I attended this workshop assuming that I would be detached enough to float to more than one presentation during a concurrent session, as there are so many exciting topics that are well worth being touched … I was definitely mistaken. Once I entered the presentation, I could not leave.

As a practicing studio artist/ activist/ employee of a non profit, it is a struggle to streamline all of my efforts into one simplified mission. One of the greatest benefits of the workshop are the examples of community based movements that the presenter Janis gave. Yet, nothing compares to the hands on experience that we participated in. This workshop effectively reminded me to keep it simple!

As we created our own upcycled armbands made of found buttons, repurposed t-shirts and stitchings, we learned the historical & contemporary stories of other cities and spaces that are already forming or have formed people’s studios. Quickly, she deconstructed ideas of how local and global socio-political issues relate directly with the people of our lives and ourselves.

What was most exciting was the fact that while we are searching for grant funding and donations, many of our resources are right before us. By using goods that are on their way out of our communities, how can we rejuvenute their potential? Resale is the perfect place to start, as most artists know… Janis Timm Botto’s facilitated a wonderful presentation on how we can get started, the many women, children and communities that practice and work in people’s art studio and the historical contexts that will help us navigate our endeavors. I truly enjoyed it!

-Dail C.