Here are some of the art projects I am currently participating in and some that are coming up soon, as we venture forth from the pandemic and quarantine.

Hello World is an international online art exhibition and art project by TransCultural Exchange in Boston, MA. This international art project was conceived and curated by artist/curator Mary Sherman. This pandemic art project was conceived as a way to bring together artists from various countries around the world to share what they are doing and continue international cultural exchange travel during this time of the pandemic. This art project will be online indefinitely, and here is a link to my contribution for this project (click on the far-right photo in the second line):
https://transculturalexchange.org/activities/hw/projects.htm

California Petals is a public art installation I created in August 2020 for a downtown storefront window in Santa Rosa, CA, and it can be viewed at any time from now to October 15, 2020. My installation is part of the Santa Rosa Downtown Chamber’s “Open and Out” program of cultural activities in the downtown area to encourage people to stroll around in the “pedestrians only” blocks of Fourth Street where many restaurants and stores are now open for outdoor dining and limited in-person shopping. My art installation is in a vacant storefront window at 620 Fourth Street, and it consists of many giant handmade paper flower petals with seeds for California wildflowers in the pulp. After the installation comes down on October 15, I plan to “plant” these petals in Santa Rosa so that they will change over time, sprout and bloom in colorful wildflowers. Here is a link to my Blog that has more information about “California Petals”: https://www.openandoutsr.com/art/art1-cbcmw

public art installation California Petals in downtown Santa Rosa, CA

Falling Open: On & Off the Page, Themes of Our Time is a group exhibition at Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA, that will be online as well as open for appointment viewing from September 18 to October 15, 2020. This is an invitational exhibition of artworks selected by curator Renee Owen that includes handmade artist books, installations and other works that relate to current environmental, social and pandemic issues. For this exhibition I will be showing a new work titled “Daily Scrolls” created during my first months of pandemic quarantine. This artwork has 91 handmade paper scrolls each with unique text and images that reflect my daily thoughts and experiences during this time. For more information about this exhibition: https://galleryrouteone.org/upcoming-events/

Daily Scrolls paper sculpture

Upcoming Art Projects and Activities

2020 Lucid Art Foundation Alumni Exhibition is an online exhibition of selected works by past artists in residence at the Lucid Art Foundation in Inverness, CA. I was an artist in residence at the Lucid Art Foundation in 2013, and for this exhibition one handmade paper sculpture I made during my 2013 residency and another handmade paper sculpture created this year will be included. The first piece made in 2013 is titled “Feather Duster” and makes use of branches from a local olive tree and handmade paper “feathers” I created from local plants. My other paper sculpture in this exhibition created in 2020 is titled “Paper Poppy” and depicts a giant California golden poppy like those blooming in my yard during the pandemic this Spring. Here is a link to this online exhibition: http://www.lucidart.org/exhibitions#current-exhibitions

Paper Poppy

Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth, Artist in Residency Project, Sacramento, CA is a public art project that will be completed in November 2020 at the Sojourner Truth Community Garden, Sacramento, CA. I was selected for the City of Sacramento’s Artist in Residency Program to create a site-specific art installation at a community garden in the Pocket-Greenhaven area of Sacramento. For this project I had planned public participation activities and workshops, but this has not been possible because of the pandemic. I will create the handmade paper “quilt” in a traditional “North Star” pattern with seeds in the pulp and bring it to Sacramento in November to create a “bed” for the “quilt” and install it at the Sojourner Truth Community Garden where it will transform over time. I will be making Zoom programs for online public participation. For information about the City of Sacramento Artist in Residency program: https://arts.cityofsacramento.org/Programs/Sacramento-AIR See my Blog for updates about this project and the upcoming Zoom programs: https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com

quilt block in “North Star” pattern for Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth in Sacramento, CA

Labor Natur, Haus zur Glocke, Steckborn, Switzerland is an exhibition curated by Judit Villager of works by three international artists who explore connections between art and science and use nature as a laboratory. This exhibition is open to the public in Switzerland from November 21, to December 12, 2020. For this exhibition I will be shipping some of my handmade paper “site maps” made in residencies around the world to Switzerland and also creating a new “site map” of the Lake Constance area encompassing Switzerland, Germany and Austria in my Santa Rosa, California, studio. I am doing online research gathering photos and information about plants that are common to northern California and the Steckborn area. Also, Judit Villager is sending me some materials by mail from Switzerland that I can put into the mixed media handmade paper site map. I hope to be able to travel to Switzerland in Spring 2021 for an artist in residency public art project at Haus zur Glocke. For more information about this exhibition in German only: https://www.hauszurglocke.ch/agenda/ausstellung//labor-natur1/
Or see this link in English at my Blog: https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com

Lake Constance Site Map in progress

Papermaking Art Workshops and art consulting sessions in my new Santa Rosa studio will be starting again in 2021. Contact me at info@janeingramallen.com to get the latest information about upcoming classes and individual consulting appointment.

papermaking in my Santa Rosa studio – creating “California Petals”