WS2MS: Communique from Co-organizer Fawn Potash

Bravo everybody!  My sincerest gratitude for making Wall Street to Main Street into this most amazing constellation of exhibits, workshops, seminars, performances, tours and cool stuff.  I intend to write each one of you a personal thank-you note with copies of our press clippings, but until then, I want you to know what a meaningful experience this has been for me in meeting and getting to know your work and passions.  It has been a personal and community-wide education.  Like many Occupy events, it has demonstrated many of the principles of the movement in action.  

There are many intangible results.  At the most basic level, WS2MS supports the idea that we, along with people all over the world can speak and act on our own behalf.   If we have not changed any minds, we have at least provoked conversation and offered opportunities for engagement and education at every level and sensibility.  We have worked well with all of Catskill's community stakeholders giving us a successful track record and deeper connection to our neighbors.  Plus Catskill has buzz.  Even if people didn't make it to Main Street in person, there's no way they missed the PR storm.   People know we are here now. 

The tangible results have great import for Catskill too.  This project played a major role in attracting several paying residential and storefront tenants.  The long dormant Civil War era factory building, Union Mills has found a buyer, who sees the historic value of this property and its potential as a cultural linchpin on Main Street.  There's much more, but we can go into more detail as we put together the project archive.  

Your gift to Catskill and the audiences we have engaged is unquantifiably valuable.  I hope we will be able to come up with some creative way to publicly acknowledge your contribution in a lasting way.

Click to read more ...

WS2MS: Co-organizer's "End" Notes

Catskill Chocolate Shop

WS2MS Closing Weekend
A Note from OwA Co-organizer Paul McLean

...Can one ask questions about the strange fact that, after several revolutions and century or two of political apprenticeship, in spite of the newspapers, the trade unions, the parties, the intellectuals and all the energy put into educating and mobilising the people, there are still (and it will be exactly the same in ten or twenty years) a thousand persons who stand up and twenty million who remain "passive" - and not only passive, but who, in all good faith and with glee and without even asking themselves why, frankly prefer a football match to a human and political drama? It is curious that this proven fact has never succeeded in making political analysis shift ground, but on the contrary reinforces it in its vision of an omnipotent, manipulatory power, and a mass prostrate in an unintelligible coma. Now none of this is true, and both the above are a deception: power manipulates nothing, the masses are neither mislead nor mystified. Power is only too happy to make football bear a facile responsibility for stupefying the masses. This comforts it in its illusion of being power, and leads away from the much more dangerous fact that this indifference of the masses is their true, their only practice, that there is no other ideal of them to imagine, nothing in this to deplore, but everything to analyse as the brute fact of a collective retaliation and of a refusal to participate in the recommended ideals, however enlightened.

- Jean Baudrillard, In the Shadow of the Silent Majorities

Berlin, Germany ["We the People" at Brik Gallery]

Dear friends,

On March 17, 2012, Wall Street to Main Street launched in Catskill, NY. Since then, Occupy with Art's partnership with Greene Arts/Masters on Main Street has offered the community a diverse program of exhibits, installations, performances, readings, demonstrations, workshops, seminars, and more. We even had our own single edition newspaper! Participants have ranged from celebrated (or controversial) artists with art-world-recognizable names like Andres Serrano, to locally- (and internationally-) recognizable artists like Matt Bua, to collectives like Bread & Puppet Theater and abcdefgCORPS, to poet/writers, like Sparrow, who spans the spheres of Occupy and the Hudson River region, to those folks who brought pieces for the absolutely inclusive "People's Collection," whose participation required no artistic self-definition at all. From the beginning our objectives included generating a rich sample of Occupy arts, commingled with works originating from the region's impressive artist base. In some fair measure, that goal was attained, although to what extent the potential interchange was tapped is an open question. Estimating the populations of possible collaborators versus actual ones won't permit us to congratulate ourselves too much.

Click to read more ...

WS2MS: Our Final Weekend's Programming

WS2MS: Franc Palaia's Bottle Bulb Demo

[Covered by WiThePeople]:

The Amazing Bottle Bulb
A Demonstration by Franc Palaia

Talk about sustainability.  

One of the most innovative and practical exhibitions I discovered at Catskill’s Wall Street to Main Street art opening in March was the solar bottle bulb.  With water and a little chlorine bleach, the plastic bottle bulb can provide as much light as a standard light bulb.  Extremely impressed, I went back two months later to watch the scheduled demonstration.

The artist, Franc Palaia, explained that the size of the bottle determines the amount of light provided, so that the larger the bottle the greater the “wattage,” or its chlorinated equivalent.  He said the simple and very effective idea was first discovered in Brazil by Alfredo Moser in 2002.  Palaia calls the solar bottle bulb a “low tech way of making light with practically nothing.”

It works like this:

For the portable display, Palaia used a plain cardboard box to simulate a darkened room.  He placed a plastic one-liter bottle filled with water and a few drops of chlorine bleach (to prevent algae growth) in the ceiling of the box and sealed it with strong tape.  The bottles can be used on corrugated roofs, flat roofs, or any roof, Palaia said.

Once installed, the sunlight reaches the bottle, goes through the water, is diffused and then spreads out into the darkened space, creating a beautiful, warm glowing light.  According to Palaia, many people in third world countries who don’t have electricity use solar bottle bulbs, and he said it’s helping to improve their lives.

Although glass bottles can be used, Palaia recommends plastic because it’s easier to use and more accessible.  He said another benefit of using plastic is that it “gets rid of a lot of empty bottles that are all over the place.”  So using plastic, Palaia quipped, “is sort of killing two birds with one bottle.”

WS2MS: Occupy the Landscape

Each alone, each part of another
Your steps shall ring
Shall raise the cloud...
-Patti Smith

WS2MS: MAY 12 Weekend Happenings

OCCUPY THE LANDSCAPE

[CLICK IMAGE ABOVE FOR MORE INFO ON OCCUPY THE LANDSCAPE]

"People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take. - Emma Goldman

Twenty-One Days until OCCUPY THE LANDSCAPE

EVERY STEP WE TAKE TOGETHER COUNTS!

Register Today! [CLICK IMAGE BELOW]

"It takes some strength of soul—and not just individual strength, but collective understanding—to resist this void, this non-being, into which you are thrust, and to stand up, demanding to be seen and heard" - Adrienne Rich

WS2MS Wins AMO Grant Award!

OCCUPY WITH ART is pleased to announce that our project with Greene Arts, "Wall Street to Main Street" is one of the first Art Is My Occupation support grant recipients! Thanks to AMO (Gan, et al.) for your recognition and material assistance, and congratulations to all the other recipients!

Click HERE to see all the winners!

WS2MS: The People's Collection

WS2MS: Stage 2 [Press Release]

PRESS RELEASE

For Release in All Media

April 18, 2012

WALL STREET TO MAIN STREET
STAGE 2

Catskill, New York – The second stage of the landmark exhibition cycle Wall Street to Main Street [WS2MS] commences in April and continues through the end of May 2012. WS2MS will offer a variety of creative, fun and educational opportunities for the communities of OWS and the Hudson River region to explore, evaluate and imagine 99% alternatives to the status quo.

Installations along Catskill’s Main Street have sparked sometimes-intense responses from the town’s citizens, since the festival opened here on March 17. The programming of WS2MS demonstrates the organizers’ and artists’ sustained commitment to establishing common ground for lively and spirited exchange. Our goal is to encourage democratic art and free speech. To that end we are trying to be responsive and responsible to our generous hosts, the people of Catskill.

The art in Wall Street to Main Street communicates the amazing breadth of emotion, vision, and drama that is Occupy, which Naomi Klein characterized as “the most important thing in the world now.” Art and artists have been central to OWS since the occupation of Liberty Plaza in the financial district of Manhattan on September 17, 2011. WS2MS offers viewers a window into the ideas, dreams and inspirations arising from the movement that has spread across the globe.

In Stage 2 of WS2MS, we will engage in skill-sharing workshops, demonstrations, performances, discussions, panels, tours and more.  Almost all the WS2MS Stage 2 events are being offered for free. As the program evolves through April and May, WS2MS, like OWS, will continually evolve and re-shape. That means more art exhibits, concerts and events will be launched over the remaining weeks in our schedule. See the WS2MS sampler listings below for details, or visit www.greenearts.org/ws2ms for the complete, up-to-date calendar.

• WS2MS is proud to present the Buckminster Fuller Institute’s presentations “Practice Where You Occupy” with the Mobile Design Lab team discussing their water, food and energy solutions for Zucotti Park from 11am-1pm and “Solution Sets for Main Street” from 2-4PM (April 21, 408 Main Street).
• The following Saturday, April 28, will feature “Change Is in the Air,” a seminar with Glenn Leisching based on our relationship with nature and familial ancestral heritage.
• If you’re interested in making art, sign up for Emily Bruenig’s free screen printing and bookmaking workshop (462 Main Street on April 29 from 1-3PM).
• If you’re just out for a walk and a great overview of WS2MS, join New York based artist and educator Ellen Levy and Occupy with Art organizer Paul McLean for a walking salon tour of the gallery and window spaces of WS2MS. The tour meets at the arts council, 398 Main Street, on Sunday May 6 at 11AM.
• Green workshops include Franc Palaia’s Eco-Bulb demo/class, a 100% solar option for sheds and other buildings (May 12 from 1-3PM, 408 Main Street).
• Canadian artist Joel Richardson will offer a two-day stencil painting workshop to help you create your own designs and a custom Suitman illustrating Catskill’s economic history (May 12 and 13, 10AM-2 PM, 473 Main Street - $50, with advance registration). 
• For the literary crowd, on May 12 the poet Sparrow will host “Speaking to the Gods,” a reading and conversation about our relationship to the great poets at Occupy Books, 450 Main Street from 4-6PM. He will also host “Silence Poetry”  from 2-4PM.
• “Awaken the Dreamer/Changing the Dream” on May 13 (10 AM-3 PM, 344 Main Street) will present a vision for an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just human presence on earth.
• Poet, author and educator Sam Truitt will lead a day of panel discussions and workshops at Occupy Books on Saturday May 19 from 11 AM-4PM and with a reception from 5-7pm (details TBA on the GCAC website and here, closer to the launch date). 
• Community artist extraordinaire Matt Bua will teach a sustainable living/drawing workshop, envisioning life off-the-grid (May 26 from 4-6pm).
  
  

For more info, contact:

• Fawn Potash: fawn@greenearts.org
• Paul McLean: artforhumans@gmail.com

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WS2MS A14 Fun

Mark Skwarek's WS2MS Augmented Reality project documentation video.

Sat, April 14, 3-5 PM, The public is invited to a Family Sing-along from 3-5 PM with an open mic hosted by Marilyn Miller and Occupy Hudson Busk musicians.

WS2MS: Week 4

Chronogram Covers WS2MS!

Hudson Valley's arts and culture magazine featured two great articles on OwA's "Wall Street to Main Street:

• "Wall Street to Main Street" in Catskill: Zuccotti-on-Hudson by Sparrow
• On the Cover: Joel Richardson's Grassroots Financial Revolutionary by Molly Lindsay

Here's an excerpt from OWS poet Sparrow's piece:

“Wall Street to Main Street” is an art show in a dozen storefronts, plus a 10-week festival of performance and workshops, ending May 31. This is the first legal collaboration between the Occupy movement and a town. Catskill was chosen for numerous reasons: its proximity to New York City, its economic troubles, the presence of an arts community, and it’s the home of Thomas Cole (founder of the Hudson River School of painters).

“There are ‘Main Street’ issues that play out on our Main Street,” observes Fawn Potash, director of Masters on Main Street. “It makes sense to talk about those things here.” Potash was on the curatorial committee organizing the festival.

Since the police raid on Zuccotti Park, art has played a larger role in the movement. One cliché about Occupy is that it is “a protest without demands”—which is attractive to artists. For what is art if not a protest without demands? The community at Zuccotti Park struck many artists and critics—myself included—as a giant artwork, a “living sculpture” or “temporal work of performance politics.” One such artist, Jessica Eis, documented the encampment, the police raid, and its aftermath, with video and still photography in “Sights and Sounds of Zuccotti Park.” Emily Bruenig makes books from ephemera found at Occupy Wall Street: yellow police tape, stickers, flyers, etc.

WS2MS: Saturday [#m31] - The ILLUMINATOR & Elizabeth Blum!

Wall Street to Main Street programming for this weekend:

Saturday, March 31, 7:45 PM Mark Read’s shape-shifting van, The Illuminator lights up Catskill’s Main Street. This mobile activist tool converts to an Occupy Wall Street library and cinema with hot cocoa and popcorn served while viewing short documentaries and cartoons about the Occupy movement. Pocket park at 355 Main Street, Catskill.   Also, meet guest artist, Elizabeth Blum, activating her streaming light projection installation at 365 Main Street, 9 PM.

Concept sketch for Liz Blum's installation at WS2MS

• More info on WS2MS at greenearts.org
• More about Illuminator actions earlier this week!

@WS2MS

This is from Elaine Fernandez,  who is coming back this week to do some interviews.  - Fawn

WS2MS: UpRiser Calisthenics by Bread & Puppet Theater!

WHEN: Tuesday, March 27th from 12 noon to 12:30PM

WHERE: Casa Latina, Brandow's Alley at Church Street, behind The Bank of Greene County just off Catskill's Main Street.

Start your day off right, with UpRiser Calisthenics!

Join Bread and Puppet Theater for a free noon performance, part of the "Wall Street to Main Street" series of exhibits and events taking place through May 31. 

• breadandpuppet.org
• Facebook Event page

WS2MS: SAVE THE DATE!

The Great Tortilla Conspiracy is coming to Catskill for "Wall Street to Main Street" in April! This is going to be amazing!

DON'T MISS IT!

WS2MS: Update!

Updated on Monday, March 26, 2012 at 06:46PM by admin

In the wake of Occupy Wall Street’s six month anniversary, small town America’s continuing struggle provides the backdrop for a unique art activist project, Wall Street to Main Street.  At the March 17^th premier, curious locals and out-of-towners enjoyed a perfect spring day visiting the 20 pop-up exhibit sites along the Main Street in Catskill, NY.  Walking along four compact blocks, visitors had time to talk and digest ideas in between installations.  This ten week expo features over 50 exhibitors, performances, workshops and seminars with a newspaper that serves as the project’s guide, The Wall Street to Main Street Message.   The day culminated in a party with poetry, prose and protest songs at BRIK Gallery where a comprehensive exhibition introduces the movement’s historical and global context. Artists and organizers celebrated at the local Thai restaurant with laptops open to a live webcast as Michael Moore held a press conference announcing a fresh wave of protesters flooding into Zuccotti and Union Square Parks. 

Click to read more ...

WS2MS: Video by Taha Awadallah

Masters on Main Street is hosting a dynamic art project linking Occupy Wall Street and the world, via the small town of Catskill, NY. Main Street's vacant storefronts come alive with over 50 visual art and design exhibits, performances, workshops and panel discussions from the opening date on March 17 through May 31st.

Wall Street to Main Street is a collaborative presentation working with individual artists, curators and organizers from the Occupy Wall Street Arts and Culture Working Group. The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has focused its energy on justice for the 99%. Wall Street to Main Street, a project facilitated by Occupy With Art, offers a platform for creative expression and dialogue focusing attention on a struggling community through a ten-week festival of experiences designed to engage, educate and inspire.

The WS2MS Message [online]

Check out the online version of the Wall Street to Main Street Message (in aXmag Flash format), by clicking the image above.

To download the Message (for free), click HERE.

Or check it here, with Google's help.