Art All State

There's a lot going on in life at the moment but I'll keep the blog posts to woodworking and art related events,  afterall that's what this blog is about.  I don't write about going to an interview or I applied for this job or that, I write about art events not everyday things'  On Saturday Liesl and I spent the day at the Worcester Art Museum.  We are both involved in an exciting annual event called Art All State.  Art All State has happened for the past twenty five years at the Worcester Art Museum.   What it is is a great weekend long art collaboration by some of Massachusetts best high school art students.  The students submit their portfolio to a steering commitee who then act as jurors and either declines or accepts their applications.
If accepted the students are put into groups of approximately eighteen students and are paired with two artist/mentors.  For two full days the students transform one of the studios at the museum and create a fantastic installation piece.
This year both Liesl and I were selected as artist/mentors.  I've had the privilege of being an artist/mentor for the past seven years, this is Liesl's first.  I'm excited for her, it's an invigorating event.
On Saturday Liesl and I sat with the other selected artist/mentors and learned about this years event.  There are sixteen of us.  It is always refreshing to listen to and talk with other like minded people and hear about their love of art and craft and why it is they have to do it and how it fuels and drives them.  They all suffer from the same struggles of trying to make a living as an artist and trying to hold their head high when so many out there think of us as flaky or think we're  not working hard or aren't working an honest job.  It's a nice sense of camaraderie.  We talked about our influences, our favorite artist, our passion and why we must create.  It was very inspiring.  I felt validated.