Thursday, July 26, 2012

"What's in a Story" exhibit at Haley House Bakery Cafe

Last week I installed my exhibit "What's in a Story" at Haley House
Bakery Cafe:  haleyhouse.org/bakery_cafe  It feels great to be 
showingat local venue for a change,  especially one which is so 
supportive of building community. Their website says it all, "We 
believe in Food with Purpose and the Power of Community."  
Have fun exploring their website and facebook page. Haley 
House's story is inspiring.It started as a soup kitchen and today
includes the soup kitchen, an in-community housing program, a 
farm, one-the-job training,classes, the cafe and more.  The cafe
has become a busy venue for all sorts of  events including music, 
art, poetry, readings with regular open mics.  The folks that 
gather and work there demonstrate the wonderful diversity and 
creative energy in our neighborhood.

Celia Grant organizes the gallery in the cafe.  When she asked
if I'd be interested in showing, I jumped at the chance. The
challenge was to present 3-D work in a space  where two 
dimensional work is usually displayed. But hey, I've  never
been one to avoid a  creative challenge...Windows were
adapted for flying books, storytellers and large journals.
and shadow boxes and posters were hung on the walls. 
There is a large screen which comes down in the middle of the 
back wall  so nothing could project out very far in the center.
We set up small shelves (made by my hubby for my recent
NYC show) to the right and left and put posters between.
The creatures and figures thought they looked good against
the brick walls.
An overhead support was perfect for Snarval,the large dragon.
 
The opening was last Friday eve announced via the flier
above, plus various social media networks, emails, and 
ad in the Bay State Banner. My thanks to to Bing Broderick
and Celia for PR and helping brainstorm setup, Sandie 
Fenton and my hubby for photos of the opening and to 
everyone who came. 40-50 people showed up, young, old 
and in  between from  many different connections.  Also
thanks to all the folks at Haley House Bakery Cafe who have
been talking about my work to customers since the opening.

Snarval was noticed: 
 There were lots of stories shared, questions and good 
Haley House sweet potato pizza.
 
 

I discussed techniques distributed a few stories, talked with
friends including kids I have worked with and met new folks.
A "Can you name a dragon that is not in Wendy's Great
Book of Dragon Names challenge" resulted in two more
names to ad to my book which had 451 dragon names.







 



Haley House cafe is a place where going beyond comfortable
boundaries is supported, so I stepped up and read from "Sophia's 
Quest" the mythic folk tale I have been working on for a long time. 
I'm hoping to get it into a finished form by the end of the summer. 
The story was  inspired by the cupola of a run down Victorian 
house in the  neighborhood. I kept looking up at the cupola 
wondering what  was up  there. A nest ? perhaps the nest of a 
phoenix? I didn't know if  my creatures would show up  in the 
tale, but of course they did as well as a library of flying books.


 People asked what next ? Good question. Next post I'll show
some of the posters I had in the show..and soon will  begin
to give a peek at some of Sophia's travels.

Meanwhile, if you're in the Boston area, drop over to Haley House
Bakery Cafe at 12 Dade Street, Roxbury for conversation, good
food and to contemplate "what's in a story".  

Adventure on!  Wendy

3 comments:

  1. It's a great show -different than what's usually at Haley House. Your creatures did look right at home and your reading was enjoyable. You didn't seem nervous at all!

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  2. Thanks, Candelaria. I really appreciated everyone who turned out for the opening. I have also had fun hearing feedback from people who have been at the cafe since the opening. Let the stories roll on.

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  3. you look fabulous, and your creations look very pleased to be displayed so wonderfully. love the brick wall.
    Linda Esterley

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