Northampton Steam Roller Printmaking Workshop to March 19th!
That gives you one extra week to get us your sweet proposals!
Download the PDF HERE(download stars automatically) which includes all the information and guidelines.
That gives you one extra week to get us your sweet proposals!
Download the PDF HERE(download stars automatically) which includes all the information and guidelines.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Dr. Sketchy's Northampton, Coming Soon!
A fellow comrade has just been granted the license to begin hosting Dr. Sketchy's right here in good ol' Northampton MA.
She is still in the organizing process of pulling together the first Northampton Dr. Sketchy's night slated for March or Early April.
Follow the Northampton branch Dr. Sketchy's blog here to keep updated as more details come in!
I have never personally attended a Dr. Sketchy's before but I do know that it is a cabaret style/live performance figure drawing session, I know they usually take place in cafe's, bars or night clubs and there are prizes to be expected!
Sounds like just what this town ordered!
She is still in the organizing process of pulling together the first Northampton Dr. Sketchy's night slated for March or Early April.
Follow the Northampton branch Dr. Sketchy's blog here to keep updated as more details come in!
I have never personally attended a Dr. Sketchy's before but I do know that it is a cabaret style/live performance figure drawing session, I know they usually take place in cafe's, bars or night clubs and there are prizes to be expected!
Sounds like just what this town ordered!
Here we go!
Here is the PDF (automatically starts download) of the proposal application guidelines for participation in the Steam Roller Printmaking Workshop.
Proposals are due by March 12th.
Accepted proposals will be notified of by March 19th!
Please forward all questions to Now.For.Art@gmail.com.
We look forward to receiving your proposals and as always spread the word!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
In The Works!
Last fall we decided we would like to host a Steam Roller Print Making Workshop here in Northampton. We were the lucky recipients of a grant from the Northampton Cultural Council, and have teamed up with Zea May's, a local non-toxic print studio, and C3 for aid in pulling this all together. Our grant from the Northampton Cultural Council will cover the cost of ink, and cleaning supplies. Zea May's has graciously agreed to lend us brayers and technical support from studio members. C3 is aiding us in the acquisition of out door space to host the workshop which is scheduled for Saturday May 1st.
Because we have received so much generous support for this project, participants will only need to supply their own boards and paper.
We thought it would be a good idea to put the word out now so people can start generating ideas for this opportunity to create some massive prints.
Shortly we will be putting out an official call and providing more specific instructions. Please don't jump the gun and buy materials yet as we're going to need people to sign up and we will be requesting that everyone use the same boards!
This is a call to start generating ideas! More official instructions and information will follow soon so stay tuned!
Eben at Montserrat's Steam Roller Printmaking Workshop last year.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council, A local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Because we have received so much generous support for this project, participants will only need to supply their own boards and paper.
We thought it would be a good idea to put the word out now so people can start generating ideas for this opportunity to create some massive prints.
Shortly we will be putting out an official call and providing more specific instructions. Please don't jump the gun and buy materials yet as we're going to need people to sign up and we will be requesting that everyone use the same boards!
This is a call to start generating ideas! More official instructions and information will follow soon so stay tuned!
Eben at Montserrat's Steam Roller Printmaking Workshop last year.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council, A local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
A Long Week With a Sigh Of Relief Insight
We had a little bit of trouble with wrapping up the distribution of books for & In One Another but it has fortunately been resolved in a positive way. There are a lot of excellent and enthusiastic people on board for this project and even though we haven't even gotten to the good part, the level of enthusiasm and commitment from everyone is not only making this project very worth while already but is looking to result in some very promising and engaging artist's sketch books!
As of now we are in the process of working out a location and solidifying dates for the exhibit of all the books to take place in downtown Northampton in late April.
For those of you that missed out, it is looking like we will run this project again next year and also don't forget to "follow us" so you can be updated on the next projects we are putting together!
We'll keep you posted!
As of now we are in the process of working out a location and solidifying dates for the exhibit of all the books to take place in downtown Northampton in late April.
For those of you that missed out, it is looking like we will run this project again next year and also don't forget to "follow us" so you can be updated on the next projects we are putting together!
We'll keep you posted!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
& In One Another, A Massive Collaborative Sketchbook Project
From the makers and doers of Papergirl, we bring you another exciting project!
Check it, New Updates, We're pushing back our deadline so there is still time to sign up and please spread the word!
We've extended our deadline to sign up until January 15th so we are still taking orders from individuals who want to participate in a massive collaborative sketch book project.
For $5, you will get a 60 page Moleskine notebook and starting February 1st there will be a drawing assignment everyday for you to get artsy with in your notebook until April 1st.
At the end of the 60 days we will collect the notebooks back and have an exhibit of all the sketchbooks.
If your interested please send me a message and we can count you on board.
Please let us know soon so we can order and brand the books for the project!
Download your form with mailing instructions here. (download starts automatically)
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