DREAM TIME... Exhibit Opening January 14

It is time to dream towards our future...

Eighty masks, a handcrafted wooden boat, a playful dog house, and delicate mobiles of found elements are just the beginning in DREAM TIME. The 1st exhibit for 2012 in the Open Door Art series, DREAM TIME is a whimsical, artful exhibit aimed to stir wonder, fun and hope as we look to the challenges of the future.

DREAM TIME opens 2nd Saturday, January 14th at Odd Fellows in Mendocino Village; special Family Day on Sunday, January 15th honors the Dreams of Martin Luther King, Jr. This special exhibit is just open three weekends through January 29th.

Masks throughout are creations of middle School students of Mendocino K-8 under art teacher Mark Oatney. A beautiful handcrafted wooden boat comes from the Traditional Small Craft Association, Noyo Harbor. A whimsical dog house combines building efforts of Shelter Cove students from Ft. Bragg with the painter's imagination of Nancy Jung. Nicolas Kozak explores balance and form in a series of hanging mobiles and stunning wall pieces. Ceramic vessels, painted violins, evocative paintings, drawings and much more round out this eclectic mix and the creativity Sand Box will be open for everyone's hands-on play.

This FLOCKworks-led exhibit, DREAM TIME, is curated by Janet Self with Mimi Blok and has many well-known locals artists plus an array of creative talents ranging from age 5 to 95. Community is invited to come explore, enjoy and dream of the possibilities!

Open Door Arts @ OddFellows is located at the corner of Kasten & Ukiah Streets in Mendocino Village; gallery will be open weekends only 10-5. More info: 937-2486.

Photographer Nicholas Wilson and Friends!

A unique exhibit of local art opens Second Saturday, December 10th.  Central to the exhibit is a celebration of
Photographer Nicholas Wilson's 40 years as a documentary and fine art photographer.
Joining Wilson are a diverse group of special long-time friends:

• painters Robert Ross and Eduardo Smissen show amazing paintings and prints,
• graphic artist John Chamberlin with his unique posters & sign art ,
• zany sculptor and multimedia artist Larry Fuente will have something new and surprising as well as vintage pieces,
• ceramicist Christopher Cisper will have skillfully made pottery, ceramic sculptures and drums and
• multimedia artist Molly Boynoff will have work in textiles, paper and other media

The Full Moon party starts at 5 pm and continues until it's over, with live music and slide show.
The show runs from Dec. 10 through Dec. 26 from 11 AM to 5 PM most days. Evening hours and more slide shows are planned for Saturday Dec. 17. While the show is running you can also call Odd Fellows Hall at 937-2486. Odd Fellows Hall is located at the corner of Kasten and Ukiah Sts. in Mendocino, California.

Web links: 
Nicholas Wilson: www.nwilsonphoto.com 
Robert Ross website:  www.robertrossstudio.com 
Eduardo Smissen:   www.eduardosmissen.com 
Larry Fuente:  www.google.com search "Larry Fuente"  (put it in quotes) There's a lot!
Christopher Cisper: www.christophercisper.com 
Molly Boynoff (photo): http://www.flickr.com/photos/nwilsonphoto/4749834433/
John Chamberlin is virtually invisible in cyberspace,yet well known locally.

Soccer, ART & Kids...

FLOCKworks' Childrens Banner project took to the Soccer fields, creating 22 kid-made banners on opening day play for the Soccer Season. Once they were done, Banners covered the chain link fence surrounding the playing fields each Saturday. With kids, coaches, and families helping, the Banners added to the celebration of 350 children plus their families spending the day out on the fields playing soccer. Another bonus: businesses sponsors are featured on the Banners, adding to the community recognition of this important support. Each weekend, Banners create a celebrate kids involved in athletics and they raise awareness of the important role of soccer in the community. Mendocino Coast Youth Soccer also got special help this year from the Mendocino Coast Children's Fund to reach families needing financial help for their kids to play.

HANDS ON...Get Creative with kids

Bringing Art into the Classroom adds to the creative learning of children; it is also brings energy and support for teachers committed to diverse learning strategies. Last year, we dived in to work in several schools: Albion School, one of a handful of "one-room Schools" statewide, k-3 with one teacher, Redwood School with k-2 program and 450 children and the AVID program with 27 high achieving 7th graders at Ft Bragg Middle. I took along interested artist friends to join in the fun. The overall aim was to learn what it really took to begin developing a broader community program.

This year, the focus aims to both reach more kids, teachers and classrooms AND draw in community artist with time, talent and interest. By fostering ties between community volunteer artists and teachers, the program will organically create opportunities for more hands-on art in classrooms. Backup community artists and teachers with great ideas, materials, equipment and other support, and classroom art will find new ways to expand.

GODDESS INSPIRED...Work by janet Self

A three day mini-exhibit called GODDESS INSPIRED... celebrates the Female form as part of the Mendocino Goddess Festival. Self's Figurative work explores the flow and energy of the human body in vivid colors and playful lines, sketches, large scale banners, paintings, cut outs, clay and more. The Exhibit also features several hands on dimensions... OCCUPY Vision, and the "I AM..." project.

The Exhibit happens November 11-13, Friday thru Saturday 10-5 at the FLOCKworks Studio, next to OddFellows corner of Kasten & Ukiah Streets in Mendocino; OUR Saturday GODDESS GATHERING 4-8pm will include a LIVE MODEL for sketching, Sand Tray Collage, food, wine & more...

2nd SATURDAY OPENING Parties... ART EXPLORERS next Door at Odd Fellows, FORD HOUSE hosts Nature Photos with mushroom & wine event. Art Cooperative of Mendocino on Main St celebrates the DIVINE FEMININE and the Mendocino Art Center also hosts a special focus on the GODDESS...

HANDS TO THE FUTURE...Children's Art Installation

"Hands to the Future"... is a unique installation that includes 1,037 hands made by over 500 children from 10 schools on the Mendocino Coast. Beginning from the earliest roots of human art making on cave walls, each child traced their hand and created a unique design in the space of their hand. These cut-out hands go up the stairway and into the main upstairs gallery of the Odd Fellows hall, reach up to the arched ceiling, swarm over one main wall and surround another installation called the WEB of Remembrance. As a whole the hands convey the lively creativity of our children; individually, each hand is a small work of art. The installation aims to remind that the future belongs in the hands of our children and will need their creative spirit to face the challenges ahead.

Hands to the Future is part of FLOCKworks Open Door Arts project at Odd Fellows in Mendocino Village. The current exhibit, SOULFUL REMEMBERING, overall includes the work of nearly 700 people from Treasure Boxes of Remembrance, Story Quilts, Assemblage work, and other array of unique art by local artists; several hands-on-art elements draw the visitor right into the process. Day of the Dead is celebrated with a special installation of colorful Altars and includes a learning space about the traditions and symbols for the Day of the Dead. The exhibit runs through November 1 and is a part of the Mendocino Coast Day of the Dead celebration.

Community Remembering...

October @OddFellows in Mendocino Village hosts an unique exhibit about the power of community remembering. Combining beautiful local art with hands-on interactive elements, Children's Hands-to-the-Future installation, Dance performance, workshops and community-made "Remembrance Boxes", visitors will be drawn into an experience of deep remembering.

Rita Crane's photograph of the 2008 Triple Conjunction over Ukiah Street captures the heart of this art exhibit. Says Crane, "It was a magical December evening when this rare line up of three celestial bodies occurred. Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent Moon were visible, clustered up closer than they had been since the 1940’s. Because of freezing cold weather, no one was out and a friend and I were absolutely alone taking pictures in town, cozily bundled up, enjoying the beauty of the night sky.

Whatever happens on planet Earth, the solar system continues its ancient rhythms and cycles. We have a chance every single second of every single day to align ourselves with the universal harmony that exists. That internal harmony begins with every conscious breath we take."

SOULFUL REMEMBERING is a unique community tapestry... And light spilling forth from Odd Fellows reflects the gathering of energies involved in this not-to-be-missed experience.