I will be working on the whale today (Saturday) from roughly 8AM-12PM. Tomorrow I will have to attend the UHart graduation ceremony, so I will not be able to hold whale hours. But I hope to have some hours next week, ideally 8AM-12PM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday!
Category: Entangled and ingested
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Sperm Whale
So happy to share this photo of the completed sperm whale, 20 feet tall and 60 feet long, co-created with members of the public in the winter of 2021-2022.
So many people really went the extra mile– Eleanor and Art, Ziye and Fiona were some of my most frequent contributors.
I was also assisted by the kids in Kate Case’s class at Tolland High School, students from Christy Corey’s Creativity classes at the University of Hartford, the kids at Macdonough School, the kids from Our House Meriden, folks who dropped in on Main Street, lots of friends from the North End, and Christiana Zenner’s class from Fordham.
I’m so happy to share the link from the April 2nd Coginchaug Valley Education Foundation event. This annual event invites four speakers to share on a topic of interest to the community. It’s a sign of a good event when you get as much as you give– and I found in addition to sharing, I learned a great deal from the other speakers. Each shared a fascinating perspective on their topic of interest– and the group was so open and welcoming. It was a delight! You can watch video presentations of the speakers (including me), linked on their website. Check it out!
I am happy to report that I’m now testing negative for COVID. I managed it relatively well but am glad to say I’m feeling better.
It’s a busy weekend– the studio on 428 Main Street will be hopping on Friday for the downtown First Fridays event! Join in from 5-8PM to check out the show and sew along.
Five of my other pieces will be shown this weekend at the Haddam Neck Congregational Church Quilt Show. The event is a wonderful opportunity to see a wide range of beautiful handmade quilts and they’re nice enough to include me! The event takes place at the historic Haddam Neck Congregational Church at 408 Quarry Hill Road, Haddam Neck CT
May 7th from 10AM-5PM and May 8th from 12PM to 5PM
There’s also a bake and plant sale!
My hours at the studio will be early this weekend– 8AM-12PM on Saturday and Sunday so that I can also help cover the kids’ sports and other events throughout the weekend. I’ll be diving in headfirst on the 53 foot long bowhead whale.
I’m happy to report that we finished the 60 foot long sperm whale this past weekend– here you can see a photo with three teenagers standing on it(!)
I hope to get an aerial photo with Dan’s drone soon, but we’ve had a setback as I tested positive for Covid on Tuesday of this week. My symptoms have been moderate– just a lot of brain fogginess, congestion, aches, and tiredness. I’ve been resting and ingesting a ton of fluids.
But sadly this means no open hours on the whale this weekend, as I will not be able to hold them again until I’ve had a negative test.
The 53 foot long bowhead whale is already installed on Main Street in Middletown, and will be there throughout the month of May.
Here’s a photo of it on the Uhart campus two weeks ago, with some amazing Uhart students helping me start it!
We are so close to finishing the 60-foot long sperm whale! I honestly believe we’ll complete it Saturday.
Please drop by between 10Am-2PM on Saturday or 12PM-4PM on Sunday. On Sunday we’ll also have some special guest stars visiting from Fordham, which will be super fun.
We’re nearly done with the 60 foot long sperm whale, and will be working to sew the panels together this weekend, from 10AM-4PM both Saturday and Sunday at 428 Main Street in Middletown, CT.
One of the silver linings of the pandemic is getting the opportunity to visit classrooms in other places without the expense and climate impact of travel. I was thrilled to be asked to visit my AESS Board colleague and friend Karin Warren’s class at Randolph College. I shared my research and art with the class which focuses on Sustainability Principles and Practices. The students then worked to create their own craftivism pieces from film plastics. Check out their work below– what a thrill to see how they took the idea and ran with it! I love seeing how people can take the same idea and materials and come up with really different, fun, and innovative versions of the work.
Karin, I, and a handful of amazing artists, teachers, and researchers will be leading a discussion symposium at this year’s annual AESS conference in Baltimore MD on Craftivism in Practice.
This weekend, we’ll be sewing the whale from 10AM-2PM on Saturday and Sunday on Main Street in Middletown.
We’re planning a little earlier time because I’ll be presenting on Saturday night (April 2nd, 2022) at the Coginchaug Valley Education Foundation’s Talk of the Towns event. This free event begins at 7PM (doors open at 6:15) and will include talks by me and three others: John Paoletti, Jo Schaller, and Warren Herzig on topics including the statue of David, policing, and family farms.
If you’d like to learn more about my work but cannot make it to Durham on the 2nd, I’ll be presenting about my work on Tuesday, April 5th at 6PM for the UHart Alumni Network. Learn more and sign up for this event here.
This weekend I’ll have a work obligation on Saturday, which means no whale time- but I’ll be there on Sunday from 1PM to 5PM.
We’re nearly finished– come check it out!
Kat Owens 