**Open Call for Public Art!**

Submission deadline: June 1, 2009 4pm

Commonwealth Center for Change (C3) is currently seeking proposals for the creation of permanent site-specific work in Kirkland Ave. We welcome submissions that challenge the public's ideas of what art is, where it is found, and who makes it. Proposals for murals, 'street art' mediums such as graffiti, stencils, and wheat pasting, as well as new media including but not limited to video, light, and sound installations and other interventionist art that affects the way people experience Kirkland Ave, are welcome.

The work is to be completed in July 2009. A stipend will be awarded to artists upon the successful completion of their proposals.

To see the full open call listing, please click here.
To visit the open call listing on Valley Art Share, click here.

There will be two one-hour information sessions and application workshops that will be held at the C3 office, at 126 Main St on the 2nd floor above the A.P.E. Gallery, on April 13th and May 12th, at 7pm. Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend. There will be resources for writing strong applications, scanners to digitize work, and tea.

Let your imagination run wild...Now is the time to shape the world around you!

artHAPPENed

This past Friday's artHAPPENING was a success, full of creative people, activities, and as always, art. The artHAPPENING stretched from Kirkland Ave to the bottom of Thornes Marketplace, with red balloons connecting the two locations and Bob Hepner's Carnival Truck straddling the middle. Inside Thornes was a flurry of costumes, passports, maps, haikus, collaborative drawings, height charts, themed baked goods, and much, much more. Derek Goodwin took some amazing photographs, which can be found here.

Outside, Emma Silverman lurked all around Kirkland Ave in her amazing handmade costume, climbing on the walls and hiding in corners. Henry White's motion-activated sound bread-box provided a unique soundtrack to the evening, with its hums and percussion constantly changing as people walked by. Hidden throughout the alley were Clara Varadi-True's decorated eggs, which held treats. Lined up on iron gates, cement window sills, and between bricks were 300 pennies (yes, $3 worth), as a part of Haley Morgan's Sense : Value installation. A group of improvisational dancers, with a score developed by Kelley Mariani, played throughout Kirkland Ave as the sun went down. As night fell upon the alley, The Gospel Lighthouse, a video exploring an abandoned church, was projected on the walls. An old school overhead projector provided an opportunity for people to draw on the walls (without really drawing on them!).

(check out the delivery truck driver in the background)

Thanks to everyone who came by and made this event so much fun!

Art Out and artHAPPENING this Friday!

This Friday March 13th from 5-8pm storefrontART hosts its third artHAPPENING! The event will take place throughout Kirkland Ave and in the bottom of Thornes (in the old Dynamite Records location). We've got an all star line up of local artists and activities that explore ideas of space and place, such as...

a lurking performance by Emma Silverman

motion activated sound by Henry White

"sense : value" installation by Haley Morgan

treasure hunt by Clara Varadi-True

charcoal animation by Scout Cuomo

"one square mile" installation by Emma Silverman

mixed media collages by Nicholas Morra

kinetic truck sculpture by Bob Hepner

dance improvisation by Kelley Mariani

video installation by Haley Morgan

...and a team of conductors led by Aliya Bonar to help host the party!

For more information about the featured artists, please visit Valley Art Share.
The artHAPPENING is also on Facebook.

The artHAPPENING will also feature baked goods, some drinks, great company, and spunk. This event is a part of Northampton's Arts Night Out. Kids are welcome and encouraged to attend and play with us. The artHAPPENING is free and very open to the public, and all donations benefit Commonweath Center for Change. Thanks to Thornes Markeplace for helping make this happen. We hope to see you there!!


The Raven messenger bird is connected to transformations and transitions. Some believe the Raven has the power to give courage to enter into a void. The Poplar tree is commonly called the "whispering tree" for the way their leaves move in the wind. The artHAPPENING Conductors will bear the spirit of the Raven and the secrets of the Poplar on their chests this Friday, and ask visitors to enter into a new kind of art and interaction. - Aliya Bonar