Jane Ingram Allen will be the first artist-in-residence at Boston Harbor Islands National Park, Peddock’s Island, from August 17-24, 2016. This residency project is supported by the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Foundation, and Carolyn Lewenberg is the Artist in Residency Coordinator. it is hoped that this pilot artist- in-residency project will lead to an ongoing program of artists working as artists in residence on the Boston Harbor Islands. There are 34 islands in the park, and most of them are accessible by public ferry boats from Long Wharf in Boston and other spots.

Jane Ingram Allen is an international artist with a specialty in hand papermaking and environmental art using local natural materials and sustainable processes. Most recently Jane has been an artist-in-residence at Fire Island National Park, NY, and at Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, with a Fulbright grant. Jane has also been awarded grants for artist residency projects in Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Nepal, Brazil, China and Tanzania as well as many places in the USA such as the Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Lancaster, CA. the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, Otis, Oregon, the Museum of American Bird Art at Mass Audubon, Canton, MA, and the Queens Botanical Garden, NYC.

While staying on Peddock’s Island Jane will create a public participation installation using handmade paper made from local invasive plant materials such as Phragmites leaves and Oriental Bittersweet vines. Her installation will raise awareness about invasive plants and focus on the endangered birds of Peddock’s Island, such as the Least Tern, American Oystercatcher, Double-crested Cormorant, Black-Crowned Night Heron, and others that are on the priority species list.

During the residency Jane will engage visitors of all ages in hand papermaking workshops to create handmade paper bird shapes for a collaborative art installation titled “Peddock’s Island Birds”. Public participation workshops will be Saturday, August 20 and Sunday, August 21, from 10AM to 12 Noon and 2PM to 4 PM each day. The artist will set up a temporary papermaking studio near the Visitor Center on Peddock’s Island. The handmade paper birds created in the public workshops will become part of the finished art installation that will be donated to the national park.

During the week of August 17-24, the artist will also have Open Studio times, and the public is invited to come meet the artists and help with the papermaking during posted times. Look for the “Open Studio” signs near the ferry landing at Peddock’s Island.

The artist will also give a brief informal presentation about the artist-in-residency project from 2-4 PM at Christopher Columbus Park, Boston, in conjunction with the day-long national park celebration of 150 Years of the nation’s national parks. Come to visit Jane in her tent at the festival and see her finished art installation “Peddock’s Island Birds” and also view the sample book of handmade paper created from invasive plants of Peddock’s Island.

Watch this Blog for updates and photos of Jane’s artist in residency on Peddock’s Island from August 17 – 24, 2016. Photos on this Blog are by Jane’s husband Timothy  S. Allen (http://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com)

The Fire Island National Seashore Artist in Residency Exhibition is now on view at the Patchogue – Watch Hill Ferry Station in Patchogue, NY.  Jane Ingram Allen was one of the 5 artists selected for a two-week artist in residency at Fire Island National Seashore during 2015. The 2015 AIR Exhibition is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from June 26 to July 24, 2016.   See the website at https://www.nps.gov/fiis/learn/news/find-your-park-through-art-at-fire-island-national-seashore.htm for all the details about this exhibition.
Jane has two installations on view in this group exhibition at the Watch Hill Ferry Station gallery.

“Piping Plovers” is a suspended installation featuring multiple bird forms joined in a net of natural string and seaweed. The piping plover is an endangered species on Fire Island, and the park service has been protecting nesting sites for this species.

Jane’s “Fire Island Site Map” is a very long hanging conceptual map of Fire Island made with handmade paper created from Fire Island plant waste materials and dried on the sand dunes to get some handmade “sandpaper”. The pieces of paper are joined with natural thread and have bits of feathers, leaves and petals in the handmade paper map that is in the shape of the long barrier island.

Jane was an artist in residence at Fire Island National Seashore during the month of September 2015 and created her mixed media installation artworks with handmade paper that she created on site from plant waste materials found on the island. She cooperated with the park rangers and staff to collect old leaves and trimmed branches from some of the invasive plants and other common plants that were dying back at the end of the season. While there Jane cooked and prepared the paper pulp from local plants such as Phragmites (common reed) and Beach grass leaves and eel grass (a type of seaweed) that washed up on shore at Fire Island. J

Other works in the AIR Exhibition include those by three other artists in residence during 2015 at Fire Island National Seashore.  The exhibit features the works of mixed media artist Anna Golici, painter Amanda Kavanagh, and poet Anthony DiMatteo, as well as the two installations by Jane Ingram Allen. The artists’ unique interpretations reflect their uninterrupted two-week exploration of Fire Island National Seashore.

The coordinator for the Fire Island National Seashore Artist in Residency Program, Dawn Lee, organized and curated this exhibition that will remain on view through July 24, 2016.  Patchogue, NY, is located on the south shore of Long Island, and just across the water from this small city via a short ferry ride is Fire Island National Seashore.  To reach the Watch Hill Ferry Terminal in Patchogue, take the Long Island Railroad from Penn Station to Patchogue, and then walk a short block to the terminal. Fire Island National Seashore is a beautiful place to enjoy the beach, outdoor hiking and rustic camping so very close, yet far away from the bustle of NYC.

Jane Ingram Allen will teach a papermaking art workshop this summer at Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village, Nevada, on beautiful Lake Tahoe. The week-long workshop July 25-29 will be a fun opportunity to hone papermaking skills in Eastern and Western techniques and focus on eco-art with hand papermaking for outdoor and indoor installations using seeds in the handmade paper pulp to grow and change over time. For more information and to register for the workshop see the website at http://www.sierranevada.edu/academics/summer-art-workshops-2/Jane-Ingram-Allen/
Jane is happy to answer any questions by email or comments on this Blog. Jane’s email is info@janeingramallen.com

If you have never been to Sierra Nevada College Summer Workshops Jane can assure you that it is a fun and creative place with great opportunities for learning something new and making new contacts as well as creating some art of your own.  This will be the 3rd summer that Jane has taught at Sierra Nevada.  You couldn’t find a more beautiful and inspiring place for an art workshop, especially one centered on eco-art.

Jane just completed an eco-art outdoor public art installation in Lancaster, CA, with support from WEAD and working with the Lancaster Museum of Art and History.  Here are some photos of Jane’s Lancaster Eco-Quilt when it was installed on March 12 at Hull Park in Lancaster.  Keep checking this Blog for updated photos as the handmade paper quilt dissolves into compost and the wildflower seeds in the pulp sprout and how into a blooming bed of California golden poppies and California Blue Bells with white borders of Baby’s Breath and white poppies.  Jane will go to Taiwan for two environmental art projects April – June and will return to CA for the summer workshop at Lake Tahoe, July 25-29. She is ooking forward to a wonderful time at Sierra Nevada College Summer Workshops with a great group of congenial and creative artists.

Hope to see you there!  Contact Jane by email (info@janeingramallen.com) for more information or sign up at the Sierra Nevada College Summer Workshops site:  http://www.sierranevada.edu/academics/summer-art-workshops-2/jane-ingram-allen/

The 2016 Keelung International Marine Environmental Art Project opened in Taiwan on June 5, 2016.  For photos of the finished artworks by the 7 artists I selected for the 2016 project, see the Blog at http://nmmstartproject.wordpress.com

A big thank you to the staff of the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology and to the Keelung City Bureau of Cultural Affairs.  The artists all did a great job creating their works during the 25 day residency in Keelung, and the works will remain on view around the Musuem’s grounds all summer.

I am back in the USA now and planning art projects in California and in Boston later this summer.  I will teach a papermaking art class at Sierra Nevada College, on Lake Tahoe from July 25-29, 2016.  See the college’s summer workshop site at http://www.sierranevada.edu/academics/summer-art-workshops-2/jane-ingram-allen/

To learn more about the workshop, email me at info@janeingramallen.com

It will be great fun to make paper at beautiful Lake Tahoe and use seeds in the paper pulp to grow flowers, feed the birds or otherwise transform over time.  We will learn how to make paper from local plant materials and other purchased pulps using Asian and Western papermaking techniques as well as creating an outdoor collaborative sculpture installation on the shores of Lake Tahoe.  Here are some photos of my installation “Lancaster Eco-Quilt” using seeds in a handmade paper quilt that I created as an artist in residence in March 2016 at the Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Lancaster, CA.

   At the Sierra Nevada College workshops students can explore and create together in a supportive and fun atmosphere in a beautiful place.  Hope you can join this workshop titled “Papermaking – Seed the Future”.

I am in Keelung, Taiwan, now for curating the 2016 Keelung International Marine Environmental Art Project.  We have 7 international artists creating site specific environmental outdoor sculpture installations around the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology in Keelung, the port city on the northeast coast of Taiwan.

The 2016 Keelung artists are Ester Fabregat – Spain, Tsuneo Sekiguchi – Japan, Steve McPherson – UK, Piotr Wesolowski – Poland, Regine Neumann – Germany, Patrick Demazeau – France and Yi-chuian Li – Taiwan.

Take a look at the Blog at http://nmmstartproject.wordpress.com

There you can see photos of the artists and the artworks being created now in Keelung.

The artists are all making good progress on their large sculpture installations on the theme of “Envisioning the Future of Our Oceans.  Our Opening Day celebration is Sunday, June 5 at the NMMST in Keelung.  The artworks will remain on view until August 2016 or until they biodegrade.

 This photo shows the 2016 artists with a local bamboo master who showed the international artists some different ways to work with bamboo!

Jane Ingram Allen will be in Taiwan from April 7 to June 7, 2016, curating international environmental art projects.  The artists Jane selected for the two projects will be coming to Taiwan for 25-day residencies in Cheng Long Wetlands, Cheng Long village in rural Yunlin County, Taiwan, and in the northeastern port city of Keelung, Taiwan, at the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology. For more information about the Cheng Long Wetlands art project check out the Blog at http://artproject4wetland.wordpress.com and for the Keelung International Marine Environmental Art Project, please visite the Museum’s website at http://www.nmmst.gov.tw and the new Blog for the Keelung project at http://nmmstartproject.wordpress.com

The 5 artists Jane selected for the Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project will come to Cheng Long village from April 7 to May 2 to create their site specific artworks using natural and recycled biodegradable materials and sited in the Cheng Long Wetlands.  The 2016 Cheng Long artists are Chris Lee – Taiwan; Claudia Aranmovich – Argentina; Elena Redelli – Italy; Justin Tyler Tate – Canada; and Amarsaikhan Namsraijav – Mongolia.  Omar’s sketch Justin’s sketch   Elena’s sketch  Claudia’s sketch  Chris’s sketch

The 7 artists chosen for the Keelung international marine environmental art project in 2016 are Ester Fabregas – Spain; Li Yi-shuian – Taiwan; Patrick Demazeau – France; Regine Neumann – Germany; Steve McPherson – UK and Tsuneo Sekiguchi – Japan.  They will be creating outdoor sculpture installations about the ocean environment around the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology from May 12 to June 6, 2016.

  Ester’s sketch  Yi-shuian’s sketch  Patrick’s sketch Piotr’s sketch  Regine’s sketch  Steve’s sketch  Tsuneo’s sketch

Between the two projects Jane is curating in Taiwan, she will go to Bali for an artist in residency at the Bali Purnati Center for the Arts near Ubud on the island of Bali in Indonesia.  Jane did her papermaking art with plants from Bali during a residency there in 2009, and she will return to Bali Purnati from May 3 to May 11, 2016, to do some sketching and planning for new works.

Jane will go back to the USA on June 7, 2016 after the project in Keelung.  Keep checking this Blog for updates on the two projects in Taiwan and Jane’s own work in Bali.

Jane Ingram Allen finished her artist in residency project in Lancaster, CA, on Saturday March 12, 2016, with the installation of the Lancaster Eco-Quilt.  This public art project was completed during Jane’s one month artist-in-residency at the Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Cedar Center for the Arts.    

At a public ceremony on Saturday, local participants laid down the 20 squares of the handmade paper quilt created with community participation during the residency.  The Lancaster Eco-Quilt has seeds for wildflowers in the paper pulp and was placed on a prepared bed of soil.  A headboard and footboard of local willow branches was created by the artist with the help of local participants.  The quilt is in three colors and the gold poppy flowers in the quilt pattern have seeds for California poppies in the pulp.  In the blue parts of the quilt blocks there are seeds for California bluebells, and in the white parts there are seeds to grow white poppies and Baby’s Breath wildflowers.  Several children and families helped to install the Lancaster Eco-Quilt and stake down the handmade paper quilt with leaves from a dead Joshua Tree.  Here are some photos of the installation of the Lancaster Eco-Quilt.

  Here’s a photo of all the volunteers who helped install the Lancaster Eco-Quilt.  Thank you everyone!

The Lancaster Eco-Quilt will continue on view at Hull Park in Lancaster, California.  Hull Park is located on West 20th Street near the intersection of Avenue L-8.   Over time the handmade paper will dissolve into mulch and the wildflower seeds sprout and grow to bloom in the quilt pattern.  Local people will send Jane photos of the changes over time to post on this Blog.  Here are some photos showing the quilt being installed and the finished installation on March 12.  The photos here are by Timothy S. Allen (http://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com

Jane’s residency in Lancaster was supported by WEAD (Women Eco-Artist Dialog (www.weadartists.org) and the Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Cedar Center for the Arts (www.lancastermoah.org)

Jane Ingram Allen’s WEAD Artist in Residency Project in Lancaster, CA continues this Saturday, March 5, with a Public Workshop at the site for the Lancaster Eco-Quilt at Hull Park, 30th Street West and Avenue J-8, Lancaster. The Public Workshop will be to build a headboard and footboard for the “flower bed” using local branches and all natural local materials. The Workshop will be Saturday, May 5 from 11AM to 1 PM and then from 3 PM to 5 PM at Hull Park.

Jane looking at “flower bed” of soil prepared for the Lancaster Eco-Quilt.

Hull Park Staff helps to prepare the site for the Eco-Quilt and puts a protective fence around the site.

You can see the “bed” is already taking shape as the park’s maintenance crew took up the grass at the selected site and put in some soil to shape a bed and then erected a temporary fence around the area to protect it until the artwork is installed. Come out this Saturday to help build the headboard and footboard using local branches and all biodegradable natural materials.

Everyone is also invited to come out to Hull Park next Saturday, March 12, 2-4 PM to help install the handmade paper quilt with seeds in the pulp to grow California Poppies, California Blue Bells and Baby’s breath wildflowers.  The Lancaster Eco-Quilt is all biodegradable and will produce new life as the all biodegradable quilt dissolves and the seeds start to sprout, grow and bloom.

Jane laying borders for the quilt at Cedar Arts Center.

Keep looking at this Blog to see more photos and posts about Jane’s artist in residency  project with the Lancaster Museum of Art and History Cedar Center for the Arts and WEAD (Women Eco Artists Dialog at http://www.weadartists.org). Photos here are by Timothy S. Allen (http://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com).

The Lancaster MOAH Cedar Arts Center and WEAD artist in residency project in Lancaster, CA, continues with community participation in papermaking workshops to create the quilt block for the Lancaster Eco-Quilt. The blocks are each 20 inches square and composed of 4 sheets of 8-1/2 x 11 inch pieces of paper.  Each sheet of paper has an image of a California golden poppy flower with a blue background. The borders of the quilt are 4 inches wide and made with a natural off-white paper pulp made from local plants mixed with some abaca. The yellow-orange poppy paper made from local plants mixed with some abaca and dyed with non-toxic liquid fiber reactive dye has seeds for California golden poppies and a mix of Southwest yellow wildflowers in it. The blue colored pulp made from recycled blue jeans and mixed with local plant pulps and dyed abaca pulp has seeds for California desert bluebells and a mix of Southwest blue flowers in it. The white borders have seeds for Baby’s Breath (small white flowers) and for Ivory Castle Poppies, a white poppy.

Here are some photos of making the Eco-Quilt squares. The design is made with stencils on the paper moulds, and we have 3 different design stencils. Each quilt block is unique as people decorated them in different ways and combined the three stencils in their own way. The public workshop on Saturday, Feb. 27 was a fun day of papermaking for the public to help create the quilt blocks for the Lancaster Eco-Quilt. We even had some parents and children come in to make some paper for the quilt squares.

This coming Saturday, May 5, Jane will have a public workshop at Hull Park in Lancaster, at the site near the children’s play area where the Lancaster Eco-Quilt will be installed. Hull Park is located on West 30th Street and Avenue J-8 in Lancaster. Everyone is invited to come to Hull Park this Saturday March 5 from 11AM to 1 PM and 3PM to 5 PM for a public workshop to help make the headboard and footboard for the “flower bed” where the Lancaster Eco Quilt will be installed. The public installation ceremony for the Lancaster Eco-Quilt will be on Saturday, March 14, 2 – 4 PM at Hull Park in Lancaster, CA.

Check back here to see more photos and get updates on the progress of the Lancaster Eco-Quilt. The photos here are by Timothy S. Allen (http://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com).

Jane Ingram Allen’s month-long residency in Lancaster is sponsored by WEAD (Women Eco Artists Dialog: http://www.weadartists.com), and this is a project of the Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Cedar Center for the Arts, Lancaster, CA (www.lancastermoah.org ).

This week I have been busy using local plants to make handmade paper for the Lancaster Eco-Quilt Project sponsored by WEAD (www.weadartists.org) and the Lancaster Museum of Art & History. For more information about programs and exhibitions at MOAH and Cedar Center for the Arts in Lancaster, CA, take a look at the website for the Museum: http://lancastermoah.org and the Cedar Arts Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MOAHCEDAR

The plants here in the “high desert” area are challenging to use for hand papermaking, but the results are exciting and surprising. I am making a recipe book with samples for the plants I have used for papermaking in Lancaster. These are the local plants I have used for papermaking so far:
Joshua tree – leaves

Joshua Tree in Lancaster

California fan palm – leaves

Fan Palm tree in Lancaster

Red Yucca – leaves

Red yucca plants from the AVRCD Nursery in Lancaster

Eucalyptus, red gum – bark

Eucalyptus, red gum tree found at AVRCD Nursery in Lancaster

California Juniper, Western white cedar – bark

California Juniper tree or Western white cedar in Lancaster

Needle Grass – leaves

Needle Grass growing by lamp posts in downtown Lancaster

Rabbit brush – whole plant (only bark is useable)

Rabbit Brush growing in vacant lot in Lancaster

On Saturday Feb. 20, I conducted a workshop with public participation for learning how to make paper from local plants. People enjoyed the process including gathering some local plants, cooking the plant materials, beating the cooked and washed plant material to a pulp with wooden hammers and then using a kitchen blender to finish the pulp preparation. The prepared pulp was then put into a tub of water, and participants made samples of the different plant papers. The samples of the local plant paper will be for the Lancaster papermaking plants recipe book and also used for the border of the eco-quilt.

Here are some photos of the process of making paper with local plants and the Saturday 2/20  workshop at Cedar Arts. The photos were taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen (http://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com).

Participant gathering Needle grass to make paper on 2/20

Cedar bark cooking to make paper pulp

Beating fan palm leaves after cooking and wasshing

Workshop participant on 2/20 beating pulp by hand

Participant beating fan palm pulp at the 2/20 papermaking with local plants workshop

4 year old workshop participant beating pulp on 2/20

Forming a sheet of fan palm paper

Taking off (couching) the sample sheet of fan palm paper

Workshop participant making fan palm paper on 2/20

Air drying fan palm paper samples

Taking off dried samples of Joshua tree paper

Checking sample of rabbit brush handmade paper…this one is almost impossible, and there is very little useable pulp from the rabbit brush plant.

This Saturday, Feb. 27 from 11AM to 1 PM and 3PM to 5PM,  I will hold another public workshop at Cedar Center for the Arts, Lancaster, CA. Participants will make handmade paper quilts blocks for the Lancaster Eco-Quilt.   Here is a photo of the sketch for the Lancaster Eco-Quilt with the blocks featuring California poppies.  

For more information about the workshop and this project, see the Facebook page for MOAH Cedar – https://www.facebook.com/MOAHCEDAR

Check back here for more posts about the Lancaster Eco-Quilt project and photos of my WEAD Artist in Residency Project at MOAH Cedar, Lancaster, CA. The project concludes with the installation of the Eco-Quilt on Saturday March 12.