Summer Starts

Last week, Patchwork’s big room was a jumble of activity. More than 50 people age 1 to 90 joined together in a creative, colorful community to celebrate summer, art, and the natural world. It was Art Garden Week I!

Threaded through it all was the story of Patchwork’s founding 40 years ago. Storyteller Susan Fowler helped our Art Garden participants portray the founding families. From Patchwork’s founding, she segued into the book What a Treasure! by Jane and Will Hillenbrand. The story is about a little mole who is digging for treasure but finds everyday objects that other creatures around him can use and treasure. Finally he finds the greatest treasure: a friend for himself.

What do a mole and Patchwork Central have in common? Working together to discover that networks of friends connecting in a community are the greatest treasure!

In addition to telling stories with Susan, Art Garden participants created ceramic mushrooms in the studio with Karley, they planted things in Patchwork’s garden with Pat and Bill, and they cooked up healthy snacks in the kitchen with Lisa and Laura.

Our summer children’s activities continued this week with the first of two Sculpture Weeks. Participants learned about sculpture and worked with visiting artist Christian Smith to create imaginative houses for birds…or maybe for fairies. The project left room for imagination, design, and problem solving with a common question being: Which would you like to try, hitting it with a hammer or using a power tool?



Notes from 40 Years at Patchwork:

The photo above comes from one of the last large gatherings at Patchwork’s Meetinghouse before it burned down on December 26, 1983. The photo is from Patchwork’s Christmas celebration on December 10, 1983. It represents the community that would come together again after the fire to begin the hard work of rebuilding.

A print of the photo now hangs in the hallway by Patchwork’s east entrance, and guests regularly stop to look at it and to pick out the people they know.

 

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