Berkshire Art Kitchen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cultivating Creativity While Nurturing Offspring

Great Barrington, MA
10 February 2010

The Berkshire Art Kitchen will kick off its spring season with a series of events organized by artists Karen Arp-Sandel and Suzi Banks Baum.  In conjunction with Women’s History Month and aimed to celebrate women artists, the events focus on the daily-ness of art and the challenges of juggling mothering and creativity.  The series will include an exhibition, artist talk, workshop and movie screening.

On the programs within the series, the artists state:  “We hope to share with our participants- gallery viewers, workshop takers and moviegoers, the recognition that art is not separate, it is immediate and a healing force available to everyone without special requirements.  With a glue stick and scraps from our day, we can begin a dialogue with our present world, and illuminate our perceptions.  This playful engagement with our daily activities acts as balm for all sorts of need.  The tools to begin are all we hope to help people discover what they already have.”

Opening on March 5^th 2010 will be Fe-Mail :: An Exhibition of Mail Art by Karen Arp-Sandel and Suzi Banks Baum.  The exhibition features the inspirational “Postal Discourse” between Baum and Arp-Sandel, consisting of over seventy-five mixed media postcards sent through the US Postal Service over a period of three years.  The exhibition will run through April 30 and will be complimented with a series of events related to “The Daily-Ness of Art” mantra to which the two locally based artists subscribe.

Artists’ Reception
A public opening reception will be held on Friday, March 5^th from 5:30- 7:30 pm.  Meet the artists and read their mail!  The event is free and open to the public.

Gallery Talk

Join Karen Arp-Sandel and Suzi Banks Baum on Wednesday March 31 at 7:00 pm for an intimate gallery talk about the quiet radical act of collage “snail mail” communication in the face of a fast paced electronic-tech world.   The Fe-Mail artists will narrate a personal tour of the “front and back stories” encoded in 1,000 days of visual collaboration.

Workshop
With the Fe-Mail exhibition as a backdrop, Karen Arp-Sandel and Suzi Banks Baum will teach The Daily-ness of Art, a daylong experiential workshop to inspire participants with easy tips about making collage art on a daily basis using everyday ideas and materials.  No muss no fuss!  The Workshop runs from 9:30 – 4:30 on Saturday April 10^th. The workshop is open to 16 participants. The cost is $ 80, which includes $5 materials fee and the evening program.

Movie & Discussion
The workshop culminates with an inspirational evening movie and discussion from 7:00 – 9:00 pm on Saturday April 10^th of “Who Does She Think She Is?”, a moving documentary about women artists who navigate the balancing act between motherhood and artistic expression.

The screening, which is open to the community for a donation of  $10 to support BAK, premieres “Who Does She Think She Is?” by Pamela Tanner Boll and Nancy Kennedy. The movie chronicles the lives of 5 working artists who are mothers.  It explores the barriers to the creative process and how art ultimately transforms women’s lives and those around them.  The discussion will be facilitated by three exhibiting artist-mothers Karen Arp-Sandel, Suzi Banks Baum and BAK founder, Gabrielle Senza.  You can learn more about the movie at www.whodoesshethinksheis.net.

The Berkshire Art Kitchen was founded in 2009 by artist Gabrielle Senza as an alternative venue for creativity, connection and change.  Part gallery and part art salon, the Berkshire Art Kitchen is known for its high-quality exhibitions and handcrafted gifts, intimate house-concerts and film-screenings, as well as an exceptional collection of one-of-a-kind Artists’ Books.

The Berkshire Art Kitchen is open Friday – Sun 12:00 – 5:00 pm, and most weekdays by chance or appointment.  For more information, visit www.BerkshireArtKitchen.com or call 413.717.0031.

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