A STATEMENT FROM the A.P.E. LEADERSHIP
What is Making Ground?
n. a foundation upon which things are made or created;
v. the act of preparing or nourishing the ground upon which something will happen
v. to move closer to something or someone ahead
A number of months ago, as A.P.E.’s co-director Kathy Couch was mopping this 3800 sq ft floor of the Workroom, she began to imagine rituals and actions that might lay the ground for future possibilities of this space, that would also honor and integrate the histories that this land and location hold. Something in this seemingly banal activity–with its methodical swiping of each inch of the floor, leaving temporary arcs of water that traced her path across the room–brought her into consideration of what it means to take care of a space, of a place; what it means to be a steward. And she became curious about how the community might join in this act of tending and ground-laying.
A.P.E. was founded with the simple, grounded intention to preserve and support spaces in which artists create, perform, and share their work. Embedded in this intention is the belief that this work of imagining, and those who carry it out, are essential to the vitality and wellbeing of any community. For it is through imagining that we understand both who we are and what we might be. Our imaginings are the ground from which our actions–for change and growth, for healing and understanding–emerge.
In his final exhibition at our Main St. gallery, A.P.E.’s founder, Gordon Thorne, posted these words amongst the visual works:
“Being responsible for creating the future, it is important that we keep alive our capacity
to imagine what that might be, lest we continue to recreate the present.”
At its core, Making Ground is an invitation to do just that–to awaken and keep alive your imagination of what might be. And to then trace or mark or map what emerges. It is a proposal that, in doing so, we, together, are activating the space of the Workroom into a place not only for artistic imaginings but also for the envisioning of deeper understanding and aligned relationships with the land, the space, its history, and the current (and currents) of community in which we live together. For A.P.E. Making Ground impels us and offers us momentum to steward this organization as an artistic home for a diversity of artists that reflects the diversity of our planet, and where land justice is being persistently pursued.
We have no idea what is going to happen over the next eleven days, nor where the energies that emerge from this project will carry us. As artists, this space of unknown and uncertainty is one that is familiar to us. It is a space that we trust and return to when seeking revelation about the things we have yet to consider and the next actions to take.
Thank you for making this ground with us.
Kathy Couch and Mollye Maxner, Co-directors and Stewards
Meredith Bove, Program Coordinator
Anne Love Woodhul, Executive Director
GRATITUDES
Making Ground would never have taken this expansive, multi-layered form without the wisdom, insight, and inspirations of our thinking partners (affectionately known as the ‘Ground Crew’). It has been an honor and delight to imagine with them. Thank you to Jaiviera Benavente, Robert Eastman, Jo Kent Katz, Trenda Loftin, and Lisa Thompson. And to the co-conspirators they folded in–Romeo Romero Sigle and Lailye Weidman.
We also want to thank those who offered their time and muscle in preparing the space for this project, including Jeff Bird, Robin Doty, Jon Doyle, Robert Eastman, Jo Kent Katz, Kelly Maxner, Richard Wagner, along with Jen Polins and all the SCDT interns, staff, and board members. And finally, huge thanks to the Northampton Community Arts Trust Board of Directors, including our Building Partner organizations (The Center for the Arts and Northampton Open Media), who have worked tirelessly for over a decade to remove this land and building from the speculative market so that it can be preserved, in perpetuity, as a space for imagination.
This project is supported in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council and sustained support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Additional donation of supplies and services provided by Chartpak and Northampton Open Media.
n. a foundation upon which things are made or created;
v. the act of preparing or nourishing the ground upon which something will happen
v. to move closer to something or someone ahead
A number of months ago, as A.P.E.’s co-director Kathy Couch was mopping this 3800 sq ft floor of the Workroom, she began to imagine rituals and actions that might lay the ground for future possibilities of this space, that would also honor and integrate the histories that this land and location hold. Something in this seemingly banal activity–with its methodical swiping of each inch of the floor, leaving temporary arcs of water that traced her path across the room–brought her into consideration of what it means to take care of a space, of a place; what it means to be a steward. And she became curious about how the community might join in this act of tending and ground-laying.
A.P.E. was founded with the simple, grounded intention to preserve and support spaces in which artists create, perform, and share their work. Embedded in this intention is the belief that this work of imagining, and those who carry it out, are essential to the vitality and wellbeing of any community. For it is through imagining that we understand both who we are and what we might be. Our imaginings are the ground from which our actions–for change and growth, for healing and understanding–emerge.
In his final exhibition at our Main St. gallery, A.P.E.’s founder, Gordon Thorne, posted these words amongst the visual works:
“Being responsible for creating the future, it is important that we keep alive our capacity
to imagine what that might be, lest we continue to recreate the present.”
At its core, Making Ground is an invitation to do just that–to awaken and keep alive your imagination of what might be. And to then trace or mark or map what emerges. It is a proposal that, in doing so, we, together, are activating the space of the Workroom into a place not only for artistic imaginings but also for the envisioning of deeper understanding and aligned relationships with the land, the space, its history, and the current (and currents) of community in which we live together. For A.P.E. Making Ground impels us and offers us momentum to steward this organization as an artistic home for a diversity of artists that reflects the diversity of our planet, and where land justice is being persistently pursued.
We have no idea what is going to happen over the next eleven days, nor where the energies that emerge from this project will carry us. As artists, this space of unknown and uncertainty is one that is familiar to us. It is a space that we trust and return to when seeking revelation about the things we have yet to consider and the next actions to take.
Thank you for making this ground with us.
Kathy Couch and Mollye Maxner, Co-directors and Stewards
Meredith Bove, Program Coordinator
Anne Love Woodhul, Executive Director
GRATITUDES
Making Ground would never have taken this expansive, multi-layered form without the wisdom, insight, and inspirations of our thinking partners (affectionately known as the ‘Ground Crew’). It has been an honor and delight to imagine with them. Thank you to Jaiviera Benavente, Robert Eastman, Jo Kent Katz, Trenda Loftin, and Lisa Thompson. And to the co-conspirators they folded in–Romeo Romero Sigle and Lailye Weidman.
We also want to thank those who offered their time and muscle in preparing the space for this project, including Jeff Bird, Robin Doty, Jon Doyle, Robert Eastman, Jo Kent Katz, Kelly Maxner, Richard Wagner, along with Jen Polins and all the SCDT interns, staff, and board members. And finally, huge thanks to the Northampton Community Arts Trust Board of Directors, including our Building Partner organizations (The Center for the Arts and Northampton Open Media), who have worked tirelessly for over a decade to remove this land and building from the speculative market so that it can be preserved, in perpetuity, as a space for imagination.
This project is supported in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council and sustained support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Additional donation of supplies and services provided by Chartpak and Northampton Open Media.