Salem Open Studios/Opening Reception for "Recycle and Reuse" Tomorrow 12/9

The first ever Salem Open Studios is taking place this Saturday, December 9, from 10 am to 6 pm, offering many other opportunities to pick up handcrafted items, the kinds of gifts you won't find online or at the mall. There are nineteen open studio locations around Salem and forty different artists displaying their work. To see examples of individual artists' work and for a downloadable map, visit the website at www.salemopenstudios.com. Maps will also be available at all participating locations.

As part of Salem Open Studios, Feed Your Head will be showcasing our latest art exhibit, Recycle and Reuse: The Art and Craft of the Repurposed. Featuring eighteen artists and craftisans who reclaim, repurpose, recycle, and reuse discarded, lost and found, and post- consumer waste into artistic endeavors, Recycle and Reuse illustrates that one man's trash is not just another man's treasure, but also his art supply and inspiration. What makes all the pieces in this show unique is not just that they incorporate discarded or atypical objects, but that they are able to transform these objects into works of art. Simply putting discarded items together does not a masterpiece make; it's the arrangement of unrelated and often overlooked items to become one cohesive piece that's beautiful that makes these works into pieces of art. As participating artist Kelly King from San Pedro, CA, says, “The process of creating is the same as living . . . taking beautiful experiences, not-so-beautiful experiences, scraps leftover from the day, and other items (sometimes treasure, sometimes trash) found along the way, and finding a way to weave them together so that the result is beautiful to look back on.”

The exhibit will run from December 9 - January 28 and the opening reception, featuring the musical stylings of Jacob Berendes, co-owner of Happy Birthday Mike Leslie in Worcester, will be held on Saturday, December 9 from 6 - 9 pm. In addition, from 10 am - 6 pm on December 9, participating artists Donna Albino and Rachel Meyer will be giving demonstrations and instruction on various paper crafts, including papermaking and origami.