Feast Mass Grant

My grant proposal to Feast Mass for my photography project about Busa Farm was accepted and I will be presenting it to a room of voters! The person/project with the most votes wins a grant to continue the work on their project. Donations are taken at the door, and those donations go towards the winning project. Your donation at the door also gets you a dinner made from local New England ingredients.

I would love it if you came out (and maybe voted for my project), ate some food, and supported local projects. Spread the word! Invite friends. The more the merrier (and the more the winning project receives).

There are 100 spots at the dinner, email feastmass@gmail.com with your name and the number of guests you are bringing if you would like to reserve a seat.

About Feast:

Feast Mass is a recurring micro-grant giving supper in Boston, MA. We feed people and fund creative, community-based projects.

* Eat a hand-made supper made from New England ingredients.

* Hear proposals from your neighbors about community-based creative projects.

* Vote for the project you want to see put into action.

* The winner receives a grant funded by your dinner ticket.

About my project:

A Farm Year (working title) is a photographic documentary project about Busa Farm in Lexington, MA. Busa Farm has been owned and run by the Busa family since 1919. This current generation's farmer, Dennis, is going to be the last Busa to be able to own and work the land. I am working on documenting the family's last year as farmers from January to December.

The photographs themselves are already being shot and will continue for the duration of the farming year. Once that has concluded, I am looking to put together an exhibition as well as a book of photographs and writings. The writings will be my own observations from shooting the land as well as writing from the family members and community about what having the farm has added to the life of Lexington and surrounding towns. The grant will be used to produce the exhibition: framing, space, publicity, and reception, as well as the book: publication, printing, and marketing.

Event Information:

Feast Mass Dinner

Saturday, May 4th from 7:00-10:00pm

Make Shift Boston

549 Columbus Avenue

Boston, MA 02118

In Response

Dusk, 2011 from Rumination

I was recently contacted about an opportunity to collaborate with local musician Mia Friedman to put together some work that is inspired by her music, and for her to create some music that is inspired by some of my photographs.  The project is called In Response and Mia and I will be the first featured artists to kick the series off.

Here's some press information about the project:

In Response pairs local emerging artists and musicians together for a series of events that celebrates the artistic process; to share their work and sources of inspiration and to in turn, to become sources of inspiration for one another. This unique collaboration captures the creative process, and illuminates the path that ideas take as they come into fruition. By sharing existing works, notebook sketches and demo recordings, these artists and musicians will gain insights on another’s method of working, and engage in a new process together. In Response culminates in a series of Sunday afternoon exhibitions and performances at the Lilypad in Cambridge, showcasing new works guided by the lyrics, colors, sounds, textures, and shapes of their partner’s endeavors. 

Each Sunday between April 21 and May 12 features an opening by different artist and musician pair. Doors open 3:00 PM on the day of show, with performances beginning at 3:30 PM. Exhibitions will be on view throughout the week. 

Please come join me if you are in the Cambridge, MA area on Sunday, April 21st!  Snacks and beverages are being provided by 1369 Coffeehouse and Curtis Street Bakers and there is a suggested donation of $5-10.  The series was curated by Leah Hennessy and funded in part by an EM grant from the New England Conservatory.

In Response

Opening: April 21st, 3:00-5:00 pm

Lilypad

1353 Cambridge St

Cambridge, MA 02139

On the Farm

Life in the greenhouse from a few weeks ago; little baby plants.  I think that if I time traveled and told me-from-4-years-ago that I'd be tromping around in the mud, sitting with goats, counting down the days until the farmer's market opens for the season, tending to my own world of plants in my apartment, and spending time being happy on a farm, I would not have believed it.  But all of those things are true.

I've done a lot of work in the past 7 years that has been so tied up in my own head and in my own life that it's so freeing feeling to be able to just go outside and look at things growing and make work that is less entangled in my personal life.

The life outside the greenhouse has been slow.  We've had unexpected bursts of snowstorms this past month and the ground is just beginning its thaw.  I would imagine that Dennis is planning to start moving some of the seedlings out into the ground by the end of the month once the threat of frost has passed.  One of the goats is scheduled to give birth at the beginning of May and I would love to be there for that.  The hanging geraniums have bloomed and its almost farm stand time.