Calling artists to decorate eggs in hopes of influencing state legislators to fund the arts
The Somerville Arts Council and the Nave Gallery present: HATCH!
About: The Hatch project is part of statewide campaign led by MASSCreative to increase public support for the arts, cultural and creative sector. Communities across the Commonwealth are working throughout the spring budget season to urge legislators to make arts a priority.
Our project: Hatch! Somerville artists will create dozens of “art eggs,” which will be delivered to state legislators in mid April. We envision that artists will transform paper mâché eggs, slightly bigger than your average chicken eggs, into vibrant works of art using a variety of mediums. Once decorated, the eggs will be placed in nests, nestled among messages from Somervillians. Each message will start with: “$ for the Arts = [blank].” We’ll deliver the eggs to Governor Deval Patrick and state senators and representatives who comprise the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. The idea being – if legislators take care of their eggs (I.e., fund the arts), creativity will hatch!
Goal: We hope Hatch! will influence legislators to fund the arts more fully. The project also will garner press for Somerville’s arts community and promote: Somerville Open Studios; the ArtBeat festival (Hatch is this year’s theme!); and the individual artists who decorate the eggs.
How to get involved: Come to one of our workshops! We will have a variety of materials available but if you have particular materials you’d like to work with, please bring them; we also recommend that you come armed with ideas to decorate your egg. If possible, please RSVP to Heather Balchunas and let her know which workshop you’ll be attending. There is also the possibility to decorate an egg on your own time, in your studio. Contact Heather to work out logistics with her.
Heather’s email: [email protected]