Sunday, April 15, 2007

The California Cooperative Art Project will be removed from the Ca State Capitol display tomorrow. It was a pleasure to be able to show this piece in the beautiful Capitol Basement Gallery. There has been interest in arranging to display the piece in other similar public display venues such as city halls, libraries, government buildings, etc across the State. I would like to invite artists of the Ca Chapter of SLMM to arrange for such an exhibition in their own communities. Just think about the impact we could have relating the idea of unity and cooperation. If any members are interested in taking this on, please contact me directly at eileen@eileendownes.com to arrange for such a display. Thanks

Sunday, April 8, 2007

What is the California Cooperative Art Project?

CALIFORNIA ARTISTS UNITE
TO MAKE ONE SYMBOLIC ART PIECE
an Artist Group’s Cooperative Effort
Demonstrates an Inter-Connective Spirit


Twenty-nine visual artists from the California Chapter of the Society of Layerists in Multi-Media (SLMM) have created a very large, 36” x 240” art piece that traveled from artist to artist as it was created. The theme of the work is “California”, and each artist contributed painted, collaged or drawn image layers to the piece before sending it on to the next participating artist. Artists participated from as far north as Crescent City and as far south as the Los Angeles area and from the Sierra Nevada to the Coast. This is truly a broad cooperative art endeavor that began its creative journey in April 2005. The piece is now completed and will be on public view at the California State Capitol basement gallery April 2 – April 13th 2007. The cooperative effort was spearheaded by Sacramento collage artist, Eileen Downes who wanted to create a piece of artwork that embraced the concept that artists are united creatively in spirit, and so came the birth of this idea. Eileen Downes says, “This art piece embodies a perspective of unity, cooperation, and inter-connectedness in vision and thought as each artist added a part of himself/herself to the evolving work. It is interesting to notice how each artist integrated his/her work, either conceptually or visually or both, into the artwork of the other artists.”

SLMM is a national juried group of artists who support layering as an approach to creative expression; it recognizes that art is made up of many layers of significance, life experiences, personal achievements, and spiritual beliefs. Artwork created by members of SLMM is imbued with visual metaphor and celebrates a collective spirit.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

more pictures

Allyson Rickard

Nancy Knoles

Eileen Downes



Our Get-Together


Some of the participating artitists met at the State Capitol to view the finished piece. They are from left to right: Robyn Mallgren, Janaia Donaldson, Nancy Knoles, Jane Peterman, Elizabeth Hack, Hanne-Lore Nepote, Claudia Chapline, Renee Eaton, Barbara Jean, Jennifer Badger Sultan, Marianna Love, Allyson Rickard, Dusanka Kralj, Elaine Drew, Dori Pendergrass, Eileen Downes.

Monday, April 2, 2007

display of the finished piece



THE CALIFORNIA COOPERATIVE ART PROJECT
to be displayed in the
State Capitol
Basement Gallery
10th and L Street
Sacramento CA
April 2 – April 13 2007
M-F 8:00am – 3:30pm

more pictures in progress...



list of participating artists

Northern CA
Eileen Downes - Sacramento
Janaia Donaldson - Nevada City
Robyn Mallgren - Nevada City
Erin Robbins - Nevada City
Patty Moriarty - Chico
Marianna Love - Paradise
Dusanka Kralj - Crescent City
Nancy Knoles - Windsor

Greater San Francisco Bay Area
Claudia Chapline - Stinson Beach
Renee Eaton - Mill Valley
Merrill Mack - Larkspur
Juliet Wood - Ross
Jenny Badger Sultan - San Francisco
Bill Carmel - Danville
Allyson Rickard - Oakland
Laura Gottleib - Pacifica
Barbara Jean - Pleasanton
Elizabeth Hack - Berkeley
Elaine Drew - Pleasanton
Dori Pendergrass - San Ramon
Judith Marshall - Saratoga
Jean Warren - Los Gatos
Jane Peterman - Sunnyvale
Ara Leites - Santa Cruz
Hanne-Lore Nepote - Millbrae

Los Angeles Area
Chris Gafford - Torrance
Lynn Mikami - Torrance
Linda Ames - Laguna Beach
Annemarie Rawlinson - Rancho Palos Verdes

pictures of the project in progress