Public Art Moving Site

THE PUBLIC TABLE presented by: The Collective for the Finding of the Commons (spurse) hosted by the Rockingham Arts and Museum Project from Feb. 27 through April 7

Opening: Monday February 27 4-7pm Please come for appetizers and drinks All are welcome

The Public Table can be found at: 9 Canal Street in downtown Bellows Falls (the Exner Block)

The Public Table is a community based provisional restaurant project presented by the international art and architecture collective spurse. This provisional restaurant will serve free costless cuisine on Fridays and Saturdays at 5pm. And host gleaning/exploratory walks on Monday and Tuesday at 1pm.

The Public Table is an investigation into the generosity and excess of the region. What can be found for free? What do people collect? What does the world provide for us? What is going to waste? Who has something to share? What can be given away? Everything associated with this project has been given to us or gleaned by us.

We welcome all donations of materials related to food and cooking « these could be family recipes or stories, food, cooking supplies, pots, pans, microwaves or the location for fiddlehead ferns or chanterelle mushrooms.

Every week we will be going on random gleaning walks through the region exploring questions relating to food (Mondays and Tuesdays at 1pm).

We welcome the opportunity to host other events relating to food or cooking and the sharing of the cultures of food and cooking (please contact us).

In this manner The Public Table seeks to investigate locality, migrancy, the global movement of resources, and gleaning. We invite people to come for a meal, walks, and to simply stop by to discuss or browse our archives of books and other materials.

For more information about spurse please see spurse.org

Public Art/Moving Site is a traveling presentation of public art that will respond to and be presented in three New England communities. The collaborating Project Partners are: Cambridge Arts Council (CAC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (www.cambridgeartscouncil.org); Rockingham Arts and Museum Project (RAMP) in Bellows Falls, Vermont (www.ramp-vt.org); and Artspace in New Haven, Connecticut (www.artspacenh.org) have had extensive experience bringing visual and performing arts to diverse neighborhoods, serving those who are not normally part of the traditional audience for artistic presentations.

The City of Cambridge, the Village of Bellows Falls, and the City of New Haven all grew up along rivers and were shaped by the industrial past of New England. While sharing common threads of geography and history, each town has developed a unique character determined by a combination of social, physical, and historical influences. Public art responds to these influences and offers metaphors for enriching the life of a community.

Working with a NEFA Planning Grant, project partners developed an innovative public art project that would stretch the concept of “site”. Public Art/Moving Site defines site as both stationary and moving. Project artists will respond to the characteristics of each location as well as the journey the art will take. Each artwork/performance/exhibition will retain its integrity while accumulating the experience of its residency in Cambridge, New Haven, and Bellows Falls.