Maxim Schmidt
Sunday, February 5 @ 2 pm
Part of our ongoing Zine Workshop series, organized by zinester Alice Prael
Explore new ways to approach collage with local artist and ECOCA Gallery Coordinator Maxim Schmidt!
Sunday, January 29 @ 2 pm
Part of our ongoing Zine Workshop series, led by zinester Alice Prael
Share your favorite zines and zine sources with fellow collectors!
Learn the ins-and-outs of NFTs in this workshop with local artist Raheem Nelson!
Artist Yvonne Shortt would love to archive a story about you, your art practice, or just your relationship with art. Come sit and tell a story and together create a handle for a small Afro pick using clay or she can create one based on your story.
Our July 25 public hours are jam-packed with programming! Join artists like Janet Warner for an open studio visit, or participate in any of the workshops/events below!
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Cyanotype Workshop with Leah Caroline
Thursday July 25, 5 PM weather permitting*
Cyanotypes, also known as sun prints or blueprints, is an early form of photography. The process, which utilizes sunlight, is relatively simple and very rewarding. Participants will create their own cyanotype using plants, objects, or acetate negatives. All materials will be provided.
Leah Caroline, a New Haven artist, was raised in the Chassidic community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She works with cyanotype printing, digital media, and installation—documenting nature and Jewish texts. Her exhibits include solo exhibitions and a commission by Artspace Inc. for site-responsive work for City Wide Open Studios in New Haven, CT. She was an artist in residence at Weir Farm in Wilton, CT; Art Kibbutz on Governors Island; and currently at ECOCA in New Haven. I also worked on a collaborative video animation with Jeremy S Horseman, which was exhibited at the Jerusalem Bienale in 2017.She is the co-founder and artist teacher of the Connecticut Artists’ Beit Midrash and leads art workshops. Caroline lives and works in New Haven, CT with her husband and five children.
* rain date, Thursday August 1
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Barbie’s Wardrobe: A Communal Story Cloth Project with Marsha Borden
Thursday July 25, 5:30 pm - 7 pm
Introduced at the New York Toy Fair on March 9, 1959, Barbie was supposed to represent the idea that women had choices, to tell “the little girl [that she] could be anything she wanted to be,” her creator, Ruth Handler, has said. By dressing and styling Barbie, we could become many things – a fashion model or a homemaker, yes, but also an astronaut, a world traveler, an Olympic athlete or a rock star.
In her original form, Barbie was a white female with large breasts, tiny waist and impeccable features. Her clothes fit perfectly. Newer versions are more diverse – curvy body shapes, 7 skin tones and 33 hairstyles (including an afro), but Barbie still retains a taint of controversy. What of the objectification of women? The unattainable body image? The stereotypical “rules” about who gets to play with Barbie? Do we need to resolve our feelings about any of this or can we simply enjoy Barbie with all her contradictions and complications?
On Thursday, July 25, 5:30 – 7 p.m., join Marsha Borden to discuss, reminisce, play, and weave a story cloth with vintage Barbie clothing. Dolls, clothing, and accessories provided.
Marsha is a visual artist who is currently experimenting with cloth, stitch and vintage textiles. Her work applies needle and thread to repurposed fabric and is slow and contemplative. She is interested in the individual story narratives hidden within cloth and clothing.
If you have a trove of Barbie, Ken, and/or Skipper doll clothes that you would like to donate to a project that pays homage to Barbie, please speak to Marsha or email marsha@marshmakes.com. Feel free to also bring your own Barbie clothing to add to our communal weaving project.
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Fruitage of The Spirit with Saron Garnes
Thursday July 25, 5 -8 pm
A clothing swap & collection for Garnes’ summer residency project, complete with art & refreshments! A brief fashion show of selected garments will be presented in the backyard at the end of the swap.
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The Gorilla Campaign Project with Stephanie Lush-Mastriano
Thursday July 25, 5 -8 pm
The goal of “The Gorilla Campaign Project” is to get younger and older artists/ audiences to connect through the history of 80s and 90s hip-hop and punk rock music and art culture, recognizing and appreciating its influence on modern pop culture today, while embracing the Gorilla as a marketing mascot. Related art-based activities will be available.
Join artist Briah Luckey where together we will create a one-of-a-kind printed tapestry using a variety of seaweeds. Briah will guide participants in communally making an art fabric using printmaking and silk painting techniques.
Briah Luckey’s work is currently on view at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art as part of the Sea & Soil exhibit. She was featured in the 2001 issue of Connecticut Magazine as one of 30 influential people under 40 because of her vision to use art to create community connection. She has exhibited her own art locally in Connecticut, in New York City, and in Washington, DC, with a feature in the Connecticut section of The New York Times.
with Aly Maderson Quinlog
$5 suggested donation
RAIN DATE: June 16th
The history of using cyanotypes for scientific study is a often overlooked piece of art history. The first book ever printed with photography was the 19th century botanist Anna Atkin’s study of British Algaes. In this workshop, folks will get to make cyanotypes with seaweed, and as a group we will create a unique collaborative mural made with our bodies, hand knitted nets, seaweed, and lace.
On Wednesday, March 27 at 6:30 pm, join Dana Savo & Lynne Grobsky at ECOCA to learn about techniques in Oral Tradition. In conjunction with Our Bodies Ourselves
Free!
RSVP by email: worthingtonluck@gmail.com
In this casual skill share we will discuss the history of zines, self publishing, and book arts. Participants will learn to make, design, and publish their own mini zine (also called a one-pager). We will use simple materials to collage, draw, and write our own publications. Participants will also have fun creating their own press names and logos. ALL AGES and EXPERIENCES WELCOME!
The Center for Contemporary Printmaking is hosting a printmaking workshop at the Ely Center on November 4 from 1-3 PM. Use vintage letter type fonts to print your own protest posters on paper, tote bags, or t-shirts!
Supplies will be provided. This workshop is free and open to the public.
Miggs Burroughs is hosting a workshop on lenticulars on Sunday, October 14th from 1-4 PM. This event is free and will work as a drop-in workshop. Moms Demand Action will also have a table set up during the event.
This two-hour workshop will focus on the construction of origami corrugations, interesting mountainous paper forms that capture shadows in an impressive manner and have several applications outside of the paper arts.
No origami background needed, just an appreciation for paper and its many forms of manipulation.
Learn more about Ben's unique paper corrugation art by visiting his website.
$20/person
Limited to 20 people
No materials needed—all materials supplied
TODAY—DON'T MISS IT!
All are welcome, you don't not need to be an artist to participate in at this event.
This is not a directed class, we will only provide the models.
You don't have to be an artist and it's open to all ages!
Please bring your own paper and drawing materials.
1–2 pm | COLOR THEORY EXPLORED
Join A.I.R. painter, Shilo Ratner for a talk about color theory followed by a hands-on workshop. Shilo will introduce participants to the color wheel and discuss color interaction and lead everyone through an exciting collage project. No fee to participate. Materials provided.
Join our Facebook Group!
ECOCAhappenings@groups.facebook.com
elycenter.org
A participatory drop-in workshop with artist Alexandra Rutsch Brock as part of A.I.R. collective Nasty Women CT Film Fest. Come and decorate a ceramic vagina sculpture to add to our collaborative wall installation. Alexandra, who originally exhibited a version of this project last year for the Nasty Women Exhibition, has generously agreed to make 200 small ceramic (and already fired) vagina sculptures for you to paint, embellish and bedazzle.
Details: $20 donation to Planned Parenthood gets you two (2) sculptures to decorate so you can keep one and add one to the community installation. We hope to sell these artworks at our closing reception on November 17 and donate proceeds to Planned Parenthood.
2–3 pm | CONVERSATION: ART AND ACTIVISM
A presentation by Planned Parenthood in conjunction with Nasty Women CT We Grab Our Own participatory workshop.
Join our Facebook Group!
ECOCAhappenings@groups.facebook.com
elycenter.org
ECOCA will be participating in the Whitney-Audubon Retail & Arts District Presents Fall Free For All – A Taste of the Arts. Joan Fitzsimmons will be running a Photogram/Cyanotype Workshop inspired by the gelatin silver print photograms and paper sun prints used in Karen Ostrom's piece, Periodically.
For more info on Fall Free for All: http://newhavenarts.org/fallfreeforall/
View images from the workshop:
Visual artist, textile designer, and weaving instructor Ruben Marroquin invites attendees of all ages and abilities to the experience the unique joys of textile art and introductory weaving technique.
Christine Tinsley will share her practice with participants, guiding them through a “Purell transfer” process that transfers images to her handmade paper in unique, evocative, and sometimes surprising ways!
Visual artist, textile designer, and weaving instructor Ruben Marroquin invites attendees of all ages and abilities to the experience the unique joys of textile art and introductory weaving technique.
Featured artist Dooley-O, a hip hop and graffiti artist and the mastermind DJ/producer behind the Back Room, highlights the powerful contributions of graffiti to the exhibit and to our daily landscape in the city of New Haven.
Featured artists Stanwyck Cromwell and Moussa Gueye will lead participants through a collage workshop.
LOREN BRITTON. Write, EveryBody (!)
Artist talk and workshop
Friday, June 9
6 – 8 pm
Explore the tools in this workshop that can help you breathe deeper, walker farther, listen more patiently, speak more boldly, and imagine more complexly. Together we’ll work on body conditioning, body organization, breathing, speech, listening, playfulness, and stretch our creative muscles and minds.
