WI State Journal article about Communication

A pretty cool article came out a few days ago online and comes out tomorrow in the physical @wistatejournal about my home away from home @communicationmadison.

It's such a great summary of our space and I'm glad to see that Gayle Worland touched on so many of the things we chatted about and that a range of voices are presented here beside my own.

Link to the article here.

Thanks also to Amber for these awesome photos you can swipe to see a few here.

Can you tell I'm passionate about Communication and the communities we continue to serve 💓

Cleaning up woodcuts

After hundreds of shirts and prints have been made with the public it was time to clean these blocks up a bit. Luckily I have a fun new hand held mini rotary tool to clean up the fine details relatively quickly.

I really really adore teaming up with local environmental non profits like @wisaltwise to create woodcut blocks that can help spread a message, help print wearable art that serves as a reminder about advocacy efforts and connect with people while they print.

It's so incredibly fulfilling to be able to connect printmaking+ environmental advocacy+ community together.

This artist+ non profit Collab means that together the message, the art and the experience is more accessible ( Free) AND the artist ( me ) gets paid a fair wage.

Tomorrow at the Marquette Waterfront Festival in Madison I'll be helping folks print these blocks on upcycled clothing from 12-4pm ( hoping the rain stays out of the forecast)

Come on down and rechristen these newly cleaned up woodcuts by printing a shirt or bandana ( also for pets!) and have a lasting reminder to keep salt out of our freshwater. ( road salt and water softener salt).

Thanks to WI Salt Wise ( and all the orgs that make this up) for all of your collective efforts 🌊

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was a weekend of connection

Saturday:
Wingra Lake Watershed Gathering
Was there in continued collaboration and advocacy with @wisaltwise ( check their account for photos) for water free of chlorides. We helped folks of all ages print on clothing ( provided) as a visual reminder to continue advocating for clean water, using less road salt and making sure our water softeners are running at peak efficiency.

I had to leave this event to attend a wedding free of religion or state ceremony where each of the partners married each other by simultaneous verbal " We declare marriage" ❤️❤️❤️

Sunday ( all images)
WORTstock arts area with NAC ( Northside Arts Collective) for 3 hours multiple hands helped us fill in the outlined flora and fauna of our extended community.

Images are all from WORTstock and feature many hands and faces that contributed their energy. Swipe all the way through and you can see a photo of most of my family ( missing my oldest son) who also came to hangout and add paint.

What an amazing weekend!

Femmestival 2022

Gratitude post:

Femmestival at Garver Feed Mill last Sunday was a non- binary , trans and femme celebration full of tasty food, color and pizzazz.🎉🌈

We had a @communicationmadison booth run by our very dedicated and colorful volunteers ( many also artists with us). Thanks to @culinaryladiescollective @garverevents, @visual_edible_audible, @francescahongwi for having us!! Thanks to @cycropia_aerial_dance for the amazing living sculpture performances!

Garver continues to be so supportive of Communication and of artists and musicians in general. Madison is lucky to have this incredible space so soaked in history, community, local businesses and art!!

Big love to all the vendors, purveyors, volunteers and more who came to celebrate with us! ❤️❤️❤️

Communication's Garver Feed Mill Pop up

Shout out to all of the amazing artists and volunteers helping to make the Communication pop up- Call and Response exhibition possible at Garver Canvas inside Garver Feed Mill

We ( speaking on behalf of Communication) are so pleased to have overlap with the Dane County Farmers Market It's been such a great fit to share Garver with a variety of food producers, local businesses and our greater community ❤️❤️❤️

We have seen amazing, really amazing support in the past few weeks and it makes part of my job, writing checks to artists, so darn fulfilling! I actually shriek high-pitched squeals of delight when I see the variety of work we've been selling. So thank you ❤️

I don't normally push my work, but if you are totally in love with the series currently up at Overture Center you can find 12"x12" giclee prints of the series here at the pop up 🌊

This week we are closed for an event on Saturday but you can stop by Thursday 12-6pm, Friday 12-8pm and Sunday 12-4pm so there is time to get a little something for a loved one or to treat yourself 😉

Eastside Winter Market

OMG!!!! So exhausted, so happy , extremely grateful to everyone who showed up to support vendors at Eastside Winter Market presented by Communication + Garver Events , to all of our excellent vendors, our amazing crew of volunteers of Communication, to my co- organizer Jennifer Bastian

We put on an incredible market, the love was palpable. We really heard nothing but good things which is so great to hear after 3 months of hard work.

I didn't get to take many photos but regardless this market is written in my heart as one of Communication’s greatest successes.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

And If you stopped by and I missed seeing you/ greeting you I'd love to hear what your favorite part of the market was so we can pass on the love to the vendors. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Printing outside in November on UW Campus

It's been a fun week so far!

Monday we printed my woodcuts of freshwater aquatic species and WI Salt Wise imagery on clothing out on the UW Library Mall with UW students.

So glad to collaborate to bring art, education and advocacy for water together in an experience! It was a pleasure hearing these passionate volunteers talk with their peers about salt pollution. By the end of our 2 hours I am pretty certain these students understand how to print Woodcuts onto clothing by hand.

They thrifted 40 pounds of clothing to have people print on and we helped people print at least half of that. That's 20 pounds of clothing, I can't even quantify how many shirts, patches and doggie bandanas we printed but my body told me it was a bunch.

Thank to the WI Salt Wise crew for our continued collaboration. I'm proud that my work is helping advocate for water!!

Communication / community work

Time to share about the Communication Shop

Sometimes it isn't about what community can do for you it's about how you can support community.

Since my work has been focusing more and more on how we connect with nature it's important to show how that can be reflected in how people connect with each other. As always nature is my guide.

Helping artists connect with community and working to make community art programs sustainable is a reciprocal model, they feed each other endlessly. It's in our best interest to create and support strong, diverse communities that use art to connect.

I have been managing the online shop/ in person shop along with a dedicated team of volunteers since August 2020 and it's been so great to see it grow, to do this work, not for capitalism, not for personal gain but to support community growth and the arts.

This year Communication is hosting our first in person Winter Market at Garver Feed Mill instead of our small cozy space. It's a lot of hours, communication, organization and sweat but it will be worth it to see the artists, the small businesses, the community all sharing a larger space and thriving together.

I hope you can stop by and see what we're cultivating at the Eastside Winter Market Dec 11 and 12 12-7pm
Tone benefit concert Saturday Dec 11 at 8pm
Mask are required for entry

I'll be there like the whole weekend 😉

Image Description: A collective of shelves in the Communication shop hold an array of colorful art I'm a range of styles.