Home Sweet Home is our ode to all the unnamed, invisible women who help us create our homes - mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters who honor carry on tradition through everyday labor practices and handiwork.  One of our mothers crocheted the namesake piece, Home Sweet Home, which led us to consider the material evidence of our mothers’ work and love.  Our textile collections of ancestral treasures are displayed in a setting in which they were not intended to be used. Their shadow play and delicate, rhythmic beauty are worthy of contemplation.
 
In May of 2013, we created The Mothering Tree in Downtown San Rafael to honor our maternal ancestors. We invited passersby to write or draw on a tag that was added to the tree. The thousands of multicolored “leaves” were created in the 10 days around Mother’s Day have now taken a new form.  We invite you sit in the hut and revisit what home means to you.  Have a seat, relax, read a question aloud and record a thread from your conversation on the adjacent wall.
 
We are grateful to Art Works Downtown for the unexpected opportunity to use this space – this show was created in five days and is a labor of love.

The show runs from Jan 10th - Feb 11th.  Opening is Friday, January 10th from 5-8pm.  Hope to see you there!

Fortnight is back in the studio with our many helpers sewing the multitude of colorful "leaves" from our Mothering Tree Project. What will they become? 

Find out at our show at Underground Gallery at Art Works Downtown. Opens this Friday, Jan 10th, 5-8PM as part of the Second Friday Art Walk in San Rafael. 

http://www.marinij.com/sanrafael/ci_22868556/dominican-university-photo-project-aims-raise-awareness-about

"The photos of Simon and all the other participants will ultimately take shape as a 10-foot-tall, 80-foot-wide piece of art comprised of 3-by-5-foot posters of each person. The project will remain on the undercrossing for six weeks after the April installation.

Sondag said she hopes the project will generate discussion in the community about the need to provide quality education to everyone. She said the project's site at Bellam Boulevard is symbolic.

"Where it's located, it divides the Canal from other parts of Marin," Sondag said."

Fortnight was proud to host the 3rd annual ArtBreak day this year in downtown San Rafael.  We had over 60 people stop by and make art with us.  Some stayed for only a few minutes while others stayed for hours, literally.  There were two young men, James and Tony, who turned their ArtBreak into an all-day affair.  They had never met but by the end of the day they had developed a bond through their mutual devotion to creating art.

James sat down around 10AM and began working on a drawing of a starfish with oil pastels.  He diligently added all the detailed patterning.  Strangers who sat down at the table where he was working were entranced by his focused and joyful energy.  If they asked him what he was working on, he would hold up his piece and and with a beaming grin.  I was volunteering under the ArtBreak tents for 5 hours and during that time James completed at least six drawings - we were so happy he found us!

Another young man named Tony also spent most of the day with us making art.  He was fastidious and passionate about his work.  He even went back home to brought a set of his favorite markers to share with others.  He began inviting strangers to join him at the table and his enthusiasm was contagious.  James and Tony had totally different artistic styles but there was mutual respect and recognition between them that developed over the course of the day.  They both simply loved to sit and draw and their presence brought a calm to the event which was the tenor of the day.

In addition to the free art making, Fortnight Collective was asking citizens of San Rafael to participate in a project called "Love/Loathe/Long For"  Three giant lists covered one of the tables and people were asked to reflect on how they felt about San Rafael.  What did they love about our city?  What did they loathe?  Long for?  The lists were hung up on a line as a colorful backdrop to ArtBreak Day and later sewn into a large accordion book which is currently being exhibited at on Fourth Street.

The project served as a launching pad for many important conversations that took place over the course of the day about our city and the role that the arts play in it.  Many people commented, "I wish there were opportunities for public dialogue like this," and one woman asked, "How much funding would you need to offer an ArtBreak every week?"  This was valuable feedback for Fortnight as we aim to facilitate civic dialogue through the arts and there is clearly in need in our community.  The book project is ongoing and we hope it will generate more conversations and opportunities to re-imagine San Rafael.  Stay tuned!

Many thanks to the good folks at Art Is Moving Now for the art supplies and support to make this day happen.

Paste up on Fourth Street...

Great press from the Marin IJ!http://www.marinij.com/sanrafael/ci_23173192/honoring-our-maternal-ancestors-at-san-rafaels-mothering

"The Mothering Tree, a seven-foot-tall clutch of reclaimed branches painted gold, was installed in downtown San Rafael on Saturday for people to write notes to their mothers on colorful rice paper "leaves" and tie them to the limbs."

At the intersection of Irwin St. and Francisco Blvd W., the old train tracks remain visible through the pavement. This image is from 2010, when the many shades of gray paint covering graffiti on the 101 freeway wall started to create its own abstract landscape painting. The wall has since been painted over in a flat “cement color” covering everything behind. (Mostly.) Wouldn’t this wall be a great place for something different?