A huge thankyou to everyone who made this possible, really appreciate being given a voice….and those shots in the Mill!!
Tag: Kalamazoo
MAPEA 2023:InRealLife
This year the MAPEA IRL project in Vicksburg is a change to the way we had been working, which up till now had consisted of looking at our neighborhoods and painting a map of where we live. Still collaborating with Kalamazoo Parks and Recreation Summer Camps, we proposed bringing the workshops to the Mill to explore this big old building with some art in interesting places and a studio space in the basement for the kids to work in. As an experiment in urban renovation and meantime residency for artists, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss sharing with local kids and youth in our conversation about the environment. But keen as I was to share my passion for old industrial buildings and recycling, you never know if it will be a shared one, especially with such mixed groups of young participants.
Continue reading “MAPEA 2023:InRealLife”This year the MAPEA IRL project in Vicksburg is a change to the way we had been working, which up till now had consisted of looking at our neighborhoods and painting a map of where we live. Still collaborating with Kalamazoo Parks and Recreation Summer Camps, we proposed bringing the workshops to the Mill to explore this big old building with some art in interesting places and a studio space in the basement for the kids to work in. As an experiment in urban renovation and meantime residency for artists, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss sharing with local kids and youth in our conversation about the environment. But keen as I was to share my passion for old industrial buildings and recycling, you never know if it will be a shared one, especially with such mixed groups of young participants.
Continue reading “MAPEA 2023:InRealLife”Vintage Kalamazoo 3: hats
I can’t keep my eyes off these wonderful hats from the 40’s at JBird Vintage, so what else to do but….start painting them! Apparently it was the one thing that people were still creative with during the wartime since clothes were kept very simple and functional. Also a couple more houses from the historic Stuart district and Michigan Avenue downtown.
Vintage Kalamazoo 2
Some more Vintage Kalamazoo. Now the summer is over work has moved indoors and downsized to desktop painting! I was told once I was a ‘size queen’ and large formats have always been important to me, so finally accepting the challenge of this experiment has been interesting.
And back to Kalamazoo: Wall St
On arriving I was lucky enough to take over a vegetable plot in the Wall St Community Garden. At two blocks from where I’m living it’s near enough to feel like a back garden to get out to when you’ve been at the screen all day and I inherited sage, kale and raspberries. Starting in July was a bit late to do much planting, but it feels like I just got to do the nice bit which was the picking and eating.
Vintage Kalamazoo
I first visited Kalamazoo in 2013 and was impressed with the architecture that survived from the last two centuries. I have since discovered that the city is unique in having several historic districts; it is incredible that these old wooden houses have been conserved for so long. This time around I have begun sketching the urban landscape which feels like walking through a Hopper painting. These will be on show in an upcoming Art Hop.
Natalya Critchley 