Finishing touches & Celebration on Friday!

Last week a group of kids came through the alley while a bunch of us were painting. "What is it?" one of the kids asked, pointing to the mural. I asked them what they thought it could be. "An owl!" yelled one. "No, a bug!" shouted another. "It looks like the yellow submarine" one of the girls chimed in. The smallest boy boldly said, "No, I know what it is- a celebration!"


As you can see, the mural is close to finished. Only a couple more hours of work and it's complete! Cross your fingers for good weather this week...

We will be having an official unveiling & celebration this Friday, October 9th, from 6-9pm. I'm really excited to celebrate this project and all the people who made it happen! There's going to be music all evening, featuring Ed Rosser, the wheeling piano guy, from 6-8pm. Eric Hnatow, the flashy electro guy, will be playing from 8-9pm (hopefully with light up jacket in tow!). There will be cider and cookies to munch on, as well as surprise interactive spectacles (ooh la la...) to enjoy. And don't worry if you haven't gotten your Golden Brick yet, you can still purchase them Friday night for $10. You seriously should definitely probably absolutely stop by. It's going to be an awesome time. Really. This event corresponds with Northampton's monthly Arts Night Out, so make sure you check out the other great art events happening all around downtown Northampton.

Action in the Alley

Enjoy these photos from painting in action!

Next Workdays: THURSDAY, OCT 1st 10am-3pm
SATURDAY, OCT 3rd afternoon (weather permitting)

Colors & Conversations

Woo hoo! Here are some photos from painting-in-action this week. Warm thanks to all the volunteer painters who have helped so far, the folks who have bought Golden Bricks, and all of the people who have stopped to chat with us in the alley.

I love how new public art- and art in general- can open up conversation between strangers. So many people have been eager to engage with us about this piece, this project, and public space in general. This project seems to illustrate how important art can be for bringing people together.

Another one of my favorite things about this piece is it's abstract design. Many people will ask "what is it?" and instead of giving them an answer, I like to ask "what do you see?" This opens up the door to a thousand possibilities of what this mural is, what it represents, or what thoughts, feelings, or associations it provokes in others. Talking about and sharing these ideas with each other is an important way to build community and bridge imaginations.

We will be painting this Saturday, September 26th, from noon-ish on. Stop by and check it out!

It's happening!

After some considerable delay due to, among other things, negotiating with Alan Scheinman, the mural is finally coming into fruition! Last Tuesday Brian and Mike, who work for the neighboring parking garage, power washed the wall to prep it for paint. It was a magical sight early in the morning, watching these two guys wash the wall. They worked as a team inside the power washer's mist, washing and scrubbing to the tune of the humming machine, with the early morning light touching down on Kirkland Ave. It was satisfying washing the layers of dust, dirt, and decay dribble off the walls, uncovering the bright red bricks.

Yesterday we made our first mural marks on the walls with primer. This too felt like a great moment, as the mural has essentially been in the making since January. Priming went pretty quickly since we had some friends to stop by lend a hand. People walking by naturally noticed the shift from dingy red walls to bright white ones, and were curious what we were doing. Many people expressed their excitement over seeing a new mural being made, and we even recruited some volunteer painters to help us.

Obviously, the more people we can get to help us paint, the faster it will get done. Since it is already halfway through September, the days are getting shorter, the weather is getting cooler, and it is important we get the mural done in a timely fashion. Please lend us a hand! We will be working in the alley this Tuesday, Sept 22nd late afternoon-evening, next Saturday, Sept 26th in the afternoon, and every Saturday after that until it's finished. We are also planning on painting during the week whenever people are around to help, so if you'd like to be on the Volunteer Mural Painter e-mail list, let me know and I'll sign you up! haley@commonweathcenter.org. Again, no experience is necessary, we are basically doing the mural in a paint-by-numbers fashion.

Another quick reminder, Golden Bricks are available for purchase for $10 a pop. Money raised will go towards the project, and you'll get your name or words of your choosing painted on a golden brick in the mural. To donate, email me, stop by the alley, or stop by the breezeway behind the Guild to pick up a donation slip. Every little bit helps! Give in the name of art, community, a friend, child, parent, or a dream!

The time has come!

Starting this weekend (!!), construction on a new mural in Kirkland Ave will take place! A large, colorful, sweeping mural will adorn the Downtown Sounds wall. This public art piece is sure to brighten up Kirkland Ave, as well as breathe new life into Northampton's public art scene.

Ebenezer (Eben) Kling, a recent Northampton transplant from the outskirts of Boston, is the mural artist. Eben, in collaboration with Haley Morgan and Julia Handschuh from C3, and Joe and Barbara Blumenthal, who own Downtown Sounds, have designed a unique, site-specific mural that captures the seen and unseen, the imagined and the visible, and the past, present, and future. To get an idea of what the piece will look like, here is some of Eben's previous work. In order to see the real thing, however, you'll have to take a walk through Kirkland Ave yourself!

We anticipate completing the mural mid-October, and will celebrate it's official unveiling with a party. More details on this happening coming soon.

You can be a part of this awesome project! We need help painting! We will be holding community painting parties (woo-hoo!) where you can drop in and lend a hand. No experience necessary! A list of painting party dates are as follows. Check back often for additional dates and times! Or sign up with Groundcrew for text-message reminders! Or shoot us an email and we'll keep you in the loop: haley@commonwealthcenter.org.

Tuesday, Sept 22nd evening
Saturday, Sept 26th noon-evening
Saturday, October 3rd noon-evening

We will continue selling Golden Bricks for $10 a piece to raise money to cover costs, upkeep, and a stipend for Eben! Help support this awesome project and donate today! Or tomorrow! Or both! A gift of $10 or more comes with a bonus: Your name or words of your choosing will be embedded into golden bricks that will be painted beneath the mural. YES!

*Check out Eben Kling's other current collaborative Northampton art project, Papergirl. So cool.

Golden Bricks!

Sponsor a Golden Brick to help support the creation of new public art in Kirkland Ave!

Golden Bricks are $10 each, and will be represented by a real golden brick painted in the alley, underlining the new work. Sponsored bricks will be painted in a long line along the bottom of the murals, connecting the walls from one side of Kirkland Ave to the other.

BONUS: You have the option of writing a message up to 20 characters on your brick, so you can sponsor one with your name written on it, the name of a loved one, your business/organization, a message, an idea, a song lyric, a haiku, etc etc!

A little sure can go a long way, and your (tax deductible!) contributions to this project will have a long lasting impact on our community. Of course, there are no limits on how many bricks you can sponsor... :-) Whether you can give $10 or $100, your gift will make a big difference in the size and quantity of murals we can produce, not to mention, how much we can pay our fabulous artists!

It's easy to contribute. You can visit the breezeway behind the Guild and pick up a slip to fill out, or you can mail check/cash/cc info to our office with a note including your full name, address, email address, how many bricks you'd like, and what you'd written on them (if anything). Our address is:

Kirkland Ave Project c/o C3
126 Main St.
Northampton MA 01060

We believe in the power of art to renew and enrich our community, and we hope you do too!

OPEN CALL FOR PUBLIC ART PROPOSALS AND PROJECT VOLUNTEERS

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.

We would like as many people to participate in this project as possible! If you are interested in being involved with the project on a smaller scale, please e-mail haley@commonwealthcenter.org. We are looking for:

-production assistants : Help C3 with the general production, coordination and planning for the project. Must be in Northampton area during June and July. Hours are flexible. No pay but many benefits. Would be great for students, recent grads, or anyone interested in working closer with the Northampton arts scene.

-volunteer artists : To help paint murals, assist artists, and possibly create smaller pieces for Kirkland Ave. This position is perfect for artists of all ages, time commitments, and levels of experience. Volunteer artists are needed throughout July. Hours are flexible. No pay but many other exciting benefits.

-community supporters : This exciting public project requires support from the community! Could you make a financial contribution to the project? Do you have any materials, resources, services, or special talents to contribute? Donations to C3 and the Kirkland Ave Project are tax deductible and very much appreciated. Please email haley@commonwelathcenter.org.

The final one-hour information session and application workshop will be held at the C3 office, at 126 Main St on the 2nd floor above the A.P.E. Gallery, on 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!