Monday, October 03, 2011

what if they held a community art event and somebody came?

This weekend was "Culture Days" in BC. I took part in a few community art events as part of the celebration. Friday night at work, my co-workers Diane, Shelley, Anna and I hosted a tile mosaic workshop. Along with members of the Seniors' Society at the rec centre where I work, we are developing a community art project for the park just outside. About 16 tile mosaic dragonflies will be installed in the pavement around benches and planters. The first half dozen mosaics were created Friday, by community members who dropped in to arrange tile bits. Parents, children and seniors all came in to fit the jagged little pieces into the dragonfly shapes. Shelley and Anna, our artist facilitators, preserved the arrangements with clear sticky film before they took them away.

Saturday afternoon I went over to The Burnaby Arts Council Gallery to visit Diane's show about community art. Diane has visited Cuba and Louisiana to facilitate art exchanges between children and families in Burnaby and those places. She has also collected art made by children here, to send to children in Haiti. I looked at art samples and photos from these projects and talked with Diane about her experiences and insights. I also made some art myself - a great part of the show!

Sunday evening, Shoreline Writers' Society hosted a "Writing Playshop" at a cafe in Port Moody. Our members were the only ones who showed up, but we had a good time. We did get two little boys to make storybooks, then we did some writing ourselves. It was low key and fun for us to write together in a public place. It reminded me that I'd like to include writing together in our monthly meetings.

question: how artful have you been lately?

mompoet - 3 days of art in the community - nice

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