This will be the last community indigo dyeing event for Sky Sail.

Register for Blue Hands Festival here: 

https://www.manitouartcenter.org/event-5690579

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SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2024

10 am - 1pm

BLUE HANDS FESTIVAL

(special event for Sky Sail + dye your own items)

Manitou Art Center

513 Manitou Avenue

Manitou Springs, CO 80829

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Spend time with us indigo dyeing during this unique event. You are invited to dye a piece for our community project, Sky Sail, for free. Learn some easy shibori techniques and dye some beautiful pieces in indigo for you to take home and show to friends and family. 

For $10, you are also welcome to bring your own natural fiber tee shirts or use ours, supplies are limited. Have something small, like washcloths or a tired pair of linen pants, you'd like to overdye or change? Bring it and make it beautiful.

$10 per adult, kids are free to dye your own items. Spaces are limited, adult registration required.

If you have any questions, please contact Melanie at manitoutextiles@gmail.com

*Please note, everything needs to be made of natural fibers such as cotton, linen, wool or silk. Some rayons may work. Results will vary.

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2024 BLUE HAND FESTIVAL DATES:

June 8

July 13

September 14

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This project is funded by the Manitou Arts, Culture and Heritage Initiative and Manitou Springs Community Foundation.

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I will be participating in the Art All Around Colorado Springs Artists Studio Tour on May 18 and 19 from 10 am - 4pm.

I will also have FREE drop in, indigo dyeing on SUNDAY, MARCH 19 from 10 am - 1 pm.The dyeing

SATURDAY, MAY 18: Open Studio

Feel free to stop by and see me at my studio, #215, on the second floor of Cottonwood Center for the Arts.

SUNDAY, MAY 19: Indigo Dyeing

Theater, 2nd Floor, Cottonwood Center for the Arts

Colorado Springs, CO

I will have linen pieces available to dye for the Sky Sail sculpture collaboration. You may also bring a small cotton or linen piece of your own to dye.

Stop by and say hello, check out my recent work, and do a little indigo dyeing!

More info and my Art All Around listing HERE.

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Bring your friends and family and celebrate the many voices of our communities by dyeing and sewing Sky Sail sculpture fabric with us. 

We invite you to learn about the indigo dyeing process, dye a linen, bandana-sized fabric square for our project, and bring your own small cotton or linen piece to dye in our indigo vats.

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Thanks goes to GOCA (Galleries of Contemporary Art) at UCCS and Pikes Peak Arts Council for their generous grant support for Sky Sail.

This collaborative suspended sculpture is part of the upcoming We Are the Sky: A GOCA Collaboratory exhibition at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery at the ENT Center on campus at UCCS.

The show opens July 11, 2024 and runs through October 5, 2024.

Donate your denim and be a part of our community sculpture, Sky Sail.

Drop off Locations:

Flying Pig Farm: 102 Crystal Park Rd, Manitou Springs, CO 80829

Manitou Art Center: 513 Manitou Ave, Manitou Springs, CO 80829

Cottonwood Center for the Arts: 427 E Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO 80903 

Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery inside the ENT Center for the Arts at UCCS: 5225 N Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80918

ZoneFive: 1902 E Boulder St, Colorado Springs, 80909

All participants will be acknowledged in our collaboration for the exhibition, if you would like to be included and leave your name.

DONATIONS will be ACCEPTED through JUNE 14.

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Thanks goes to GOCA (Galleries of Contemporary Art) at UCCS and Pikes Peak Arts Council for their generous grant support for Sky Sail. 

This collaborative suspended sculpture is part of the upcoming We Are the Sky: A GOCA Collaboratory exhibition at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery at the ENT Center on campus at UCCS. 

The show opens July 11, 2024 and runs through October 5, 2024.

Thanks goes to GOCA (Galleries of Contemporary Art) at UCCS and Pikes Peak Arts Council for their grant support of our new project, Sky Sail. 

The suspended sculpture is part of the upcoming We Are the Sky: A GOCA Collaboratory exhibition at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery at the ENT Center for the Arts on campus at UCCS. The show opens July 11, 2024 and runs through October 5, 2024.

Sky Sail will be a collaborative sculpture constructed with community indigo-dyed fabric pieces. The “sail”, nodding to Starr Kempf’s sky reaching wing forms, will be suspended between the ceiling and floor, creating a walkthrough space. People will also be invited to sit on floor cushions to view the work from below.

Keep your eyes peeled for free indigo dyeing events in Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs coming up!

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Bring your friends and family and celebrate the many voices of our communities by dyeing and sewing Sky Sail sculpture fabric with us.

We invite you to dye a linen, bandana-sized fabric square for our project and bring your own small cotton or linen piece to dye in our indigo vats.

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More soon!

Exhibition info: https://gocadigital.org/exhibitions/wearethesky

Artists leading the Sky Sail project:

Naomi J. Falk

Melanie Audet

Mel Williams

Proposal sketch for Sky Sail:

Hagnauer Gallery | Manitou Art Center | Manitou Springs, CO

Group exhibition including: Melanie Audet, Catherine Carr, Ruth Chandler, Naomi J. Falk, Michael Howell, Mary Madison, Gwen Rodriguez, Mel Williams, and Betsy Wintermute

Throughout the ages, fibers have been an undeniable necessity for human survival. Evolving the necessity into an expression beyond function speaks to the tenacity of the human spirit and acknowledges subtle yet vital aspects of our lives. Weaving, spinning, dyeing, sewing and paper making are tools that create hallmarks of civilization. and become the ways in which cultures distinguish themselves. A group's handiwork and development of their art and craft tradition describe who they are, where they live, and what resources are available. Fibers and textiles are present in the stories, histories, and traditions of every culture on this planet. Fibers take many forms. They are used in a myriad of ways, from the functional to the fine art realms.

Arachne’s Strands is a show about the many different facets and forms fibers can take. Arachne, from Greek mythology, was a weaver who was transformed into a spider. Originally meant to be a cautionary tale about hubris, it also speaks to the presence and importance of textiles in daily life. Arachne exists globally in many different cultures by many different names, present and venerated from the African continent to the Navajo Nation. Arachne is a quiet yet dominant essence in our lives and her presence creates a network which binds us all together.

The artists in this exhibition display and carry on the many different strands of Arachne.

Images from top:

1) Eclipsing (from me to you), 2024, Naomi J. Falk

2) Caring, CLL Month 1, January 2024, Naomi J. Falk

3) Indigo Sea with Finger Rocks (from above or below?), 2023, Naomi J. Falk

4) Gallery view, as you enter the gallery

5) Gallery view, right side from the back of the gallery. My most recent version of Traces is on the upper right.

6) Exhibition poster, Arachne's Strands

A preview at new work in process.

To be notified when new work is released please visit the contact page and subscribe to the studio mailing list.

I had great fun with this second piece in Nathalie Miebach's Sculptural Storytelling workshop.

Woven watercolor paper, acrylic paint, 2023, in progress...these descriptive words then became a story in a sentence along with the sculpture.

Sculptural Storytelling

Snow Farm, Williamsburg, MA

Aug 2-6, 2023

This workshop will introduce participants to basic basket weaving technique (twining, random weave and plaiting) and their endless sculptural possibilities. You’ll learn multiple ways of starting a piece, variations of the basic weaving technique and how to integrate solid objects. To help us think outside the traditional basket form, we’ll approach this workshop from the perspective of a story teller, in which you will weave multiple components to be integrated into a sculpture that tells a story. You’ll build, destroy, unravel, reweave, glue, drill, hammer, cut, tape and do whatever needs to be done to problem-solve your own way to success. We’ll be working mainly with fiber rush, papers and whatever you like to bring with you. The emphasis in this workshop is on play and using these sculptural approaches from the perspective of a tinkerer, willing to take risks with materials and the outcome of the work.

LINK