"The Spaces Between Us and All That We Share" Reflection

[ Photos: Peter Schlessinger ]

This performance/installation/opportunity was a one-of-a-kind experience, an ephemeral happening consisting of improvisation with flashlights, hand held radios, projections, disco balls, and string. The sound of light rain and shuffling feet in the grit, mixed with static sounds emitting from radios, the sounds of people breathing, and city hum created a soft white noise in which performers and spectators shared time and space. Flashlights searched Kirkland Ave, shining into nooks and crannies seldom seen. Dancers flocked between shadow and light, the seen and unseen, the wanderers and still wondering. "You don't even know what you're doing!" shouted a passerby into his cellphone, oblivious of the ironic circumstance he named.

To be completely understand anything is to me, well, boring. That's why we play, why we want to learn, why we talk to strangers. That's why we shine light into dark places.

There is an urge to feel connected sometime, whether it be to someone else, to a certain place, or to reality. How can we bridge the spaces between? How can we see all that we share?

Once we cross those bridges and see all we share, then what?

We expand. We fragment. We disperse. We remember and we are changed.

- Haley Morgan

PLAYGROUND: a street art workshop for teens

This Thursday from 4-5:30pm there will be a workshop designed for teens called "PLAYGROUND". This workshop will involve 'locating, discussing, and creating art and our place in public space' in Kirkland Ave. We will critically and creatively look at street art in Kirkland Ave as a way to explore larger issues of private vs public space, freedom of speech and censorship, and cultural development. We will also think about how different spaces in Northampton function, and how younger community members fit into the picture. Through activities, games, creative work and casual discussion, this workshop aims to activate our streets as galleries. What can we learn if we just look around?

This workshop is led by Haley Morgan with support from Liz Bieber. Haley and Liz are both final semester college students studying community development, art, urban studies and education. They have worked with youth in Northampton, Amherst, Springfield, Holyoke, New York, Maryland, and California. They are fun, funny, and of course, responsible.

This workshop is a part of the Kirkland Ave Project, brought to you by the Commonwealth Center for Change (C3).

To participate in the workshop or learn more, please email haley@commonwealthcenter.org

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The Spaces Between Us and All That We Share

The Spaces Between Us and All That We Share is a site specific performance, installation, and opportunity to take place in Kirkland Ave on April 10th, 2009 at 8pm. Playing with light, static, and string, Haley Morgan and Kelley Mariani will highlight and bridge the spaces between us and all that we share. Come gather in formation and listen to the walls talk. Watch the shadows dance. Show us what you will.

This performance is informed by a series of creative explorations that took place in Kirkland Ave over the past three months. Thank you to everyone who helped uncover, imagine, and create these moments.

There will be a Q&A following the event. In case of inclement weather, please come Saturday April 11th. The Spaces Between Us and All That We Share is a part of the Kirkland Ave Project, brought to you by Commonwealth Center for Change. This event is sponsored in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council.