Forest
April 19—April 22, 2011
FOREST will transform the ICA at MECA&D into a hive of activity. Visual and performing artists will develop hands-on programs and activities to engage students and the public in unconventional and imaginative ways.
April 19
Workshop: Fairy House Building
Learn how to build small natural habitats from natural materials to attract fairies and their animal friends. Families will be provided with natural materials on site.
Film Screening: Dead River Rough Cut
Bob Wagg and Walter Lane live in a tarpaper shack, hunting, fishing, trapping and logging with oxen. They prefer the sounds of the birds to the roar of highway traffic, and scorn the money-chasing of city life. Covering a period of four seasons in the remote backwoods of Maine, Dead River Rough Cut presents a revealing look at an individual way of life.
Talk: Maine Audubon
Christian Neal MilNeil, Communications Manager at the Maine Audubon, will discuss their recent efforts to conserve Maine's north woods, as well the importance of local and regional vernal pools, which are seasonal wetlands in the woods that incubate salamanders and frogs around this time of year every year.
April 20
Screen Printing Event
Raising Forests’ is an educational interactive piece in which the public is encouraged to screen print their own ‘tree’ that will be installed in the
Artist Lecture: Cole Caswell
An artist lecture by MECA&D MFA Alum Cole Caswell. Cole uses forms of interpretation to understand the forest as an ecological patch, habitat, and place of exploration.
Workshop: Permaculture Class
Join us for a free Permaculture class presented by Portland’s favorite fermentation center/garden laboratory and micro apiary - Urban Farm Fermentory.
April 21
Workshop: Woodland Crown
"Many hundreds of years ago two children discovered the secret of what the Fairies wore at their parties to celebrate the passing of the Seasons...." Come create a beautiful crown from woodland materials and wildflowers.
Workshop: A Circle’s Journey
Musicians, artists and scientists, Emilia Dahlin and Aaron Frederick have traveled the world as part of a global journey they took with the organization “Beyond Boundaries” dedicated tto experiential education, cross-cultural community exchange, leadership development and a deep personal and collective inquiry into the pressing issues and needs of our times. Through holding a circle (think: round table discussion) Emelia and Aaron will provide a space to talk about the issues of FOREST in Maine.
Lecture: Public E’s Launching and Lineage with guest Khenmo Drolma
From 6-6:15pm we will be celebrating/announcing the launch of MECA&D’s new Public Engagement Minor. From 6:15-7pm, Khenmo Drolma, the first Buddhist Abbess in North America started a nunnery in Vermont. She started the Public Engagement work at MECA&D 22 years ago and we are honored to welcome her back to speak about art, public engagement, art in the world, education and how it all began for her.
April 22
Workshop: Earthday Grow-Your-Own
Head to the FOREST in the ICA at MECA&D for a gardening workshop that will get you ready for the springtime growing season. Get your hands dirty while starting seedlings and learn about how to grow your own indoor garden.
Screen Printing Event
Raising Forests’ is an educational interactive piece in which the public is encouraged to screen print their own ‘tree’ that will be installed in the ICA at MECA&D, collaboratively creating a three dimensional forest.
Forest Dance Party
On Friday, April 22, the ICA at MECA&D opens its doors for one of the largest dance parties of the year - FOREST. Pull out your flannel, fairy wings, lumberjack gear, ... it doesn't matter. Just be there! Dance in trees dj’ed by Ian Paige – with prizes for best costume provided by Rogues Gallery!
+Photo Booth
+Costume Contest
+Forest inspired food and drink - lot's of nuts and berries.
+Art making
Information on All Day Screenings:
Film Screening: Silent Film of a Tree Falling in the Forest
Thomson’s Silent Film of a Tree Falling in the Forest, 2005–2006. For this work, the artist made six one-minute studies of spruce trees falling in a forest in Alberta, Canada, which he separated with lengths of blank leader film that complicate any implicit figure/ground structure. The falling-tree footage is lulling, but the tranquil space the piece creates is nevertheless unstable. It calms, then creates bristling anxieties, calms again, and then makes you anxious again.
Film Screening: I came here on my own
I came here on my own, their current video and performance work-in-progress. The project, which contains two discrete but related pieces, features a series of live duet performances and an accompanying multi-channel video work. Robbinschilds was formed by choreographers, Sonya Robbins and Layla Childs in 2003. The company creates performance and video works for diverse venues including the stage, gallery or "site". Focused on presenting highly visual time-based works, robbinschilds explores the juncture between architecture or place, and human interaction.
Support for Forest is provided by Big Sky Bread Company, capt’n Eli’s Soda, Debbie’s Heartland Granola, Flatbread Company, George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History at College of the Atlantic, GRAIN Surfboards, Partners for World Health, ROGUES GALLERY, satronen sound, URBAN FARM FERMENTORY