**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

Movement Workshop with Kelley Mariani

On Tuesday, February 17th Kelley Mariani led a dance and improvisation workshop designed to explore site-specific movement in Kirkland Ave. Through tuning into our physical experiences of Kirkland Ave, we were able to understand more deeply the way space shapes our relationships to each other and to our surroundings. Some of the prompts Kelley posted on the walls during this workshop included:

How does Kirkland Ave shape your movement?
How is moving in Kirkland Ave different from moving through it?
Follow a feeling.
Trace any line in the space with any part of your body.
Stand still and listen. Notice what you notice.

Find a new path.
See how your body can fit into the alley's nooks and crannies.

What have you discovered about Kirkland Ave that you didn't know before?

Most of this workshop was filmed, and the (awesome!) footage will probably be projected at the Art-Out, on March 13th. Also, the group's findings and experiences are helping to shape future performances in Kirkland Ave, such as FRAME, which will be on April 10th and 11th.

Exploring the Spaces in Between with Woody Pistrich

Spending time in Kirkland Ave has allowed me to meet and talk to some very interesting people who live and work around the alley. Meet Steven "Woody" Pistrich.

Woody owns Pistrich Design and Builders in South Deerfield, which has done work in buildings surrounding Kirkland Ave over the past couple of years. Woody came out to visit and talk about Kirkland Ave during the movement workshop. He led me around the alley, pointing out interesting architectural features and old projects he had completed over the years. It was really interesting to see the layers and changes to the space over time, visible through changes in brick patterns, old pipes and wires, and filled in doors and windows. He taught me a lot about masonry and the characteristics of old buildings.

When I asked Woody to add a "brick" to our "If These Walls Could Talk" activity, without pausing he wrote "Repoint me! -->". When I asked him what that meant, he told me repointing is the process of remortaring or repairing spaces in between the bricks. He pointed to a place in the wall where the mortar was wearing away, leaving the bricks more exposed.

I love the different ways people relate to and understand the spaces that surround them. Each person brings a unique perspective and knowledge into a situation. Piece by piece, the story of Kirkland Ave is unfolding, it's personality growing. Thanks to Woody and to everyone who has shared their experience of Kirkland Ave so far.

Art-In Recap

The Kirkland Ave Project kicked off with an Art-In this past Friday, February 13th. Though chilly, many people turned out to see what was going on and to creatively explore and document the alley with us.
People came to draw, dance, photograph, video, play with projectors, and to learn more about the project.


There were activities that people could participate in, such as "If These Walls Could Talk", where one could imagine what one of the bricks in the wall might say, and write it down and stick it to a new "wall."

Another activity was to frame something in the space that you want someone else to notice with duct tape.


People wrote haikus constructed from the graffiti and words in the alley, and made rubbings with crayons to capture the different textures in the space.

Watch locked neighborhood
unauthorized pirate kiss
complete disposal

- by RPWB

It was really interesting to see what people created and left behind in Kirkland Ave.


It was wonderful talking with so many people and hearing their stories and ideas about the space. A big thank you to everyone who came out and played and shared with us! If you or your work is in any of these photos, please let us know! Thanks to Julia Handschuh and Haley Morgan for photos from the Art-In.

Also, thank you to Ballybunion Reality, LLC for letting us use the breezeway behind the Guild for tea and warmth, to Deals and Steals and the Green Bean for supplying the tea and cups, to Mike for helping us clean and set up, and to all of the building owners and managers for their support in this project.

Be sure to check out the glass cases in the breezeway behind the Guild for more documentation of the Kirkland Ave Project, and mark your calendars for the Art-Out and artHAPPENING on March 13th from 4-7pm!

We are in the process of collecting and sorting and uploading pictures, video, and artwork from this past Friday's (great) Art-In. We will have it all up on the site within a couple of days, so stay tuned!

If you have any pictures or such from the Art-In, we'd love to see them! To share, please e-mail Haley@commonwealthcenter.org.

Have any lingering thoughts, images, ideas, feelings, or reactions to the Art-In, Kirkland Ave, or the project in general? Please post 'em on the blog and keep this party going!