FLOURISH: Artists Explore Wellbeing

Tiffany Singh, "Knock On the Sky Listen To The Sound," Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay, Sydney, 2012 Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan Susan O’Malley, "A Healing Walk," Montalvo Arts Center, 2013 Owen Driggs, "Oak Gall," 2013 Oak Gall. A manzanita berry. Paper Cranes created by artist Tiffany Singh An Acorn. Everything is Medicine The Irrational Exuberance Flag Raising Ceremony Irrational Exuberance Flag by Christine Wong Yap


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Happiness is the love for our dad (Photo: Natasha Rosenberg)

What does "Happiness" mean to you?

We asked you to contribute to the conversation about happiness by submitting photos of what makes you happy. Natasha Rosenberg's photo (pictured) won the contest, but we received so many worthy entries! Click here to take a look - and many thanks to everyone who entered!

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Flourish: Artists Explore Wellbeing is a multi-disciplinary programming initiative about health and happiness organized by the Lucas Artists Residency Program at Montalvo Arts Center. This multiyear program spanning 2013-14 seeks to explore the questions: how can we cultivate meaning and contentment in our lives? How do we flourish? Developed in collaboration with Montalvo’s Education Program, the initiative includes exhibitions in Montalvo’s Project Space Gallery and throughout its 175 acre Public Park, as well as performances, participatory engagements, workshops, conversations and screenings in various venues throughout the property and off site.

Flourish: Artists Explore Wellbeing investigates the intimate interconnections between personal wellbeing, thriving communities and a healthy planet through a series of related topics.

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Topics include:

  • The interrelated health of the body, mind and spirit.

    Countries with advanced economies like the US are nevertheless experiencing severe health crises among their citizenry, including such mental illnesses as depression and attention deficit disorder and physical ailments like obesity and diabetes. How do we attain good emotional and physical health? How does emotional stress impact the healthy functioning of our bodies? How do our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual experiences overlap and inform our sense of wellness?

  • The intimate relationship between what we eat and how it is produced and human, social, environmental and economic wellbeing.

    Increasingly, we are recognizing the importance of food nutrition for our cognitive and physical health, as well as the inequities and threats associated with current food production policies. How does sitting down for a meal promote emotional and physical nourishment? How does it cultivate a sense of community? How can we support environmentally sound agricultural practices?

  • The important role that social relationships play in emotional wellbeing.

    Research suggests relationships shape our personality and influence our physical and mental health. Through high quality social relationships we experience affection, intimacy, and nurture, all of which fosters wellbeing. How do we build strong communities with high degrees of trust and empathy? How can we support family life? How can we practice compassion for others and for ourselves?

  • The critical relationship between individual wellbeing and our environment.

    As earth’s life support systems ─ food supplies, clean water, stable climate ─ necessary for human health and wellbeing continue to deteriorate, how do we forge new sustainable relationships with the various ecologies upon which we so intimately depend? How do we develop a better appreciation and understanding for the intimate connection between the health of our natural environment and individual wellbeing?

  • The affinities between play, creativity and wellbeing.

    Play, as an exercise of the imagination, enables us to test out possible models of behavior and broadens our perspective and capacity for creativity, innovation and collaboration. Today we are increasingly spending more time in front of electronic screens and less time engaged in out-door play. This development has serious physical and mental health consequences, particularly among children. How can Montalvo’s 175-acre Public Park become an arena to explore the intersection between play and wellbeing?

View & download the full curatorial statement here.

FLOURISH EXHIBITIONS:


  • ON VIEW THROUGH FRIDAY, MAY 31
    Happiness Is...

    Through existing works and new commissions, artists Susan O’Malley (San Jose), Leah Rosenberg (San Francisco), and Christine Wong Yap (New York) explore the age-old question: How do we cultivate happiness? Wong ...

  • Tiffany Singh,
    OPENING FRIDAY, MAY 31
    Come Healing

    With COME HEALING, its 2013 Art on the Grounds exhibition, Montalvo invites you to be restored. On view are works by six national and international artists exploring the relationships between healing, wholeness ...

UPCOMING EVENTS RELATING TO FLOURISH:

  • Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan FRI MAY 31, 2013 6 P.M.
    Final Fridays: May 2013
    Celebrate Art on the Grounds!

    Join us for a fun-filled evening as we celebrate the opening of Come Healing, Montalvo’s 2013 Art on the Grounds exhibition and the closing of Happiness is….Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan premier their new work Dwellings: Project Another Country. This large-scale sculpture is constructed ...

    Facebook Event Page

  • Owen Driggs, FRI JUNE 28, 2013 6 P.M. (ZERO1 Garage)
    Final Fridays: June 2013
    Owen Driggs: Can Artists Heal Nature?

    As human actions impact the natural environment, can artists heal nature? Does art bring “special powers” to the table? If so, what are they? What is ‘art’? What is ‘nature’? What needs healing? What arrogance! Join us at the ZERO1 Garage where ten artists, technologists ...

    Facebook Event Page

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS:

  • Oak Gall. BEGINNING SAT, JUNE 8 (Creekside Studio)
    Gall Ink Workshop
    Mapping Biointimacy

    Europe's ink of choice for a thousand years, oak gall ink was used to make medieval manuscripts and to sign the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Participants will harvest and process oak galls - the spherical "wasp nurseries" an oak produces when a gall wasp ...

  • A manzanita berry. BEGINNING SAT, JUNE 15 (Creekside Studio)
    A Manzanita Workshop
    Mapping Biointimacy

    The twisting red branches and "little apple" clusters of the manzanita tree are a common sight for Montalvo's hikers. From harvesting to drinking, participants will be shown how to prepare manzanita cider from the berries, which are three times higher in antioxidants than blueberries ...

  • Paper Cranes created by artist Tiffany Singh BEGINNING WED, JUNE 12 (Creekside Studio)
    Make Origami Paper Cranes
    with Lucas Artist Fellow Tiffany Singh

    Join Lucas Artist Fellow Tiffany Singh and make origami paper cranes!In the lead up to the unveiling of her new artwork for Montalvo’s grounds, The Bells of Mindfulness, Singh is inviting Montalvo’s visitors to join her and make origami paper cranes while ...

  • An Acorn. BEGINNING SAT, JUNE 22 (Creekside Studio)
    An Acorn Workshop
    Mapping Biointimacy

    An important food for indigenous Californians for millennia, for ancient Greek workers, and for contemporary Korean cuisine, acorns contain large amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. This workshop will demonstrate ways to shell the nuts, leach out their tannins, grind them into flour, and make ...

  • Everything is Medicine BEGINNING SAT, JUNE 29 (Creekside Studio)
    Everything is Medicine
    Mapping Biointimacy

    Led by Olivia Chumacero, who speaks from an indigenous perspective, "Everything is Medicine" focuses on the healing, edible, and cultural gifts of our plant relatives. The session is not exclusive to plants, however: it imparts knowledge that encompasses our manner of walking on our planet ...

FURTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES:

  • Docent Tours of Art on the Grounds

    Docents lead visitors on tours of Art on the Grounds 2013, helping you get the most out of your visit.Space limited. Contact the Box Office to RSVP on (408) 961-5858.


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