What Happened here?

Well, here's what happened. Eben and myself (Katherine) have more or less retired from the game of community art organization in Northampton MA. It was a great challenge but it brought great fun and many, many wonderful experiences. It's time for both of us to move forward and get our hands dirty in some new adventures. Thank you to everyone who's helped us get this far, participated in our wacky ideas and made this an incredible journey!

Fortunately for you (and for us), there are some super cool folks who have decided to pick up the torch and keep NOW.FOR.ART style projects up and running in Northampton MA.

World, meet Brendan and JP!

Brendan currently has a project in the works called BEST BANDS FOREVER aka the fake band project.  This is a grant sponsored project that invites artists to invent bands and create the visual paraphernalia for said fake band: record covers, posters, flyers, band photos, zines, documentaries, t-shirts and apparel, audio tracks, record reviews, etc.

This project is currently in a beta phase while Brendan locks down some of the logistics. Artists will be able to access a plethora of free materials including LP covers, pin back buttons and up to 20 photocopies, there will also be access to screen printing materials and possibly some workshops.

This project will be publicly launched in April. You have 1 month to dream up your fake band. A dedicated website for the project and all it's relevant correspondence should be up in a few weeks. Keep your ear to the ground on this one and don't miss out on this super sweet project!!!
We'll be sure to post the proper linkage once it's formulated.

JP currently hosts a weekly project called POT LUCK at The Elevens which is an open invitation for you to show up with food, music, film, art, performance and your eager to share and collaborate attitude. 

JP was also our wonderful chef for the previous two incarnations of Valley F.E.A.S.T. and he, along with Brendan are in the process of drumming up round 3. Again, stay tuned, get involved, eat, be merry and make your community awesome by actively engaging with the neighborhood art scene.

PAPERGIRL is STILL IN THE WORKS. JP and Brendan who already have their plates full, are in the process of trying to re-envision and revitalize PAPERGIRL. If you've submitted work to PAPERGIRL ROUND 3, it is safely and securely stored and will be distributed. Again, we'll post updates here.

There will also be a 3rd run of the Sketch Book Project, I really can't stress enough: stay tuned!

If you want to contact either of these fine gentlemen in regards to any of their upcoming events, shoot me an email kmromansky@gmail.com - (I'm not sure they're ready for the trauma of having their emails publicly accessible yet) and I will gladly re-route your inquiries.

Godspeed and cheers!

Papergirl 3 SUPER POSTPONED

I'm not sure if it is regretfully or not regretfully that we're announcing a major postponement of Papergirl 3.

On one hand we've had a very low turn out in this years submissions so far.  So low that the project would be virtually impossible to execute.

On the other hand, we will have more time to expand and incorporate new elements into the project and now everyone has way more time to get work together to contribute.

We don't want to give up on this amazing project so we're pushing it back to the spring. With no real  tentative date set, it seems we are ball-parking for May.

We understand that Fall is a tricky time to get artists to just give away their work as people are preparing for exhibits, arts & crafts fairs, moving, etc.

We will continue to advertise Papergirl 3 for Spring of 2012 and continue to accept submissions. We'd even like your input for ideas to expand the project, we'd love for local schools and other arts organizations to jump on board.  Send us a message: papergirlnorthampton@gmail.com

If anyone who has submitted work to Papergirl 3 and would like it returned to them in light of this new major postponement please send a message: papergirlnorthampton@gmail.com

Do know that any submissions already sent in will be properly and safely stored and remain included in Papergirl 3's exhibition and distribution now slated for next Spring.

I have to say that community arts organization of this magnitude is extremely difficult. We have no budget, no sponsorship (all the costs come out of our own shallow pockets): We expend a lot of our energy, time and money to put these things together and especially in the instance of Papergirl it is of the utmost importance that the community responds.

Projects like this are an especially up-hill battle in Northampton where the art scene is dominated by in-accessible high-end galleries and business's with very conservative interests in "art".
We started Papergirl in Northampton for a lot of different reasons but one of those reasons is definitely to create an opportunity for artists who make work that a gallery would never exhibit, and get it out into the public to create awareness for the magnitude of under appreciated, under represented demographic of artists working and living in Northampton and the surrounding towns.

Papergirl has many facets, but two that stand out are that it's an opportunity to generously and blindly give the gift of art and that it's an opportunity for artists to send a message.

This project is about community development, it's about artists coming together to share ourselves with the community, to let them know we're here and that we want everyone involved in the local art scene regardless of age, gender, race, creed or any other factor.

Papergirl is about art for everyone.

For everyone who was looking forward to Papergirl happening in the next few weeks, we apologize. But we're not giving up, we are pressing forward and hopefully this spring will bring the biggest and best Papergirl yet.

PAPERGIRL ROUND #3

You Know the deal, Mail or drop of all your fancy works of art on paper to
to Eben Kling at 1 Linden St, Northampton MA, by August 31st.
Email Questions, volunteer to help install the show, or to ride with Papergirl Northampton to: Papergirlnorthampton@gmail.com


See this post for more info. And check out this post here for more details about all the newly added bike action we'll be hosting in conjunction with our closing reception this year!

& In One Another: A Massive Collaborative Sketchbook Project!!!! Exhibition Info

An exhibition of the returned sketch books for the second annual round of & In One Another!

EXHIBITION DATES: July 6-11th, open 3-8 pm daily
CLOSING RECEPTION:
Friday, July 8 · 4:00pm - 8:00pm
The Whoo Space: 11 Market Street Northampton Ma 01060

This year we passed out over 60 hand made sketchbooks to participating artists. Over the course of 60 days, we sent out a prompt every other day for the artists to interpret in their sketchbook.

We will be outfitting The Whoo Space as a unique domestic setting for you all to come in, get comfy and spend time combing through this amazing collection of artist sketchbooks.

Come on, when was the last time an artist let you look through their sketchbook?

Exactly, you can not miss this.

In addition to our closing reception on Friday July 8th, we will have open hours during the week from Wednesday July 6th to Sunday July 10th.

For our closing reception we will have tasty refreshments potluck style, hot jams from DJ MOUTHCHEW and as per usual the opportunity to meet the artists and the organizers and get your art chat on!

We look forward to seeing you there!
RSVP on our Facebook Event Page

Papergirl goes BIG for our third year in downtown Northampton

There are so many extra awesome reasons to participate in Papergirl Northampton this year.

We've added some cycling experts and community organizing enthusiasts to the team to help us expand the programing for Papergirl 2011, coming this September.

This year, during our closing reception we've got the following awesome events in the works:

Bike Swap Meat: Got parts? Need Parts, bring em and swap em, trade only, no money!

Bike Beauty Pageant: Who's bike is held together with the least conventional items, Who's got the sweetest set up, etc.

Slow Race: How slow can you go?

Paint Bike: Yes, we're gonna use bikes to collaboratively make giant abstract paintings.

Bike Repair Workshops: How to fix some things, taught by wholesome, unpretentious experts who won't judge you for riding a 10 gear instead of a fixie.

Free Raffle: Bring a bike, get a ticket, bring a piece of art to donate to Papergirl, get another ticket, wear a costume, get a ticket, in order to win sweet prizes from our sponsors.

We're also planning a renegade bike parade, come ride with our distributors in costume. Space is limited on the cycling distribution team and we have a dedicated core group who've been with us since the beginning, so don't expect to get to hand out artwork, but you can hand out your own goods, wear a weird costume and have fun taking over downtown with us.

Anyone is welcome to participate, just please be careful if your really intent on wearing a cape. This will be a super fun ride, in the past two years we've taken over the downtown intersection during the "pedestrian walk time" and it's a big spectacle, we get a lot of honks and hoots, in the good sort of way.

We'll also have our full open house for the Papergirl exhibition, complete with DJ, snacks and TONS of art to view.

And MORE to come yet!

-This is going to be insane, it's going to be an insanely fun, family friendly, community building mash up of art and cycling.


We will be putting out a call for folks who want space for the night but we're mostly interested in things that are FREE and accessible, so unfortunately you can't just show up and sell your crappy old Eagles vinyls, you have to be willing to trade!
Unless you are raising money for a local charity or non-profit.
-This is all still sticky, but start getting your ideas together. As soon as our process and policy is refined we will release more official and detailed info.

Individuals or entities looking to SPONSOR Papergirl 2011, via donating raffle items, project consumables, ad space or printed materials are the only folks we will allow to vend objects in exchange exclusively for American dollars, (sorry dude with the Eagles records).

Stay tuned, SO MUCH more info to come and if you've got ideas, or want get involved shoot us an email: Nowforart@gmail.com

Papergirl Returns for Round 3!! Open Call for art on paper!

Papergirl Northampton returns for round 3.

If you don't already know how this amazing internationally recognized project works here is a break down.

Borrowed from Papergirl Berlin (and now spread like wildfire across planet earth), We collect works of art on paper, have a big exhibition of all the collected works, throw a big party and we then distribute bundles of all the art to random people on the street via cyclists in down town Northampton.

Yes, we give the art work away for free to strangers, and that's correct, we have no idea what they will do with it.

Why would we do such a thing you might ask. Well for one giving gifts to strangers is a really nice, romantic thing to do every once in a while, even if only just once a year. Papergirl also opens up the doors of the art world to the greater public and stresses the importance that art can be made by anyone and enjoyed by anyone. Papergirl says, you might not be the person to go into a gallery, so we will bring the art to you. For some extra insight on this see About Papergirl, a blog post from last year with a more thorough exploration of what's behind the concept of Papergirl.

Here are the rules: any artist, of any age, from any where can submit any art they would like to contribute so long as it is on PAPER. Photography, illustration, prints (woodblocks, etchings, screen prints), whatever you can think of.

Our only stipulation is that we strongly prefer ORIGINAL works of art, the reason being is that we want to be able to hand out ART WORK ON PAPER, not photocopies. We want the strangers who receive the work to be impressed and want to take the work home and hang it up. We don't really want photocopies or photographs of other pieces of art. There are no size restrictions and no limit to the number of pieces you can submit. Everyone gets at least one of their pieces represented at the exhibit, or more as space permits. We had over 400 pieces last year!

Please also keep in mind that we make ROLLS of art to hand out (usually 3-4 pieces per roll), illustration board, mats, etc, in our experience don't roll up very well or at all basically. Then our riders end up with a mixed bag of packages and rolls. We like it when our team of cycling art distributors only have to deal with rolls while they are out riding in traffic, weaving through busy streets trying to hand out work, it's easier and safer for them.

Mail or drop of work to Eben Kling at 1 Linden St, Northampton MA, by August 31st.
Email Questions, volunteer to help install the show, or to ride with Papergirl Northampton to: Papergirlnorthampton@gmail.com

Spaces Still Available for And In One Another

Today was technically the last day to sign up for a sketch book but we still have approximately 25 spaces remaining.

If your interested in participating, please send us an email ASAP to let us know, we'll get back to you and let you know if we can count you in so you can send out your form/money right away.


We will fill up the remaining spaces on a first come first serve basis so if you really want to participate you should shoot us an email right away.

andinoneanother@gmail.com

Don't miss out!