Vivid Artist Spaces

 This week I attended an informational meeting for:

Vivid Artist Spaces 

(an LLC, soon to be non-profit) 

It's located in a 3 story building with basement (and all the floors will be utilized). It's in an ideal location in Boise with easy access to downtown, the BSU campus, the airport, and the freeway. Vivid specifically hopes to create a healthy environment for artist community for adult local professional artists where they can work, teach, share expertise and collaborate side by side. 

And man! There is a lot of space potential! 

Vivid is offering studio and exhibit space and storage space for rent, opportunities to teach and attend workshops that will also be open to the public, monthly open studios, semi-annual gallery exhibitions, and access to future workshops, talks, exhibits, performances, and events within the building. There will also be access to tools and machinery such as framing, stretcher building, printmaking, spray booth, darkroom, etc. and a gift shop and library. Also there will be the opportunity for outside artists or groups to rent exhibit areas for events, and also free and fee based lectures, storytelling , live music, films, and multimedia events for the community. Studio tours and community arts education will be offered to the public. 

The potential for really cool stuff connecting artists with artists and artists with the public is mind blowing! 

If you're interested in becoming a part of the Vivid Artist Community check it out at: 

www.vividartistspaces.org  

For an application contact them at: vividartistspaces@gmail.com 

Application fee is $20 and space rental is $2/square foot per month. It opens in September and so they are looking for artists now. 

It will be the ONLY Artist Collaborative of its kind in Idaho!

The Arts and National Mental Health Awareness

In honor of National Mental Health Awareness Month I'd like to repost video of a performance titled "Integration" by Performance Art Company, MARTEN EVERGREEN (which is Lukas Evergreen and myself) performed live at the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) fundraiser in Boise on May 9, 2015 at the Boise State University SPEC. It was an honor to create this piece specifically for NAMI and to perform it live and every time I rewatch the video I'm reminded of the wonderful work they do advocating for those who live with mental illness and for those are their loved ones. 

"Integration"

performance art piece by

MARTEN EVERGREEN

music by The Irrepressibles

artist statement:

The journey of an individual coming to terms with what's within. 

Discovery. Struggle. Acceptance. Embrace.

This is the dance. 

piece summary:

There is full video below of the performance. 

The music really helped us as a guide for this piece. 

Lisa represents the individual going through the process of discovering who they are. Lukas represents the struggles of life (whether that be mental illness, disorder, addiction, hardships. relational, emotional, spiritual, physical. other's initiated or self initiated.) The individual can experience isolation within the struggle. Whatever life brings or throws (from within, from others) whether good or bad, the individual is forced to deal with/handle it only out of what they are capable. At one point Lisa reaches out and together with Lukas they dance with the paint (representing the individual coming to acceptance of themselves and allowing what life is to integrate with them, becoming more of who they are, accepting who they are, and being who they were meant to be.) We really desired this piece to be able to speak to not only those who struggle with mental illness...but to all of us who live and breathe. For we all have our own journeys within. Integration is accomplished when we allow the struggles we face to guide us to who we were meant to be. 

Thank you again to NAMI for asking Marten Evergreen to be a part of such a wonderful event. We have been honored to come along side you to help raise funds for all you do. And thank you Jessie Nilo for filming our performance.  

FULL VIDEO OF OUR LIVE PERFORMANCE:   

Marten Evergreen at NAMI

Tonight's showing at NAMI was absolutely stunning. Enjoy this video of Marten Evergreen's performance!
Posted by Jessie Nilo on Saturday, May 9, 2015