Obviously I have been excited at the prospect of renovating an old Victorian home! And, on an almost intangible level, I have been excited about what this house has potential for in the town, and for anyone who so chooses to get involved. All of this has been on a grand scale though. I mean, I knew that we're going to have a darkroom (among other things), but I guess I really didn't understand what that meant. I mean, I definitely have an interest (keen interest) in photography, and I knew I wanted to see what the dark room experience was all about, but it's something I know little about.
A couple of things have happened in the last two days that have made this intangible thing become much more real for me. The first was a rather comical chat with my dad last night concerning an old SLR camera of his. I'll give a run down of how it went.
"Hey Dad, do you ever use that old camera of yours?"
"No, do you wanna borrow it?"
"Yeah! That would be great dad!"
"You know dear, it takes film."
"Yes dad, it's older than I am."
"I bought it in 1981. It's a Pentax K1000!"
I swiftly looked it up online. That was step one in the quest for tangible excitement.
The second event was an impromptu trip to Presque Isle with Laurel for her photography class tonight. She and Geoff had used the darkroom there yesterday, incidentally developing photos of 702 MAIN!!!! This is EXCITING in itself!! BUT, it gets better. In Laurel's class, she learned how to turn black and white prints into sepia prints, and I got to watch!! It hit me like a tonne of bricks (or should I say ton given that we were in the U.S. of A.). I, me, Katelin Dean, am going to get to process film!! The chemicals smelled disgustingly wonderful, and the finished photo was outstanding. I mean, I was there when these photos were taken. I saw them the day after they'd been developed, and I saw them transformed, before my eyes. I know it's a process that's been around for a long time, but it's freaking MAGIC!
I'm realistic in knowing that we have lots of work to do before getting to this point. Today made it even more worthwhile than it already was.
08 December 2008
02 December 2008
And then...
Ohmygod, ohmygod.. this is really happening.
We met with T&L--the owners of 702 Main--for lunch on Friday. We being myself, Kate, Laurel, Andrew, and Nick. T&L may have felt a little bit like they were walking into the Spanish Inquisition. All went well, though, and we got down to the business of discussing how to go ahead with this massive project. We ended on a promise to have some legal documents drawn up and meet again in two weeks for the passing of the keys..
That means that potentially we could be inside the house by the end of the month.
The next night we hosted our first fundraiser (ostensibly for the development of a "community arts space") at Fusion downtown. There was an amazing turnout.. even more amazing when you consider that historically in Carleton County in November people tend not to leave their houses for very many things. There was art by myself, Laurel, and Mike; food and wine, and music by Amy Anderson and Richard Wetmore.
We made posters; a combination of laser and woodblock prints.. a hand-numbered edition of 20. The ink from the laser printer reacted strangely with the oil-based ink that Mike used to print his design and they took about four days to dry (and did so only after we spent a few hours hunched over them with a hair dryer, AND Mike spent an evening blotting off two layers of the ink with loose leaf). They were still tacky on the night of the opening, but they looked fantastic. So, we sold those along with little "you gotta have art" buttons that were fashioned after larger pins that Mike had given Nick, Amy, Mandy and I earlier in the year. Despite my best efforts I haven't been able to track down the origin of the slogan.. but a couple of websites suggest that it might have been a campaign launched by the Detroit Institute of Arts in the 80s. There was even a jingle: "You gotta have art, miles and miles and miles of art, when life gets you down, you ought come on down and get a start, you gotta have art..." So we've appropriated "you gotta have art" for our little cultural campaign here in our little town. Sorry Detroit.
We had a RiVA meeting Sunday night over eats at Murray's. Discussion of the house, plans, and possibilities occupied most of the agenda. We're getting close to appointing our first governing board, which will become crucial to making the big decisions once we're in possession of the house. It was agreed that 702 should be overseen by the Woodstock Arts Co-operative as a subcommittee of the Alliance. A kind of focus group, I guess. After all, this whole project basically came out of the desire to establish an equipment co-op (printmaking, photography, etc.), which in turn led us on a search for space. Mike, Laurel, Katelin, and myself--as founding members of the co-operative--will be leading this committee..
Also at the meeting we nixed the idea of a Christmas art show (too late for proper planning), further discussed incorporation as a not-for-profit (becoming increasingly important with the potential of real-estate entering the picture), and committed to establishing a formal mission statement and bylaws for RiVA by our next meeting in January. December will be quiet on the surface, but underground we'll be hatching plans..
We met with T&L--the owners of 702 Main--for lunch on Friday. We being myself, Kate, Laurel, Andrew, and Nick. T&L may have felt a little bit like they were walking into the Spanish Inquisition. All went well, though, and we got down to the business of discussing how to go ahead with this massive project. We ended on a promise to have some legal documents drawn up and meet again in two weeks for the passing of the keys..
That means that potentially we could be inside the house by the end of the month.
The next night we hosted our first fundraiser (ostensibly for the development of a "community arts space") at Fusion downtown. There was an amazing turnout.. even more amazing when you consider that historically in Carleton County in November people tend not to leave their houses for very many things. There was art by myself, Laurel, and Mike; food and wine, and music by Amy Anderson and Richard Wetmore.
We made posters; a combination of laser and woodblock prints.. a hand-numbered edition of 20. The ink from the laser printer reacted strangely with the oil-based ink that Mike used to print his design and they took about four days to dry (and did so only after we spent a few hours hunched over them with a hair dryer, AND Mike spent an evening blotting off two layers of the ink with loose leaf). They were still tacky on the night of the opening, but they looked fantastic. So, we sold those along with little "you gotta have art" buttons that were fashioned after larger pins that Mike had given Nick, Amy, Mandy and I earlier in the year. Despite my best efforts I haven't been able to track down the origin of the slogan.. but a couple of websites suggest that it might have been a campaign launched by the Detroit Institute of Arts in the 80s. There was even a jingle: "You gotta have art, miles and miles and miles of art, when life gets you down, you ought come on down and get a start, you gotta have art..." So we've appropriated "you gotta have art" for our little cultural campaign here in our little town. Sorry Detroit.
We had a RiVA meeting Sunday night over eats at Murray's. Discussion of the house, plans, and possibilities occupied most of the agenda. We're getting close to appointing our first governing board, which will become crucial to making the big decisions once we're in possession of the house. It was agreed that 702 should be overseen by the Woodstock Arts Co-operative as a subcommittee of the Alliance. A kind of focus group, I guess. After all, this whole project basically came out of the desire to establish an equipment co-op (printmaking, photography, etc.), which in turn led us on a search for space. Mike, Laurel, Katelin, and myself--as founding members of the co-operative--will be leading this committee..
Also at the meeting we nixed the idea of a Christmas art show (too late for proper planning), further discussed incorporation as a not-for-profit (becoming increasingly important with the potential of real-estate entering the picture), and committed to establishing a formal mission statement and bylaws for RiVA by our next meeting in January. December will be quiet on the surface, but underground we'll be hatching plans..
24 November 2008
Chapter II
Friends, artists, countyfolks, lend me your ears;
I come to house art, not to praise it;
The beauty that is created lives after them,
The good is oft interred with the foundation,
So let it be with art...In its noble home.
Ahhh yes, ripping off William Shakespeare, I am a class act. Really though, if one is to rip something off, one might as well go for the gold.
Reviving a beautiful, old home is precisely the kind of project I need. I am faced with feelings of hope juxtaposed with fear; excitement juxtaposed with anxiety; vision juxtaposed with haze. Mostly, I just want to begin the process.
My theatre arts teacher always said to either jump in the pool with both feet, or stay on your towel. I've never been afraid of water, I just hope we don't drown.
We won't. We can't. It's too important.
18 November 2008
Chapter 1: Hurrah! Hurrah!
Dear brothers and sisters,
dear enemies and friends:
Why are we all so alone here?
All we need is a little more hope, a little more joy.
All we need is a little more light, a little less weight, a little more freedom.
So tangle - oh tangle us up in bright red ribbons!
Let's have a parade.
It's been so long since we had a parade, so let's have a parade!
Let's invite all our friends,
And all our friends' friends!
Let's promenade down the boulevards with terrific pride and light in our eyes;
Twelve feet tall and staggering--
Sick with joy with the angels there and light in our eyes.
Brothers and sisters, hope still waits in the wings like a bitter spinster;
Impatient, lonely and shivering, waiting to build her glorious fires.
It's because of our plans man; our beautiful ridiculous plans.
Let's launch them like careening jetplanes.
Let's crash all our planes in the river.
Let's build strange and radiant machines.
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