artHAPPENED March 13th 2009 at Thornes Marketplace and Kirkland Ave

In true artHAPPENING fashion an eclectic mix of impromptu performance, collaborative projects and visual art unfolded amidst the creative chaos of spinning cakes, mesmerizing animations, dancing trucks, personal maps, site-specific dance and costumes for all!

With citizen badges and passports in hand everyone who came contributed to making this a fantastic event! Hundreds of people filled the basement of Thornes Marketplace and Kirkland Avenue where they donned outfits at the transformation station and contributed to art-making stations lead by a dedicated team of artHAPPENING conductors.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating our community and collective creativity! We'll see you at the next artHAPPENING!

Be sure to check photographs of the event on

THANK YOU to all the following community members and businesses for helping to make this artHAPPENING a huge success:

Cornucopia, Northampton Brewery, Our Family Farms & Squash Inc. for donating refreshments The Guild Art Centre, Peter Schlessinger & Reprodepot Fabrics for helping to outfit the artHAPPENING conductors Aliya Bonar & Haley Morgan for tireless commitment and creativity the artHAPPENING Conductors for helping us to create this world. Alan Scheinman, Hampshire Property Managment, James Thompson, Joe Blumenthal & Steve Jasinski for welcoming us into Kirkland Avenue, and especially Thornes Marketplace for donating a fantastic venue!

Welcome to Josh Silver

I'm very pleased to announce that Josh Silver has joined our board. As founder and Director of Free Press, a nationally-respected media reform organization (www.freepress.net), Josh brings a great deal of experience and savvy to the C3 leadership team.

Josh co-founded Free Press with Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols in 2002. As Free Press Executive Director, he oversees all programs, campaigns, fundraising and special projects. Josh previously served as campaign manager for the successful statewide ballot initiative for public funding of elections in Arizona and as the director of development for the cultural arm of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. He has served as the director of an international youth exchange program and as a development and management consultant. Josh publishes frequently on media, campaign finance and other public policy issues. He attended the University of Grenoble, France, and Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

I'm very excited to have Josh join the C3 board at this important juncture in our development. His experience and know how will be incredible assets as we work to open our Nonprofit Center in the coming year. To learn more about Josh and Free Press, check out this article in the Wall Street Journal and this one from the Broadcasting and Cable website.

Welcome Josh!

ART Happening and C3 Fundraiser a Huge Success!

C3's second ART Happening and Fundraiser at the Haymarket Cafe on Friday night was a massive success, raising over $4,000! Hundreds of people crammed their way into the cafe to take in the incredible visual art, join the audience at a raucous reading by some of the area's best up and coming and established spoken word artists, eat delicious food, partake in a glass of wine or two and dance their tails off into the wee hours.

Thanks to all the people who made the event's success possible:

• Everyone who came to the event!!
• The visual artists Tasha Robbins, Dan Towers and Donn Boulanger.
• The spoken word artists Leah Banks, Shira Erlichman, Jamila Gore, Adam Gottlieb, Amina Jordan Mendez, Kerry O'Keefe, Naimah Petigny and Anthony O. Wilson.
• DJs Brando and Douglas Hernandez.
  
• C3 interns Aliya Bonar, Haley Morgan, Sophie Wood and Elisa Loeser.
• C3 Board members Juan Carlos Aguilar, Norma Akamatsu, Andrea Ayvazian, Lori Divine-Hudson, Jennifer Ladd, Gina Nortonsmith, Jeff Rosen, Peter Simpson and Ruth Trujillo-Acosta.
  
• storefront ART curatorial committee members Oceanna Shawanda, Jennifer Orozco, Megan LaBonte and Derek Goodwin.
• All the volunteers who helped cover all the bases on Friday night!
• A big thanks to C3 Program Director Julia Handschuh who worked incredibly hard to pull it all together!

Thanks to storefront ART funders and supporters:

• The Northampton Arts Council
• The Art Angels
• A.P.E.
  

Thanks to storefront ART partner the Northampton Center for the Arts

Thanks to our event sponsors:

• The Northampton Brewery
• Spoleto
  
• Sierra Grille
• Martignetti Liquors
• And a huge thanks to event host, the Haymarket Cafe and its owner and C3 board member Peter Simpson, who made such a huge investment of time, money and resources in helping make this event so successful.

All of these people, organizations and local businesses did their part to help make our ART Happening and C3 fundraiser successful beyond our wildest expectations. If you were a part of it--Thank you! If you could not make it, it's not too late to show your support for C3. Please visit our website today and make a donation. Your contribution will help C3 as we work to strengthen our community by supporting local nonprofits and artists! Thank you!

Welcome to Lori Divine-Hudson

On behalf of the C3 Board and staff, I'm very pleased to announce that Lori Divine-Hudson has joined our Board of Directors. Our board just keeps getting stronger, and with the addition of Lori, we have gained an articulate, enthusiastic advocate of the C3 vision, who also has deep experience in board leadership and a long commitment to the Northampton community.

Lori Divine-Hudson has lived in Northampton for almost thirty years and has served on numerous boards during that time, including the Veteran's Education Project, Congregation B'nai Israel and the Guild Studio School. She actively supports many nonprofit groups whose emphasis is on arts, women, peace and social justice. Lori is a physical therapist, has a Masters in Education and is an eternal student of art. She has four grown kids, two grandchildren and two wacky and lovable dogs.

We're very excited that Lori has joined our board--hers will be a strong voice on our board and in our community for the C3 vision, for progressive social change and for the importance of art. Welcome Lori!

Welcome to Jeff Rosen!

On behalf of the C3 Board and staff, I'm very pleased to announce that Jeff Rosen has joined our Board of Directors. Jeff brings a great deal of experience in financial management, both in the for profit and nonprofit worlds, and he will help C3 establish effective and transparent financial systems that are powerful and highly useful.

Jeff Rosen lives in Leeds, MA with his wife and three young children. He serves as the director of Finance and Administration for the Solidago Foundation. Prior to working for Solidago, Jeff worked for more than 20 years in the food sector, owning his own businesses and serving as a senior financial officer for national restaurant chains. In addition, he has worked for several food sector focused nonprofits, including the New Alchemy Institute. He is currently active with a broad coalition of organizations in the Pioneer Valley, working to rebuild the local food system by investing in sustainable agriculture infrastructure projects. Jeff is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and has a Masters of Resource Economics from the University of Maine. Jeff is an adjunct faculty member in the Green MBA program at Antioch College of New England and teaches Tai Chi in the Northampton area.

We are so excited that Jeff has joined our team, and he will help our Board provide experienced and dynamic leadership to the C3 project. Welcome Jeff!

Preparing for the polls?
Join fellow Florence Savings Bank Customers and vote to support C3 today!

Florence Savings Bank is donating $50,000 to local, non-profit organizations and you get to decide where the money will go. The amount that C3 receives will be determined by the number of community votes C3 receives. Simply click on the link above and enter: 'Commonwealth Center for Change, 126 Main St. Northampton, Ma' into the electronic ballot.

Voting ends December 31, 2008.
Submit your vote today!

Storefront ART Hosts 2nd ARThappening

at the Haymarket Café

Friday November 14th, from 8pm-2am, Commonwealth Center for Change's Storefront ART program will host its second ARThappening at the Haymarket Café at 185 Main St. in Northampton.

Visual and interactive art, poetry and spoken word-not to mention world funk, hip hop, salsa, merengue and live Jazz-will come together for an incredible night of art, food, music, dancing and fun at storefront ART's November ARThappening!

Picking up where Arts Night Out leaves off, storefront ART will once again create a vibrant space for artists and the community to come together and celebrate the creativity that abounds in Northampton. Come for the poignant words of area poets and the striking imagery of local artists. Stay for the music, dancing and friends.

sliding scale $5-$25 donation at the door
$3 Beer & Wine
All proceeds will benefit Commonwealth Center for Change

The Evening's Schedule:

8pm-9pm - Reception
featuring visual art by Tasha Robbins & Dan Towers, live jazz by The Evolution Trio, and delicious food from Haymarket Cafe
9pm-10pm - Poetry
from Leah Banks, Shira Erlichman, Jamila Gore, Adam Gottlieb, Amina "Illypsis" Nia Jordan-Mendez, Kerry O'Keefe, Niamah Petigny & Anthony O. Wilson
10pm-midnight - World Flight Funk
DJ Brando
midnight-2am - Salsa y Merengue
DJ Douglas Hernandez
All Night - Art
Interactive art with Dana Wilde and Bethann Shannon, outdoor video installation by Lea Donnan, roving NCTV camera crew shooting footage for "Am I Famous Yet?"

Learn more about the participating artists at:
www.commonwealthcenter.org

This ARThappening is on FACEBOOK

still need more information? email julia@commonwealthcenter.org or call: 413.522.1319