this is a post to tell yinz about a thing that is happening!!
tl;dr: here’s a flyer!
in sharpsburg!! now and all month!! a thing that i am very grateful for the opportunity to produce and would love for as many people as possible to be a part of!!!
a few weeks ago, i was generously offered the opportunity to hang my first solo art show at sharpsburg community library.
as of march 4th, 19 original art pieces + a collaborative project are now installed!! most pieces are also for sale, with 25% of sales going towards the library because libraries are miracles :)
image description: a black and white photo shows a sneak peak of yet. during install – pieces of mixed media art in varied sizes hang above a row of computers at the library.
even though yet. is a solo show, this has truly been a community effort, over time. i originally became connected with the sharpsburg community library through my work as an instructor with art in motion, a dance studio up the street (where you and your people should totally come take classes if you’re local!)
over the years, i’ve been lucky enough to perform several times for the library’s summer reading celebration & offer programming for kids & teens.
sometimes it feels (or maybe looks) like i made this decision to bet on myself as an artist very recently, and the opportunities to share my creative work have come very fast. and in part, this is true!! on the other hand, art is relational, and i have always valued investing time & energy in community.
relationships take time, presence, patience, listening, and reflection – as does art! maybe it is all of these things combined that create a strong foundation for supportive, creative community. maybe we’re finding out!
image description: bailz is surrounded by 5 students, all celebrating while throwing colorful pieces of paper in the air like confetti. the picture is from youth programming at the library in 2022, and the shreds of paper held things we wanted to let go of.
so – with the opportunity to show my art, i also wanted to make sure to take the time to celebrate the community that has held me as i’ve grown the past several years.
in addition to the show, which is on display until the end of march (reception on saturday, march 29th at 12pm!) i am offering some programming to include my community in part of my creative process for the show – which has also involved some heavy healing.
on monday, march 24th at 6pm, the library is graciously letting me host a healing arts workshop entitled The Future Is NOW! where we will use accessible art practices to talk back to anxiety & imposter syndrome, play the What If Game, and rethink how we define “mistakes.”
a majority of the pieces shown in yet. are collaborations with my past selves, largely from ~2014, when i made a lot of Big Life Choices out of a need for survival & protection.
through revisiting and reworking pieces for the show, i had some big conversations with my past selves about what they needed to feel empowered, reminding them they were always an artist, that they were always good enough. so the workshop will be a little of that, but more fun.
image description: part of the process – a black and white photo shows several works in progress surrounded by materials – sticks, shreds of paper, post it notes, and measuring devices
then, on saturday, march 29th at 10:30am, i will be guiding a (donation based, intergenerational) community choreography class for all levels, followed by a movement parade at 11:45a from the studio at art in motion down to the reception at the library.
the goal for this offering is a celebration of creative bodyminds – joyful, vibrant, loud, taking-up-space, no-right-or-wrong, organically-moving-how-we-need-and-want – a collaborative exclamation point for the month & expression of gratitude to all those who have supported this process.
hoping to see yinz soon for collaborative, creative fun!
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