Waterville Creates uses this mobile tent for events and workshops. Waterville Creates has been recommended for a $ 10,000 Grants for Arts Projects award by the National Endowment for the Arts to support the Common Threads project. Uploaded photo
Waterville Creates has been recommended for a $ 10,000 Grants for Arts Projects award by the National Endowment for the Arts to support the Common Threads project.
The project aims to invite the community to engage in programming at the new Centrum Sztuki im. Paul J. Schupf in and around downtown Waterville.
The Waterville Creates project is one of 1,125 projects in America with a total value of over $ 26.6 million that was selected during the Grants for Arts Projects second round of funding for fiscal 2022.
“We are delighted to be referred to a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support Common Threads, which will kick off in July with a series of artist-led workshops inviting community members to share their stories,” said Shannon Haines, president and CEO of Waterville Creates, according to a press release from Waterville Creates. “This engagement process will help develop community-focused art programs throughout our first year at the Paul J. Schupf ”.
The art center, set to open in December, will serve as the new, consolidated home of the Waterville Creates and its film, stage and visual arts programs, and a new contemporary gallery at the Colby College Museum of Art.
The Common Threads project will be led by artists Elizabeth Jabar and Colleen Kinsella, founders of the Future Mothers art collective, who will invite the community to participate in a series of artistic events and storytelling in an intricately decorated tent designed to inspire reflection and creativity.
Using graphics as a platform, Jabar and Kinsella will ask participants to gather, talk and create art in response to a series of questions: Who was here before us? Who is here now? How do we honor these stories? What are untold stories? How do we build meaningful connections with each other?
The resulting narratives, captured through the creation of art, writing, portraits and recordings, will become part of the collective conversation of the community and will culminate in an inaugural exhibition at the Ticonic Gallery in the center.
“As socially committed artists, we create open spaces that engage our imaginations, dream of a better world, and experiment with new organizational models to connect, connect and build a community,” said Jabar and Kinsella. “Common threads seek to lay the groundwork for solving complex questions and give community members a space to see, hear and celebrate.”
Common Threads events and workshops include artwork on the Waterville Farmers’ Market from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Thursday, July 7; bookbinding with the artist Evelyn Wong at Greene Block + Studios from Thursday, July 14; community portraits with photographer Séan Alonzo Harris at Greene Block + Studios from 18:00 to 20:00. Thursday, July 21; numerous activities at the Colby College Museum of Art from noon to 4:00 pm Saturday, July 30 for Community Day; and drop-in sessions at Greene Block + Studios from noon to 5pm. on Wednesdays and Fridays from 13 to 29 July.
All events and workshops are free and open to everyone.
For more information on common threads, visit watervillecreates.org. For more information on other projects in the Arts Endowment Grant Notice, visit arts.gov/news.
