Photos from 2015's Fun-A-Day
We're ironing out the plans for next year's Fun-A-Day. Until that big announcement, check out this slideshow of March's Fun-A-Day! Photos by Sheila Master and M. Bullette.
We're ironing out the plans for next year's Fun-A-Day. Until that big announcement, check out this slideshow of March's Fun-A-Day! Photos by Sheila Master and M. Bullette.
Hello Delaware Fun-A-Day family,
I’m very excited to continue Delaware Fun-A-Day with Sarah Houghton! We are looking forward to making 2016 happen with all of you! I am so grateful for the opportunities Fun-A-Day has provided me thus far, and can’t wait to see how it will grow! The organizers from each year have done so much work to make this event what it is, and I’d like to thank them for all they have done and for placing their faith and confidence in me to be the point person moving forward. I hope it will continue in a positive and creative way.
We will be picking a date and location soon. We appreciate any and all help. If you would like to help organize, please fill out the form. THANK YOU to those that have already filled it out! I will be in contact with you via email about the details, very soon! I would like to make sure anyone participating in this annual community event has the chance to contribute in any way they can. Please feel free to also contact me directly at mastercolleen@hotmail.com
The 2015 event was a huge success and we have some funds to carry over into 2016. However, we will need more to fund the event, in particular the deposit needed for a location. Donations are welcome all year long! Please donate what you can, when you can! And if you can't, please ask family, friends, and colleagues to consider making a donation. This is an event for the community, funded by the community!!! I am hoping to have a fundraising event this year in addition to online donation fundraising. Stay tuned for more details!
Here’s to continued success in 2016!!!
Colleen Master
Hey y'all! Planning for the 2016 event is starting soon and with a new year, comes a new organizing committee. Joining us for 2016 is Colleen Master, who helped support the fundraising efforts for 2015. Colleen will be taking over Val's role (and my role) as lead point person for Fun-A-Day 2016 and continuing fundraising work; however, she will be looking for more support when it comes to registration. logistics, marketing and event management. If you previously indicated an interest in helping with future events, we strongly encourage you to reach out to Colleen at MasterColleen@hotmail.com, fill out our 2016 Planning Form, or stay tuned for her intro blog where she shares some of her plans for 2016.
I have enjoyed seeing our event grow from 30 artists to over 100, and watching our attendance grow as well! We've moved from hanging on ropes & doors at World Cafe Live to hanging on gallery walls at the DCCA. Yep, we've come a long way, babies, and though we still have quite the journey in front of us - it's time for me to pass the baton.
I want to thank everyone for making this event something really amazing and special. For the last 3 years, 6 months out of each year, Fun-A-Day has been one of my favorite projects. Special shout out to the rest of the organizers: Leanne Pedante, Alan Brown, Val Hazzard, Sheila Master, Amanda Thiel, Sarah Houghton. Big ups also to our volunteers and donors - without y'all none of this would be possible. And of course, thanks to our artists for really making this a community event.
Here's to 4 awesome years of Fun-A-Day and all the amazing art you're going to make in 2016!
XO KATI DRISCOLL
Photo Credit: David Reph
Hey Everyone! As you may have seen on our Facebook page, Delaware Fun-A-Day will be taking place on Friday, March 13th, at the DCCA from 6 PM to 9 PM as part of the rescheduled Art Loop. As we mentioned last time, the doors will be open at 5, if you are coming straight from work.
On to the logistics!
ADDITIONAL DROP OFF TIMES!
Because this has meant an adjustment in everyone's schedules, we wanted to include some additional drop off times for the show these times and locations are listed below.
REMINDER: Artwork should not exceed our maximums (5 x 7 or 6 x 6 inches per piece for 2-D artists). Please do not mount this work without first contacting us. We are working with a variety of surfaces and need to ensure that the artwork will fit.
Artwork for sale should be priced - with prices visible (not on the back of the work) and should include a name tag. If you are dropping off, please include any instructions for display with your work.
PLEASE HELP WITH HANGING!
Due to the change in schedule, we are in need of volunteers to hang on both Thursday and Friday at the DCCA. If you are able to volunteer to hang work - your own or someone else's - on either (or both) days, please fill out this form. We need as many people as possible to make sure the show is up in time for the event. Even an hour of your time will help!
TRUNK SHOW
As a consequence of the rescheduling, Fun-A-Day Artists will no longer be able to show at the Trunk Show on 3/11 since set up does not being until 3/12. We do encourage you to stop by to mix and mingle!
Hey everyone, as the title of this blog states, we have made the decision to postpone tomorrow night's show at the DCCA until we can determine an alternate date.
While postponing the event is not ideal, we did not receive enough volunteer response to help hang artwork at the show. Rushing through the hanging and staging of the show would do everyone a disservice. Putting up the show is usually a two day event - and hanging almost 90 artists over just one day is not logistically possible. Y'all make such awesome artwork and we want to ensure that as many people as possible can attend and that your work is well represented.
At the end of the day, we're 6 friends trying to put on a massive show and the weather is an element well beyond anyone's control. We're doing our best and trying to make decisions that are right for everyone and that's never an easy task. We appreciate your understanding, patience and continued support.
If you dropped off artwork to one of our volunteers, we will be keeping it safe and secure until the new time is announced. If you would like to coordinate a pick up to retrieve your artwork between now and the new show date (again, to be determined), please email Colleen at MasterColleen@hotmail.com.
Thanks so much. We'll keep you updated here, via Facebook and email as usual!
Kati, Val, Colleen, Amanda, Sarah & Sheila
Hello! Apologies for the late communication, we didn't find out that the museum was closed until we checked their FB page.
We are trying to determine if we will be able to hang tomorrow's show, given the complete closure of the museum. If you are able at all to volunteer, please email us so that we can determine how many volunteers we can get to help us hang on Friday, collect and/or run artwork, or - do we need to postpone the show entirely?
Thanks so much. Please stay safe and warm!
THE WEATHER
As you may be aware, a winter storm warning has been issued for Delaware. At this time, Drop Off and Hanging is still scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, March 5 from 10 AM to 2 PM at The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts. Should weather conditions cause closures or dangerous conditions, we will notify you of alternate plans.
Updates regarding possible delays in drop off times or facility closures will be provided via email, our Facebook page and posted on our Blog.
THE SPACE
We are excited to hang all of your work and share in the celebration with you on Friday! We have a different space this year (due to double booking of the room). Work will be hung on movable walls within the main area of the building as well as on the magnetic walls.
The cool news is that, thanks to all you awesome donors, we were able to purchase magnets ($180 worth of magnets, to be exact) to hang the work. We still encourage you to bring hanging supplies of your own, if you are able.
Speaking of fundraising, we will have a donation box at the DCCA to help us continue to cover the cost of this event!
Thanks, y'all! Stay warm and (hopefully) we will be seeing you tomorrow.
Kati, Val, Colleen, Sarah and Sheila
SIZE RESTRICTIONS
It is critical that everyone abide by our size restrictions to ensure that we can hang the work of all 90+ artists. As a reminder, size limits are:
If your project exceeds these limits, we will only be able to hang a selection of your work.
ARTWORK DROP OFFS
This year, we have a few times to drop off artwork before and after work! The dates and locations are:
There will be no drop offs the day of the show so please make sure you can meet us on one of the above days.
Please make sure all items include the following:
PROJECT PICK UP
Project Pick up is on March 12th (Thursday) from 10 - 4 at the DCCA. If you cannot pick up from DCCA, you must arrange to pick up your work within 10 days.
As always, your donations make Fun-A-Day possible. Please click here to help support this event!
SHOW OPENING
The show is free to the public, with a cash bar for persons 21+ on opening night. RSVP on Facebook
Delaware Fun-A-Day Show
March 6, 2015
6PM - 9PM
DCCA
200 South Madison St.
Wilmington, DE
The show can also be viewed during the DCCA's standard hours:
TRUNK SHOW
The DCCA has very kindly extended an offer to Delaware Fun-A-Day artists to sell their work at their 2nd Wednesday Art Lounge as part of a trunk show on March 11th from 5-7 PM.
In order to participate in the trunk show:
If you would like to sell your artwork at the 2nd Wednesday Art Lounge and will not be able to attend, please email kati.driscoll@gmail.com.
Interview by Amanda Thiel
It is that time again people! Want find out what makes the ultra colorful print artist, Alyssa Molin-Graves, tick? Read on!
Let’s talk Delaware! Are you a local Delawarean? If not, what’s your connection?
Yes! Born and raised. Growing up in Delaware you get your fair share of first state nay-sayers, but there are cool little things popping up all the time around here! I might try and explore somewhere else someday, but for right now I like the comforts of home.
How did you get introduced to Delaware Fun-A-Day? What or who inspired you to participate?
I became aware of Delaware Fun-A-Day two years ago when my friend Stephanie got involved and did a "Dance A Day" it was the neatest little video project and it was equally as fun to participate in! Because I have always been dipped in the arts I thought it would be a good way to get myself out of a recent art drought I had been experiencing, and it did exactly that! It was so challenging and exciting, and I finally got an insect print made, something I had aspired to for many months prior.
How long have you enjoyed making art?
I have enjoyed making arts for eons!! I found a paper I wrote around the age of 4 that asked what I wanted to be when I grew up and my answers were "Artist or Actress" only- entirely misspelled. I have always enjoyed expressing myself through artful avenues, whether it be doodling, painting, personal style, or in the case, as a child ruining my mother's entire book collection with my illustrations and fake library cards taped to the back (that did not go over so well.) Art just feels like my nature, it's in everything I do and wear and dream, I have a hard time not embellishing everyday objects or letting anything be without that "little something extra".
Do you have a favorite Delaware activity? Any fun places we should check out?
Oh, yes! There are so many cool spots, and luckily I get to work at or are otherwise somehow involved with a lot of them! Center for the Creative Arts in Yorklyn is a great place to learn more about the arts and they have so many cool classes ranging from pottery to illustration to Theatre, I grew up in Yorklyn so this place is pretty close to my heart. You get to take classes in an old school that was recycled into an arts center and every room is a different color- what's not to love? I am as equally active outdoors as I am in Art, so I have say that Ashland Nature Center, Coverdale Farm and DEEC on the riverfront are amazing places with beautiful outdoor spaces. You can take an organic cooking class on the farm, hike the trails at Ashland and catch tadpoles at DEEC, they are all such awesome places to connect with nature. I am also a huge fan of Oddity Bar in Wilmington, and Homegrown Cafe in Newark. Goodness, I could probably go on and on, but there are so many great little places in this state if you just go out there and look around!
What inspired you to do your Special Moment-A-Day project for 2014?
Through my love of adventure and creativity I found a passion for photography, and that burned bright for many years. I took pictures of bugs, forests and fields, dilapidated buildings, interesting people and places. After college ended and my course work with photography was over, I took a little break and headed more in the illustration direction, so last Fun-A-Day I brought photography back and did Moment-A-Day using my camera to capture special moments. It was really incredible seeing the entire collection together at the end, I could remember the context and feel of each image, they were truly moments frozen in time. I also knew that that month my husband Daniel and I would be flying out to meet his newly discovered half siblings for the very first time, it was pretty life changing and I knew that photography would be the best way to capture it. I took a photo of our tiny room in the "Microtel" the night before our flight, photos with his brother and sister, a picture of a friend getting married, and a photo of my mom on Mother's Day. But there were also less than stellar moments to capture; a photo of my bedroom light the day I had a terrible migraine, raindrops on my windshield when I attempted a walk at the Park, it really came together to show that life is full of the good and the bad, the exciting and the blah, it was a true look at life and I really enjoyed that.
Do you enjoy working in other mediums?
I have probably already answered that question, but yes! I cross into other mediums quite frequently and don't like to limit myself with one particular medium or another, if I am feeling 3D I go for it, if I want to make textile Art I go for that, photography is always in my life in one way or another, even if I am just using my phone or taking outfit photos for my blog. Right now I am riding the wave of illustration and really enjoying it, so that is what I am working on! In the same way, I am really loving making my illustrations into wearable and practical objects like bags, jewelry and clothing, and being a personal style guru the collaboration between the two mediums is a no-brainer.
What types of themes do you like to pursue in your work?
My favorite theme by far is insects. They are my huge passion in life besides art, so naturally I like to merge the two. I really started brainstorming a project for an insect print because I could not find a cute and affordable insect printed garment out there in the world. I went to work in 2013 for my insect-a-day project and ended up with a series of paintings that together made a cute moth-themed print. Since then I have converted the print into fabric, bags, skirts and necklaces. I am still working on the collection so that I can share more of it with the world, but I am really excited with what I have gotten done so far and hope to expand it further! Another theme in my art then would be colorful patterns and prints! Looking forward, it seems like clothing and accessories is where I am headed so prints are my favorite thing to create right now. I like novelty prints like fruits and desserts, and hope to start working on florals, and more BUGS!
What artists influence you?
There are so many wonderful and inspiring works of arts out there and of course artists, I am really inspired by my friends and fellow local artists, among them illustrator Kristen Margiotta and seamstress and clothing designer Nicole Rae Styer. Their accomplishments, passion, and desire to follow their dreams is so wonderfully inspiring and encouraging to me! I also draw a lot of inspiration from original textile artist Armi Ratia of Marimekko and Andy Warhol. Fashionably speaking, there is a whole host of gorgeous bloggers I follow, amazing small vintage boutique owners in Philly, ModCloth.com, and Hel-looks with street fashion from Finland.
Are you planning to participate this year? If so, what made you want to come back and what can we expect to see?
Yes, yes and yes; I just cannot get enough of Delaware Fun-A-Day! My theme comes as no surprise, Moth-A-Day. I have been raising butterflies and moths since around five years old when I discovered my first Luna Moth. I can credit my semi-rural upbringing for that discovery, and the years that followed cultivated an unwavering passion for finding caterpillars in the woods, raising them and watching them change into beautiful moths and butterflies. For a few years it was everything from that "random caterpillar that no one can identify" to tent caterpillars and Tiger Swallowtails. When I got older and started staying up late I noticed big shadows coming in my windows at night, I ran outside to discover a plethora of mammoth moths beating against the wood siding attracted to our outdoor lights, and the obsession heightened. Giant Silkmoths became my passion. I am fully grown up and that passion is going nowhere; I am still crazy about moths! Although I have worked on a lot of moths already, this project will push me to pump out new pieces and challenge me to find new subjects each day!
What advice can you pass on for this year’s first timers?
The advice I would give is to push through no matter what, and if you run out of time just make your piece for that day small and simple, even unfinished! There is beauty in that kind of honesty. It can be really hard to create pieces when you've had a bad day or when you're really tired, but you'll find that it changes your state of mind and makes your time feel purposeful. It may even give you extra momentum to push through your day. And don't worry about perfection; art is in the process, not just the end result!
Is there a place we can check out more of your work?
Yea! My fashion blog has tidbits of my art here and there, and displays a lot of my wearable items and [I have an] etsy shop. I am working on big things over here, so stay tuned and watch out!
Are there any other projects or events you are working on this year?
I will be selling pieces at Oddity Bar's Oddball Arthall on February 19th, along with a whole bunch of really amazing local artists, come check it out!! I am also in the works of a new print collection, and will hopefully have that stuff up on my Etsy store come spring! :) Thank you for the opportunity to share my story, I am looking forward to the March show!!!
What a rad chick! Raising moths and butterflies?! Churning out mind blowing art?! Treating her friends and family like the precious gems that they are?! I can’t get enough! It is definitely worth stopping by to check out her work up for sale at the Oddity Bar’s Oddball Arthall on the 19th!
Continue to support Alyssa, and all of our amazing artists, by sharing her interview and donating on our page to help keep the Delaware Fun-A-Day event going!
First and foremost, we would like to send a big THANK YOU to everyone that has donated, this year and previous years. This event would not happen without your generosity.
Now on to the pleas. We still need help from donations. As you know, we are not an organization, not an LLC, not a non-profit. We are made up of a few friends that have decided to donate our time and efforts to keep the show going. But we are not rich, many of us are struggling artists as well. In order for us to make the event happen this year, and in the years to come, we need the support of the community. To date, we have only raised 45% of the costs of 2015.
With that said, please take a moment to donate online. It is a secure payment process and all proceeds go to the event. If we have any left over this year, it will go towards the down payment for the event location next year. We would love to make this a sustainable annual event!
Thank you! We appreciate all of you and all of your efforts!!! Wake up, make art!!!!
Warmest Regards,
Colleen Master on behalf of the Delaware Fun-A-Day crew
Photo by Dave McGurgan // Artwork by Todd Purse & Meredith Keating