LIFELINES
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Introducing “Lifelines: Reflections on Connecting & Letting Go” — the 2022 Salem Arts Festival Community Art Project led by local artist and owner of Grace & Diggs, Linda Mullen.The theme of this year’s Salem Arts Festival is “connections.” When thinking about all that represents connection, our team thought of lifelines. Lifelines are a device useful to ancient sailors and still used today. They consist of two elements: a Monkey’s Fist Knot and a rope.The monkey’s fist knot is devised to encase a cannonball, thereby weighting one end of a rope. The weight allows the rope to be launched and to soar through the air to reach those in distress. This is a rich metaphor for connection and letting go. Sometimes we need to be held, connected, and protected, and other times we need to fly.We are calling on the community to join us in constructing a giant sculpture inspired by lifelines.
THE ART PROJECT
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The Lifelines sculpture will be constructed of recycled water bottles and k-cups strung together in the image of strands of rope. These pieces will be handcrafted by residents across three weekend workshop sessions leading up to the Salem Arts Festival.During the Salem Arts Festival, the strands will unfurl along the street, roof tops, and lamp posts of Artists’ Row, connecting to organically round shapes that represent monkey’s fist knots.
WAYS TO PARTICIPATE
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This is a great activity for individuals and families, young and old, for those comfortable with craft-making and those who don’t do much of it. You can participate by:1. Collecting empty water bottles and used k-cups during the month of May. Bottles may be all sizes and shapes, but should be specific to water to help us avoid the stickiness of juices and soft drinks. There is no need to clean out the k-cups! Our team will handle the cleaning.Materials can be brought to our weekend workshops, dropped off in collection boxes on Artist’s Row, or you can email linda@graceanddiggs.com to coordinate a pickup.
2. Join us for walk-in workshops every Saturday from May 14-28, 2022 to help make part of the sculpture with us!
3. Join us during the Salem Arts Festival for “final touches” art-making as we create more pieces for the sculpture and assemble it across Artists’ Row.
EXPERIENCE ‘LIFELINES’
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Lifelines will be installed during the Salem Arts Festival on June 3-5. We invite you to participate and hope that this process is an exercise in reflecting on what keeps you connected and when to set yourself free.