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!

"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

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

**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!