Winter Hat Raffle! 💫
Spend some time on Sundays making art and meeting members of the community!
Lights Out Winter Hat Raffle!
Are your ears cold? Is your winter gear not high-vis enough for hunting season? Perhaps, jealous of Reed’s undeniable swag in this photo? You’re in luck!
Respond to this Substack with answers to the following questions and you will be entered to win our last remaining winter hat!
What famous Admiral used snowshoes from the Tubs Snowshoe Factory to venture to the Arctic?
How much did Lois Dodd’s rent cost when she lived at 29th Street in NYC in the 1950s?
What type of stone ignited Sam Finkelstein’s collaboration with rocks?
How many hours of stories does David Lonebear Sanipass know?
Winners will be announced on Thursday, November 21st.
Community Art Sundays
And a note from our AmeriCorps VISTA, Cordelia xo
As I am sure is true for you, the Wednesday morning news has been weighing heavily on my mind. As the Hatch Act shadows my actions as an AmeriCorps VISTA, I want to share with you some excerpts from Beth Pickens’ Your Art Will Save Your Life. The book was published in 2018 and deals with the 2016 election heavily, providing a guide to artists wrought with worry and dejection about the world, politics, and their own personal art practice.
After the 2016 presidential election, many of my artist clients said things like, “Maybe I should quit making art,” “It’s kind of selfish for me to focus on my art now,” and “I should help people in a more effective way.” These are expected grief responses to the shock and horror of our times, but I beseech you: DO NOT STOP MAKING ART. I need it profoundly. We all do.
Anytime you feel overwhelmed by humanity’s impact on people, animals, and the planet, or, really, anytime you think you cannot leave the house because the world is too hard, I want you to think about the art, performances, music, books, and films that have made you want to be Alice. Thank of how those artists, like you, probably felt overwhelmed by their lives— and the times they were living in— but made the thing anyway. Your future audiences need your work, so you need to make it (10.)
Anger isn’t action and misery isn’t solidarity. This concept I must relearn every week because it is easy to forget. The social iniquities, humanitarian crises, and environmental decline of our times make me angry and very unhappy. This is a normal reaction to circumstances around me. I have to feel and express feelings like sadness, anger, and disgust. I also want to understand that those feelings aren’t actions and do not replace outward activism nor do they give me the same positive benefits of working with community. In a similar way, feeling unhappy and outraged is not necessarily solidarity. These are outward expressions that can contribute to larger media-based or in-real life sense of solidarity, but simply staying unhappy because I believe others feel that way is not being politically aligned with them. Asking how I can be of service and then taking those action steps is a concrete way to be in solidarity (39-40).
In times of uncertainty, finding solace in your neighbors and communities is vital. As adrienne marie brown wrote, “Small is good, small is all (The large is a reflection of the small)”. Working together with the people around you feeding and nourishing loving, supportive, and resilient communities makes small structural changes to create a more connected world.
Join us Sundays, 2pm to 5pm, with your fellow community members to make art, work on community drawings together, and be able to sit with each other in an open and welcoming space.
The Community Art Night is a weekly time on Sundays for people in the community to convene, make new friends, and cook up some art with other creative people. Painting, knitting, coloring books, collage, YOU NAME IT! We have the space and will have enough materials for a communal group drawing, but we encourage you to bring your own materials and projects that suit your whim. Please carry out what you carry in as we do not have a sink.
PLEASE NOTE: This event is not about making good art. We do not care if you consider yourself an artist, or if you have never made art before. We want this free space to be available for connections, discovering new practices, exploring, and having fun!
Please become a member by signing up for monthly donations or make a one-time donation. Really. It means a lot to us.
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