Felt That
Felt During Covid project gives people a place to let it out
Artist and former Guggenheim Museum graphic designer Christine Sullivan has only lived in Santa Fe about a year and a half and still describes herself as a "newcomer." Of course, this hasn't stopped her from trying to assimilate, especially during the pandemic, and her new arts project mounted in conjunction with the Santa Fe Public Library should go at least a little way toward proving she's committed to being a full-fledged community member.
Sullivan's Felt During Covid transforms her love of working with felt into a cathartic means of self-expression during this terrible low in human history. In a nutshell, the initiative (which is funded through a micro grant from the Santa Fe Department of Arts and Culture) invites artists and everyday people to pick up a free felt supply kit from the main branch of the public library, and then create a piece relating to their COVID-19 experience. Additionally, Sullivan says, the idea is that creators will implement one or more of the Five Santa Fe Promises, a series of tenets adopted by the city at the outset of the pandemic (wear a mask, shop local, etc.).
"It goes back to Catholic grade school banners I made," Sullivan tells SFR. "I was not near museums, and that was my only source of art. I'm not a religious person, I'm just really interested in this genre of art called 'social practice.'"
The idea behind social practice art is to foster dialogue and engagement through community-minded works. Sullivan hopes that by providing the materials, she'll give Santa Feans something to do, and also a means of getting their feelings about the pandemic out of their heads.
"How we feel starts the conversation," Sullivan says. "What we do starts the healing."
Interested parties might wanna know the last day to pick up supplies is Thursday, Dec. 10, and the deadline to turn over the finished work is Saturday, Dec. 12—and that they're more than welcome to add any other media to their pieces. Simply contact the public library as you would to reserve a book, and the kit's all yours. Submissions will be shown during Sullivan's livestream on Dec. 17 from the @feltduringcovid Instagram account. (Alex De Vore)
Felt During COVID Art Kit Pickups:
All Day Wednesday, Dec. 9-Thursday, Dec. 10. Free.
santafelibrary.org
Get in the Mood
It's not feeling entirely Christmassy around here of late (thanks a bunch, coronavirus!), but at a certain point, setting the mood is really on us. Enter the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and the Lensic Performing Arts Center. This Friday, the celebrated, Grammy-winning Latin jazz group streams into your home with the assist from the Lensic, and its Salsa Navidad program should not only be like a bunch of hot, hot fire blasting into your home, it'll probably do wonders for making it feel like an actual holiday. This year marks the group's 15th year of existence, too, so one might call it a bit of a milestone. Look—we need this. You need this. Feliz Navidad. (ADV)
Spanish Harlem Orchestra: Salsa Navidad:
7:30 pm Friday, Dec. 11. $35-$115.
lensic.org
Chaz 4 Prez
Did we just feature artist Chaz John (Winnebago, Mississippi Band Choctaw and European) on our picks page recently? Yes, but we have a good reason for bringing him back. See, the opening for John's Manifest Destiny's Child at Ellsworth Gallery a couple weeks back was postponed due to the state's temporary two-week extra-tough lockdown, so anyone who was curious about finding out what the piece "Andrew Jackson's Dumb-Ass Leg" was all about wound up in the lurch. Not to worry, though, as things seem to be looking up and Ellsworth is bringing John out of the lockdown strong with a virtual Zoom artist talk about his new show. You'll be glad we reminded you. (ADV)
Chaz John Artist Talk:
1 pm Saturday, Dec. 12. Free.
ellsworthgallery.com
Safety Lessons
It's never bad to learn a thing or two about personal safety, and when it comes to teaching classes about things like body language, tone, conflict and socialization, verbal formulas, boundary-setting and more, one simply can't find better than the upcoming six-session series from Resolve. The local nonprofit regularly hosts such classes during the non-pandemic times, and its switch to free virtual workshops is a real boon right now—especially since people stuck in lockdown face heightened risk for violence. Note that space is limited for this particular run of classes, and participants must commit to the entire series. If that's not doable at this moment, don't fret—this is likely not the last we'll hear from Resolve on the matter. (ADV)
Resolve: Foundations in Safety:
3 pm Tuesday, Dec. 15. Free.
resolvenm.org