the nest project

I'm so excited about a project I'm working on through the Torpedo Factory's Target Gallery: The Nest Project. Target Gallery, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, is sponsoring an outdoor exhibition of artist-made nests created by local arts groups. The event will take place just outside of Washington, DC at the Torpedo Factory Art Center along the waterfront of the Potomac River in Old Town Alexandria from Sunday, April 10 through Sunday, May 15, 2011.

To learn more about this awesome project, visit our Kickstarter site, the gallery's project site, and say hi on the Nest Facebook page. We Need Your Help! Funds raised through Kickstarter will help defray artists' costs and time for their installations, lighting to make the installations visible at night, and temporary public signage for a waterfront tour of the installed artist nests.

womanmade exhibition opens may 1st

I'm particularly excited about being included in this exhibition, WomanMade at Target Gallery in Alexandria, VA as part of the Minds Wide Open Virginia statewide celebration of women in the arts. This is my first multi-media show, and I feel truly honored to be one of 28 artists chosen from over 400 worldwide. 

Exhibition Dates: May 1 - 30, 2010 • Reception: May 13, 6-8pm • Juror's Talk: 7pm

Special Programming: May 13 at 7:30pm • Karen Reedy Dance

in the genes: an exhibition celebrating the family bond

One of my new collegues at the Torpedo Factory, Carolyn Witschonke, has work in this upcoming exhibition, In the Genes. A nice way to spend Mother's Day! Details below:

The Torpedo Factory Art Center invites visitors to explore the possibility of the existence of a “creative gene” with this special building-wide exhibition. Alongside their own work, participating studio artists will display work from artistic family members with whom they have a direct genetic connection, including visual artists, musicians, and writers.

There's a special Mother's Day opening reception on Sunday, May 9th, from 1-4pm. Moms and their families will enjoy an afternoon of wine and sweets as they explore this unique exhibition that celebrates the family bond.

designing a life

I received great news yesterday: I've juried in as a studio artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. This is something I've dreamed of for awhile, but in no way whatsoever did I think it would happen so quickly. I was told that nobody juries-in on their first attempt, and I certainly didn't see myself as a "real" artist ("I'm still very new at this," I say to people). Be that as it may, I got in...and my self-perception has just been flipped on its head.

Over the past 24 hours, all kinds of explanations have run through my head. Anything from, "there must have been little competition," to "artists are disappearing in this economy - they must be hard-up for fresh blood." Whew, I can be harsh on myself.

However, today at the Torpedo Factory, I felt like Cinderella. Not only did people gush about my work, they seemed genuinely excited to welcome me to the fold. I'll be learning a lot over the next few weeks about what's involved - apparently there's a fairly well-honed mentoring process for new "associate artists" that's intended to set us up for success, not launch us in over our heads too quickly.

Next week, there's an exhibition of the juried-in class of 2010's work at Target Gallery, with a reception to meet the art center's artists for possible sub-lease matches (feels a little like a sorority rush!). Of course since I didn't expect to be participating in any of this, I scheduled my knee surgery for next week. I am, however, determined to not miss a thing, crutches and all. What a nice high to carry me through what may otherwise be a tough week!

The original motivation for starting this blog a mere two years ago was to explore, integrate and share what it means to consciously live my life. I can't believe that was only 24 months ago, because, boy, when you put your intentions out there in the world, stuff happens.