The WE ART THE PEOPLE FOLK FESTIVAL 2011 was terrific!!!!! I had several people, both vendors and attendees tell me that this was the best organized year ever for the festival. Also heard some folks say this is their favorite Abq. festival!! This is a great mid September tradition for OFFCenter and hopefully will be for years to come. The kids area was hopping all day long with beautiful hats and pin wheels emerging from the art making tent, children having fun with hula hoops, and being thoroughly entertained by Pink Elephant and Clan Tynker! The group paper tube sculpture and giant coloring book/painting canvases were great.... can't wait to see the new OFFBags made from the canvas. Come shop for one in the OFFCenter retail shop in the studio! I got a fantastic henae design on my entire arm and enjoyed seeing lots of lovely painted faces walking all around the park. Thanks to all the dancers and musicians too for creating such a festive day. It's a gift to see all the art vendors and witness the enormous variety of creativity in our community. Yea for Chami and all the other folks who worked so hard to make the 2011 We Art the People Folk Festival happen so wonderfully! Better and better each year :) Hope to see lots of fun 2011 Folk Fest pictures here and on the website soon!

OFFCenter Fun at RT66Summerfest

Ron and D'Ana helping families make art together

Thanks to all those who helped make the RT66Summerfest Community Art Project fun for all the families who participated! Art Educator Topher House volunteered to manage the project and helped families build and decorate paper towers out of old newspapers. (Thank you Jo Tabacchi for coming up with the activity!) OFFCenter's Executive Director, Ron Breen and Board President Margaret Lopez and Board Member D'Ana Alderate were there to make it a success on the streets! 

Topher House guiding kids on the construction

Thanks also to the volunteers and interns who helped prepare for the project. This was truly an event where art making = community. Unfortunately the weather cancelled the second half of building -- but now we have leftovers to keep building art together in the Community Art section (alongside the Giant Coloring Books) at the 9th Annual "We Art the People!" Folk Art Festival this Sept. 11th!

Marci's Cuttin' it Up! Albuquerque the Magazine!

Kudos to Marci!

OFFCenter shop manager and artist-extra-ordinaire Marcia Sednek keeps finding new audiences with increasing popularity and interest in her unique "RE"creations.

Ashley M. Biggers of Albuquerque the Magazine recently interviewed Marci for an article as Albuquerque's "Creatives" highlight (photos by Liz Lopez) for the June 2010 issue.

Get your copy now!

http://www.abqthemag.com/current/7.php

OFFCenter Artists Celebrate Recyled Art and the Earth!

Visit the OFFCenter booths as we celebrate this year's Co-op Earth-Fest theme: "Making Change" at:

The Co-op’s Annual
Celebrate the Earth Festival
Sunday, April 25,
10am-6pm
BEHIND THE NOB HILL CO-OP, ON SILVER STREET BETWEEN CARLISLE AND TULANE
For a schedule of events, artists, musicians and more visit www.lamontanita.coop

Then venture across Central to see OFFCenter Artists Marcia Sednek and Susan Tische at
The 4th Annual Nob Hill Recycled
ART SHOW
SUNDAY, APRIL 25, 10-5PM SPONSORED BY MASKS Y MAS FURNITURE,
OUTSIDE AT 111 CARLISLE NE, AT COPPER
more info at http://www.dukecityfix.com/events/4th-annual-nob-hill-recycle

Thanks to the Co-op, Kenny Chavez & Kiko Torres for inviting OFFCenter artists who reuse materials in innovative ways!

Free Holiday Art Nights in December

FREE Holiday Art Nights on Wednesdays in December
5 to 7:30 pm (open late for these special event nights)

• Free and open to anyone.
• Bring your family!

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Gift cards and RECYCLED PLASTIC PLACEMATS
Wednesday, December 2nd

Roberta Delgado will demonstrate a simple printing technique to your produce beautiful personalized cards.
Marci Sednek will also demonstrate how to produce laminated recycled plastic placemats using the same process used for our signature OFFBAGs.

• Both products are great ideas for the holidays.
• Bring your recycled plastic to use and share.
• Free and open to anyone.
• Bring your family.

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Ornaments and GIFT CLOTHING AND SCARVES
Wednesday, December 9th

Susan Tische will be on hand to show how to turn recycled fabrics into the coolest attire.

Also we will be producing pass-around ornaments. What is this? Small groups of artists will sit around a table of materials and work for 5 minutes on an ornament design and then pass it to the next artist. The ornament is passed around the group until it returns to the originator in its finished glory! Great spontaneous fun!

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Holiday gift bags and paper
Wednesday, December 16th

Our last Holiday art night this year will feature decorating paper and folding gift bags using stamps, paints, markers, glitter and anything else you can find in the studio that touches your spirit!

The OFFBag

Hello all OFFCenter folks! Yesterday I was OFF to do errands on my bike wearing my handy dandy OFFbag! It was perfect to hold whatever I was hauling OFF to the post office, etc. - and its diagonal strap keeps it from falling OFF my shoulder! Are you OFF to town with your OFFbag? I hope so! See all the new available OFFbags at OFFCenter, new sizes too!

Giant Newspaper Hats

Where do we begin to describe the Folk Art Festival today? How can we possibly thank our community of sponsors (Mama's Minerals, RANA, and more to be fully acknowledged very soon), our loyal new and returning artists/vendors, our troops of volunteers, musicians, dancers, and tribe of mentors at the artmaking tents?

It may take several days. For now . . . enjoy the hats.

OFFBags - the hottest thing in recycled fashion

Above, Molly models an OFFBag portfolio constructed of recycled plastic bags and packaging.

Be on the breaking edge of the OFFBag fashion movement! Stop by and see our current selection of OFFBags on display in the OFFCenter Shop.

Just a Few More Summerfest Photos

Our cozy tables and tent. Lots of room to create!

The hair beading table is always a hit. Margaret Lopez concentrates while big sister helps out.

We altered 45's in honor of Old Time Rock n Roll, aka "50's" Night.

We found out that you can be too young to make art.
Dad was willing, but Junior was determined to run and climb.

More Summerfest Artists

We featured some of the boys who visited our Summerfest booth on Saturday. Here are a few of the gals!

Boyz and Butterflies at Summerfest

Here are some of the fine young lads who visited our booth at Summerfest tonight, proudly sharing the projects they completed at our art tables. Our projects this week were butterflies made from fabric, glitter and clothespins; hair beading; and collaged 45 records to go with the 1950s musical Summerfest theme.

Stay tuned for more photos of this week's Summerfest.

The OFFBag Exclusively at OFFCenter

Here's a sturdy, recycled market bag developed by OFFCenter for OFFCenter -- and for you!
Drop by the studio to see what's in stock. They go too quickly to photograph each one . . .

Marcie models a medium sized OFFBag.

These market bags are so roomy and unique -- made almost exclusively ofrecycled plastic bags by a few of our studio artists. Prices range from $30 to $40 and we're selling these bags almost as quickly as we can make them.

Marcie tells me that it takes 100 years for ONE of the plastic bags in this OFFBag to break down. That's why so much of our art at OFFCenter is recycled -- we want to reduce, reuse, and raise funds for OFFCenter!