Welcome to Andrea Ayvazian!

On behalf of the board and staff of C3, I'm very pleased to announce that Andrea Ayvazian has joined the C3 Board of Directors.

The Rev. Dr. Andrea Ayvazian is the Senior Minister of the Haydenville Congregational Church. She is the former Dean of Religious Life at Mount Holyoke Collge. A long-time activist for peace and social justice, Andrea has been involved in movements for social change since the early 1970s. She is firmly rooted in and dearly loves the Pioneer Valley and has served on numerous boards, councils and advisory groups in the region. She and her partner, Michael Klare, have one son Sasha who went through the Northampton public school system and is now in college.

Andrea brings an amazingly deep experience and wisdom to our board, as well as many years of commitment to movements for social change. Her active and enthusiastic embrace of the C3 vision will help C3 come to life in exciting and sustainable ways, and we are all so happy she has decided to join us! Welcome Andrea!

Storefront ART Launch a Huge Success!

Hundreds of people passed through A.P.E.’s beautiful new Window Gallery on Main St. in Northampton last Friday to take in the visual art and performance of some of the best young artists the valley has to offer in what was a tremendously successful launch of C3’s new Storefront ART program. Northampton art lovers of all ages were treated to an eclectic feast of photography, shadow boxes, sound installation, video installation, dance, hula-hooping, theater and music in an energy-filled celebration of local art and local artists.

Follow this link to see Derek Goodwin’s photographs of the evening. http://derekgoodwin.com/2008/2008/06/16/my-photos-at-the-c3-storefront-art-opening/

It was a lot of fun! And only the beginning—Storefront ART has arrived!

A big thank you goes to everyone who attended the event, both big and small! Your enthusiastic participation made the event a wonderful, exciting success!

Thanks to the intrepid group of artist/curators who worked so hard to make the show happen. Without your energy and imagination, this event would not have happened: Dave Dersham, Martha Fleming-Ives, Derek Goodwin, Julia Handschuh, Megan E. LaBonte, Jenny Orozco, Oceana Shawanda and Brettney Young.

Thanks also to the other artists who showed their work and helped give the evening such wonderful energy: Vanessa Anspaugh and dancers, FemmeAesthetik, Primate Fiasco, Serious Play! Theater Ensemble and Video Vanguards.

And finally, thanks to A.P.E. for so generously donating their gorgeous new gallery space, to the Northampton Center for the Arts for co-sponsoring the event, to YAC and the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce for helping publicize the event, and to the Art Angels for providing financial support.

For more information on Storefront ART, please contact Julia at 413.522.1319 or Julia@commonwealthcenter.org.

Storefront ART on the Radio!

Hey everyone,

We've been blanketing the air waves this week in anticipation of the launch of C3's Storefront ART program this Friday the 13th. Click on the following links to hear us on Bill Dwight's show on WHMP, and Monte Belmonte's show on the River. A big thanks to Bill and Monte for having us on their shows!!

Bill Dwight's show. Scroll down till you get to the June 10th show. Be aware that C3's segment doesn't start till about half way through the show.

Monte Belmonte's show. Just click on the picture of Megan hula hooping to get to the show.

Enjoy! And I hope to see you all Friday night at the Window Gallery!

Storefront ART Launch This Friday!

Friday June 13^th, from 5-8pm, Commonwealth Center for Change will launch its new ‘Storefront ART’ program at A.P.E.’s new Window Gallery at 126 Main St. in Northampton.

A stellar line-up of young local artists will present their work in an evening of dance, theater, folk music, video, photography, painting, installation and drawings, not to mention hula hooping and a wandering brass band!

Featured Artists include:

• visual artists Martha Fleming-Ives, Derek Goodwin, Julia Handschuh, Megan Labonte, Jenny Orozco, Oceana Shawanda and Brettney Young,
• folk singer Dave Dersham,
• modern dancer Vanessa Anspaugh,
• the FemmeAesthetik female hip hop crew,
• Serious Play! Theater Ensemble,
• hula hooper Hoop Master Sass,
• youth video art group Video Vanguards and
• the wandering eclectic brass band, Primate Fiasco.

In between the brief performance sections, artists will be on hand to answer questions and engage with the audience in a social evening designed to encourage interaction and conversation.

Storefront ART is a new Commonwealth Center for Change program that supports local artists by working with building owners to creatively use vacant downtown storefronts as temporary artist studio, gallery and performance space.

Commonwealth Center for Change is a nonprofit that provides office and program space, shared resources and capacity building programs to local progressive nonprofits and artists so they can do their work more sustainably, effectively and collaboratively.

C3 thanks the Northampton Center for the Arts for co-sponsoring this event and A.P.E. for hosting it. We also thank the Center for the Arts, A.P.E., the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce and YAC for helping publicize this event.

For more information, please visit www.commonwealthcenter.org.

C3 Garden Party a Big Success!

An impressive group of community leaders gathered at the home of Lori Divine Hudson this past Sunday to learn more about Commonwealth Center for Change at C3’s Spring Garden Party informational open house. Around 45 people, the majority of them new to the C3 community, came to Lori’s house to learn about C3 and meet other people involved in the project. Although originally planned to take place in Lori’s lovely garden, forecast thunderstorms and temperatures in the very sticky 90s confined the event indoors, where we were all thankful for the air conditioning!

For the first hour guests chatted in small groups, enjoying the wine and beer generously donated by Lori, the fruit, crackers, cheese and other beverages donated by the River Valley Coop and Stop n Shop, and the delicious desserts donated by the Haymarket Café. It was a very pleasant, social way for guests to meet C3 staff, board members, volunteers and each other, and an informal way to be introduced to the C3 vision.

During the second hour guests listened to remarks by Mayor Clare Higgins, founding board member Jo Comerford and myself. After I spoke there was a lengthy question and answer period—I was very pleased by the energy and enthusiasm in the questions, which confirmed for me how exciting the C3 vision is to people and how much need there is for C3 in our community.

On behalf of the C3 staff and board, I want to thank Lori for being such a gracious and generous host, and such a staunch C3 supporter. I also want to thank Mayor Higgins for speaking at our gathering, and for the ongoing support and encouragement C3 receives from her and from the City. Lastly I want to thank our guests for braving the heat and coming out to learn about C3—their presence was energizing and nourishing for all of us at C3, and the generous gifts many of them made will be instrumental in helping the C3 vision become a reality.