September & Beyond Blog

THIS MONTH

Free Your Mind Artist Talk

Dates: September 24 @ 6:00pm ET

Location: On Zoom or in Person at Touchstone Center for Crafts; 1049 Sr2003, Farmington, PA 

Register for Zoom Here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvcO6hqD4uG9TnkU7datHCXOZ9plkWneZj#/registration

Touchstone Artist Residency

Dates: September 13-27

Location: Touchstone Center for Crafts; 1049 Sr2003, Farmington, PA 

CLOSING THIS MONTH

Free Your Mind @ Touchstone

Dates: May 17 – September 20

Location: Touchstone Center for Crafts; 1049 Sr2003, Farmington, PA 

Uncontained: Reimagining Basketry

Exhibition Dates: May 19, 2024 – September 2, 2024

Location: Hunterdon Art Museum, 7 Lower Center St, Clinton, NJ

ONGOING

American Tapestry Association’s Beyond: Tapestry Expanded

Exhibition Dates: August 26- December 15

Location: Peeler Art Center at DePauw University; 204 E. Seminary St., Greencastle IN  

NEXT 

Newark Arts Festival 2024

Dates: October 9 – December 1

Location: Newark Museum of Art; 49 Washington St, Newark, NJ

Art in Odd Places 2024: CARE

Dates: October 18-20

Location: Along 14th street NYC

Artwalk NY 2024

Date: October 21

Location: Chelsea Factory 547 West 26th Street

9th Annual SDA Exhibition in Print

Dates: October

Location: In Print

American Folklore Society Annual Conference

Dates: November 6- 9

Location: Albuquerque NM

2024 Textile Society of America Symposium:”Shifts and Strands: Rethinking the Possibilities and Potentials of Textiles”

Dates: November 12-17

Location: Zoom

Art in Odd Places 2024: CARE Festival – Join Me and 75 Other Artists in a Chorus of Care!

I’m excited to announce that the Emotional Baggage Cart Parade will be part of Art in Odd Places (AiOP) 2024: CARE Festival, happening from October 18-20, 2024, along 14th Street in Manhattan! Curated by Patricia Miranda and Christopher Kaczmarek, this year’s festival brings together 76 incredible artists and collectives to explore and celebrate the concept of “CARE” in all its forms.

Art in Odd Places is a unique festival where art breaks out of traditional spaces and takes over the streets, and I am thrilled to be one of the participating artists this year. This year’s theme, CARE, invites us to pause and reflect on questions like: Who do we give care to? What is worthy of our care? When can care be too much? And can we extend our care beyond ourselves, our families, and even beyond our species?

For my piece, the Emotional Baggage Cart Parade, I’m inviting everyone to come together and confront the psychological burdens we carry daily. By transforming ordinary shopping carts into mobile art installations, this parade offers a powerful metaphor for the emotional baggage we all carry. The goal is to create a communal space where participants can symbolically release these burdens, fostering empathy, connection, and healing. I’m eager to share this experience with you all!

A Preview of the Festival

Let me give you a sneak peek at some of the other powerful works you’ll encounter at the AiOP 2024 CARE Festival:

  • Fungal Entanglement by the Lichen Likers is a wearable fabric sculpture activated by performance, encouraging us to care for the non-human citizens of New York City. Join them for an embodied experience that opens up new ways to connect with the environment we all share.
  • COAST/LINES by Earthworks, featuring Catherine Chen and Cristina Bartley Dominguez, is a moving performance that addresses the tensions and burdens of our changing landscapes by slowly transporting a boulder sculpture through the city.
  • Coneheads by Giannina Gomez offers a playful yet poignant take on public health and safety in our chaotic urban environment, helping those in need and reminding everyone to stay alert.
  • you are here by Deirdre Macleod presents an alternative way of navigating and knowing a city through a slow, careful act of drawing and mapping the fragments of 14th Street at a 1:1 scale. It’s a meditative experience that makes us think about what it means to truly see and understand a place.
  • WASH!: rituals for healing at the laundry line by the WasherWoman Collective is a community installation and story-sharing experience that invites us to witness and honor the contributions of our foremothers, moving through grief towards a future reimagined.
  • Urban Animist Intervention Ritual Hex by Creatures From The Hole Poetry & Film Collective//Autocracy will roam 14th Street, activating urban “inanimates” and engaging the public in their whimsical and revolutionary “puppet” interventions.

These are just a few of the fantastic works that will be featured at AiOP 2024 CARE. This festival will challenge, inspire, and move us as we think deeply about what it means to care for ourselves, each other, and our world. Full details of all projects, along with the locations and timing of performances, will be released in mid-September, so stay tuned!

Join Us!

Mark your calendars for October 18-20, 2024, and come experience the art, creativity, and deep reflections on care that AiOP 2024 CARE has to offer. I can’t wait to share the streets of Manhattan with all of you in this incredible festival of public art!

See you there, and let’s join together in a chorus of care!


Upcoming Presentations: Free Your Mind at Two Conferences

I am thrilled to share that I will be presenting Free Your Mind at two upcoming prestigious events this November!

American Folklore Society Annual Conference

Dates: November 6-9
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Attendees of the American Folklore Society Annual Conference will have an opportunity to participate in Free Your Mind interactive exhibition and explore their own implicit biases and release any microaggressions.   I am looking forward to opportunity to connect with folklorists to share insights and expanding my understanding diverse American folklore.

2024 Textile Society of America Symposium: “Shifts and Strands: Rethinking the Possibilities and Potentials of Textiles”

Dates: November 12-17
Location: Zoom

The second presentation will be at the 2024 Textile Society of America Symposium, titled “Shifts and Strands: Rethinking the Possibilities and Potentials of Textiles.” During this virtual event, I’ll be discussing how Free Your Mind uses textiles and memory to convey emotions, and create healing, thereby pushing the boundaries of traditional textile art.

I look forward to engaging with participants and sharing the journey of Free Your Mind with a broader audience.

Stay tuned for more updates as I prepare for these exciting events!

Upcoming Travels: NY/NJ/PA Adventure

I’m excited to share that I will be in NY/NJ/PA from August 24 through September 29. My journey begins in New York and New Jersey, where I’ll be spending time looking after my parents, catching up with friends, and soaking up inspiration at The Armory Show.

After that, I’m heading back to Pennsylvania for a second two-week residency at the Touchstone Center for Crafts in the beautiful Allegany Mountains. During this time, my cell and Wi-Fi service will be limited, offering a blissful retreat from the digital world.

If you’d like to connect while I’m stateside, please send me a direct message. I’d love to schedule some time to catch up!

Looking forward to this inspiring and invigorating journey.

Engage with Theda Sandiford’s Art at Touchstone Center for Crafts

A Journey Through Art and Emotion

I am excited to co-host the Free Your Mind Artist Talk fat Touchstone Center for Crafts. Set aside Tuesday, September 24 at 6 p.m. for an enriching session, available both in-person and on Zoom.

About the Project

Free Your Mind, is a compelling textile art project that aims to gather and liberate personal stories of microaggressions. Through this multi-sensory installation, I am transforming these narratives into a powerful public art piece that invites introspection and dialogue.

Why You Should Attend

  • Insightful Discussions: Hear me share the creative and emotional process behind Free Your Mind.
  • Community Engagement: Participate in discussions that highlight the significance of addressing microaggressions through art.
  • Convenient Access: Whether you’re attending in person or via Zoom, make sure to register in advance for the online session on September 24.

Reserve Your Spot

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to connect with art that speaks volumes. Register for the Zoom talk on September 24 and join us in celebrating the power of artistic expression.

[REGISTER FOR SEPTEMBER 24]

Beyond: Tapestry Expanded 

Beyond: Tapestry Expanded is an ATA-sponsored and organized exhibition featuring work by artists who explore the expansive properties of tapestry weaving. Using the definition of tapestry as a nonfunctional, handwoven pictorial structure, artists included in the exhibition combined both hand and digital processes, using non-traditional materials, to create three-dimensional forms or multi-media components. Curated by Erica Warren and co-juried by Jade Yumang and Alexa Griffith Winton, the exhibition includes work from the following artists:

Abbey Muza, Anne Wilson, Bryana Bibbs, Christina Forrer, Christy Matson, Crystal Gregory, Danielle Andress, Diana Guerrero-Macia, Dianna Frid, Hope Wang, Janice Lessman-Moss, Jacqueline Surdell, Jovencio de la Paz, kg gnatowski, Kira Dominguez Hultgren, Lia Cook, Marianne Fairbanks, Melissa Leandro, Olivia Valentine, Olive Stefanski, Qualeasha Wood, Susie Taylor, Tanya Aguiñiga, Yasmin Spiro, C. Pazia Mannella, Constanza Camila Kramer Garfias, Jacobo Alonso, Jennifer Robertson, Kate Nartker, Linda Sok, Rose Dickson, Sarah Stefana Smith, Theda Sandiford, Wlodzimierz Cygan, and Xia Gao.

Please save the date for the curatorial talk on Tuesday, September 10 at 4:30 pm at the Richard E. Peeler Art Center. The talk is open to the public. ATA is developing additional virtual programming in October and November—more details to follow.

Exhibition Dates: August 1- December 15

Location: Peeler Art Center at DePauw University; 204 E. Seminary St., Greencastle IN 

Blackity Black Blanket, ladders and emotional baggage cart, ladders only