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Sasha Chavchavadze

  • Mixed Media Work
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SALLY Project

Conceived and curated by artist/curators JoAnne McFarland and Sasha Chavchavadze, SALLY is an interdisciplinary, community-centered project that uses art to revitalize communities around their forgotten history as a catalyst for change. Through community outreach, exhibitions and public conversations SALLY brings together artists, writers, performers, and scholars intrigued by women, like Sally Hemings, whose narratives have been erased or forgotten. The SALLY Project explores how contemporary conceptions of white/black, male/female, young/old, rich/poor reflect or disrupt earlier cultural norms. The process strengthens communities of artists and others through dialogue around complex, often divisive issues.

The SALLY Project has completed nine iterations in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, with a tenth iteration planned in Somerville, MA in Fall 2022. To date, over 35 artists have been featured in The SALLY Project. With each SALLY iteration, at least half of the participants are artists of color, or from other historically marginalized communities. Presented in interdisciplinary, community-centered venues, such as libraries, historical societies, boathouses, and universities, the SALLY project blurs the line between art and other disciplines, between artists and non-artists, reaching non-traditional art audiences.

artist: Sasha Chavchavadze, "No Words",
artist: Sasha Chavchavadze, "No Words",

SALLY Brooklyn Exhibition, Artpoetica Poetica Project Space

SALLY Project Biography: Mary Church Terrell
SALLY Project Biography: Mary Church Terrell
artist: Fabiola Jean-Louis, "Marie Antoinette is Dead", Installation Shot
artist: Fabiola Jean-Louis, "Marie Antoinette is Dead", Installation Shot

SALLY Brooklyn Exhibition, Old Stone House Museum

artist: Carol Kunstadt, "Pressing On: Homage to Hannah More", Installation Shot
artist: Carol Kunstadt, "Pressing On: Homage to Hannah More", Installation Shot

SALLY Brooklyn Exhibition, Artpoetica Project Space

artist: Jee Hwang, "Flower Portrait"
artist: Jee Hwang, "Flower Portrait"

SALLY Brooklyn Exhibition, Artpoetica Project Space

SALLY Brooklyn Exhibition, The Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse, Installation Shot
SALLY Brooklyn Exhibition, The Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse, Installation Shot
SALLY Project Biography: Harriet Bailey
SALLY Project Biography: Harriet Bailey

Footnote Project

FOOTNOTE is a collaborative project that uses art to focus on forgotten history and its effect on memory and place. FOOTNOTE exhibitions and projects reactivate the public memory as a catalyst for change, exploring the pathos and power of forgotten narratives through selections of art and artifacts. Conceived by Sasha Chavchavadze, Footnote projects are created by artist Karen Mainenti and Sasha Chavchavadze. The Footnote project space is located in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, and houses the Hall of Gowanus, an archive of art and archival material related to the history and environment of the Gowanus Canal.

For information contact sashachavagmail.com.

Banner Image: Sasha Chavchavadze, FOOTNOTE: Matching Red Stars, Museum of Matches Project, Archival Pigment Print on Canson, Assemblage of art, artifacts and books, 2021

Sasha Chavchavadze, Footnote - Museum of Matches
Sasha Chavchavadze, Footnote - Museum of Matches

An Footnote installation at the Katonah Museum of Art, 2021

Abraham El Makawy and Micheal Lombardo, 1 Shot
Abraham El Makawy and Micheal Lombardo, 1 Shot

A Footnote installation at Footnote Project Space Unnatural Histories exhibition.

Carnival of Connectivity

In 2017 I initiated the Carnival of Connectivity Collective (CCC), a traveling collective of artists, poets and performers, who engaged Brooklyn neighborhoods in spontaneous, playful, site-specific art carnivals that deepened our connection to each other, our history and environment. A 2018 Brooklyn Arts Fund grant recipient, CCC collaborated with local non-profits as it researched and developed interactive art projects based on the history, environment and social issues of specific Brooklyn neighborhoods. As artists, the synergy of chance encounters with community members on the streets of Brooklyn broadened our artistic reach in an art environment that feels increasingly compartmentalized. Offered to adults and children,  CCC projects bridged the divide between art and other disciplines, and between artists and non-artists as we altered perspectives and delighted our audiences.

CCC was inspired by our study of early 20th century Progressive art movements, that considered art to be a human necessity and a holistic practice extending into all aspects of life. Our work was loosely based on Victor D'Amico's 1940s Children Art Carnivals. A forgotten art visionary, D'Amico ran the People's Art Center at MoMA from 1937 - 1969.  

CCC Projects have taken place at:
Expo Gowanus 2018, Gowanus, Brooklyn
Expo Gowanus 2017, Gowanus, Brooklyn
Smith Street Festival 2017, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn

Carnival of Connectivity Artists, Educators, Performers:
Nick Fracaro, Rob Hickman, Lauren Cannon, JoAnne McFarland, Gabriele Schafer, Wayne Moseley, Robert Gould, Jennifer Marshall, Sweet Aminata, Amy Brook Snider, Cathy Feurst, Tammy Pittman, Sasha Chavchavadze, Eva Melas, Peter Reich, Karen Gibbons, Charles Goldman, Paul Benney, Susan Newmark Fleminger, Donna Maria de Creeft, Todd Drake, Rosemary Brooks, Paula Lalala, Robyn Love, Carolyn Hall, Eve Mosher, Ijaaza EL, Frantasia Fryer, Mother Mary Glover, Angela Kramer, Lourdes Sanchez., Sara Torres.

Special thanks to our collaborating non-profits and businesses:
Gowanus Canal Conservancy
Artichoke Dance
The Lower Eastside Ecology Center
The Textile Arts Center
Gowanus Souvenir Shop
Fifth Avenue Committee
South Brooklyn Local Development Corporation
Arts Gowanus

Funded by the BROOKLYN ARTS FUND
The Carnival of Connectivity Collective was sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC).

 

Sweet Aminata
Sweet Aminata

CCC Performing Poet, Expo Gowanus 2018

CoC logo.jpg
BAC logo color.png
Mother Mary Glover
Mother Mary Glover

CCC Artist Mother Mary Glover presents her life and work (and a dancing lesson), Expo Gowanus 2018

Artichoke Dance costume workshop
Artichoke Dance costume workshop

Artichoke Dance Activists at Expo Gowanus 2018

D'Amico Gift Exchanger
D'Amico Gift Exchanger

CCC artist/educator Sara Torres, Expo Gowanus 2018

Hungry March Band
Hungry March Band

Expo Gowanus, 2018

Tiny Picket Signs
Tiny Picket Signs

CCC artists Gabriele Schafer, Wayne Mosely, Nick Fracaro, Expo Gowanus 2018

CCC Untamed Botany Project
CCC Untamed Botany Project

CCC artist Lourdes Sanchez, Expo Gowanus 2018

Raise Your Voice banner
Raise Your Voice banner

CCC artist Robyn Love’s Raise Your Voice banner, made from plastic bags, Expo Gowanus 2018

Gowanus Wordplay
Gowanus Wordplay

CCC artists JoAnne McFarland and Donna Maria de Creeft, Expo Gowanus 2018

Gowanus Wordplay
Gowanus Wordplay

Gowanus Lowlands words and imagery, Expo Gowanus 2018

Mapping Gowanus
Mapping Gowanus

CCC artists Eve Mosher and Carolyn Hall, Expo Gowanus 2018

CCC Poet Ijaaza El (right) with Mother Mary Glover
CCC Poet Ijaaza El (right) with Mother Mary Glover

Dancing in the rain after Ijaaza El performed her poetry at Expo Gowanus 2018

Tiny Pickets Signs and D'Amico Gift Exchanger
Tiny Pickets Signs and D'Amico Gift Exchanger

CCC artists Wayne Mosely, Gabriele Schafer, Sara Torres, Expo Gowanus 2018

Manufacturing Gowanus
Manufacturing Gowanus

CCC Educator Angela Kramer, Expo Gowanus 2018

Plastic Bag Knitting
Plastic Bag Knitting

CCC Common Threads Orchestra artist Rosemary Brooks, Expo Gowanus 2018

CCC Gowanus Birds Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC Gowanus Birds Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC giant Victor D'Amico puppet, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC giant Victor D'Amico puppet, Expo Gowanus 2017

"Art is a human necessity" Victor D'Amico. Director, People's Art Center, MoMA 1937 - 1969. CCC Artist: Nick Fracaro

CCC Wheel of Fortune Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC Wheel of Fortune Project, Expo Gowanus 2017

CCC artist: Paula Lalala

Wheel of Fortune Project
Wheel of Fortune Project
CCC Gowanus Birds Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC Gowanus Birds Project, Expo Gowanus 2017

CCC artist: Eva Melas

Gowanus Birds Project
Gowanus Birds Project
Gowanus Bird Project - Affordable Bird Housing
Gowanus Bird Project - Affordable Bird Housing
Gowanus Bird Project - Affordable Bird Housing
Gowanus Bird Project - Affordable Bird Housing

CCC artists: Peter Reich and Karen Gibbons

CCC Gowanus Word Play Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC Gowanus Word Play Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
Gowanus Word Play Project
Gowanus Word Play Project
CCC Poopy Pipes Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC Poopy Pipes Project, Expo Gowanus 2017

CCC artist: Jennifer Marshall

Poopy Pipes Project
Poopy Pipes Project
CCC Tide Mill/Breadmaking Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC Tide Mill/Breadmaking Project, Expo Gowanus 2017

CCC artist: Todd Drake

Tide Mill/Breadmaking Project
Tide Mill/Breadmaking Project
CCC Tiny Picket Signs Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC Tiny Picket Signs Project, Expo Gowanus 2017

CCC artists: Gabriele Schafer, Wayne Mosely

Tiny Picket Signs Project
Tiny Picket Signs Project
CCC Perspectacles Project, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC Perspectacles Project, Expo Gowanus 2017

CCC artists: Charles Goldman, Paul Benney

Perspectacles Project
Perspectacles Project
Perspectacles Project
Perspectacles Project
CCC Common Threads Orchestra, Expo Gowanus 2017
CCC Common Threads Orchestra, Expo Gowanus 2017

Textile Art Center

Common Threads Orchestra - Paper Weaving
Common Threads Orchestra - Paper Weaving

CCC artists: Susan Newmark-Fleminger

Common Threads Orchestra
Common Threads Orchestra
CCC Picture Book Project
CCC Picture Book Project

CCC Educators Amy Brook Snider, Cathy Feurst (with CCC artists Sweet Aminata, Susan Newmark Fleminger, and Elise Long of Spoke the Hub), Expo Gowanus 2017

CCC Wind Chimes from Hard Drives Project
CCC Wind Chimes from Hard Drives Project

Lower Eastside Ecology Center, Expo Gowanus 2017

Carnival of Connectivity | BK Stories

BRIC TV Video, Carnival of Connectivity at Expo Gowanus 2017

Proteus Gowanus

In 2005 I founded a non-profit, interdisciplinary gallery and reading room called Proteus Gowanus in Brooklyn, NY. The gallery exhibited art, artifacts and books revolving around yearlong themes, such as "library," "mend," "battle." An inclusive, collaborative space, visitors were invited to contribute their ideas, artwork, artifacts and objects. Named after the Greek sea god of change and the adjacent Gowanus Canal, the gallery was a vibrant cultural hub that deepened the community's connection to each other and to their environment for ten years.

Proteus Gowanus was a collaborative creative "engine" generated by a thriving community of artists, workers in other disciplines and Projects-in-Residence. Focused on reconnecting art to other disciplines, and functioning decidedly "outside" the commercial art world, Proteus Gowanus was nevertheless invited to present our "creative process" by the MoMA Department of Education in a workshop called "A Way of Thinking," and in a Ted talk and installation at TedxGowanus. The gallery received grants from, among others, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the Brooklyn Arts Council.  

For me, Proteus Gowanus was an extension of my studio practice and ten-year labor of love.

PG Co-founders: Sasha Chavchavadze and PK Ramani

PG Core Collaborators:
Sasha Chavchavadze, PK Ramani, Tammy Pittman, Wendy Walker, Tom La Farge, Angela Kramer.

PG Projects-in Residence:
Proteotypes, Morbid Anatomy Library, Fixers Collective, Writhing Society, Reanimation Library, Hall of Gowanus, Observatory, Museum of Matches, D’Amico Gowanus Laboratory, Battle Pass Collective, bkbx[Brooklyn Box].

  Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, 2005

Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, 2005

  Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail,  Hall of Gowanus, 2007

Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, Hall of Gowanus, 2007

  Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail , Mend exhibition, 2007

Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, Mend exhibition, 2007

  Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, 2009

Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, 2009

  Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, 2005

Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, 2005

  Proteus Gowanus,  Hall of Gowanus, 2010

Proteus Gowanus, Hall of Gowanus, 2010

  Proteus Gowanus,  Projects in Residence/Reanimation Library, 2010

Proteus Gowanus, Projects in Residence/Reanimation Library, 2010

  Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, 2006

Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, 2006

D'Amico Gowanus Laboratory

In 2014, I initiated the D’Amico Gowanus Laboratory Collective (DGLC), a group of artists, educators and performers who developed projects in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood inspired by the life and work of Victor D’Amico, an often-forgotten visionary art thinker and educator who ran the Museum of Modern Art Department of Education from 1937 – 1969.

Victor D’Amico believed fervently that art is a human necessity that should be experienced by all. His inclusive, experiential, exploratory ideas are profoundly important today, when art has drifted away from this essential function. His work was based on early Modernist ideas that promoted art as a holistic lifestyle and stressed the importance of democratic principles and broad access. Through his People’s Art Center, Children’s Art Carnival and War Veteran’s Art Center at MoMA, D’Amico’s work touched countless lives.

The Collective’s work used D’Amico’s ideas as an improvisational stepping off point to develop new creative projects adapted to contemporary needs. Projects have included:

A series of study/laboratory sessions in 2014/15, examining D'Amico's techniques, the people who influenced him, and the Progressive environment in which he lived. The sessions included: hands on art projects from D'Amico's book Art for the Family, and talks by, among others, Wendy Woon, Deputy Director of the MoMA Education Department.

A DGLC exhibition in 2015, Useful Objects at the bkbx gallery in Brooklyn, NY. The exhibition was based on 1930s and 40s MoMA exhibitions called "Useful Objects Under $5 and $10", that stressed affordability and broad access to the arts.

The Carnival of Connectivity, a group of 30 traveling artists, educators and performers, established in May 2017, and based loosely on D'Amico's Children's Art Carnivals. The group interacted with communities and audiences in Brooklyn and beyond through experiential, hands on art projects that connect community members to each other and to their environment. 
 

  Art for the Family by Victor D'Amico,  Museum of Modern Art, 1954

Art for the Family by Victor D'Amico, Museum of Modern Art, 1954

Museum of Modern Art archival photograph
Museum of Modern Art archival photograph

Children's Art Carnival motivational device designed by Victor D'Amico

Museum of Modern Art archival photograph
Museum of Modern Art archival photograph

Children's Art Carnival motivational device designed by Victor D'Amico

D'Amico Gowanus Laboratory/study group material

Useful Object Under $5 circa 2015
Useful Object Under $5 circa 2015

from the 2015 DGLC "Useful Object" exhibition, bkbx gallery

  Useful objects under $5  from the 2015 DGLC "Useful Objects" exhibition

Useful objects under $5 from the 2015 DGLC "Useful Objects" exhibition

CoC logo.jpg
 Victor D'Amico puppet, 2017 Carnival of Connectivity, Brooklyn, NY

Victor D'Amico puppet, 2017 Carnival of Connectivity, Brooklyn, NY

  2017 Carnival of Connectivity,  detail "Common Threads Orchestra" project (Textile Arts Center looms)

2017 Carnival of Connectivity, detail "Common Threads Orchestra" project (Textile Arts Center looms)

  2017 Carnival of Connectivity,  "Perspectacles" project

2017 Carnival of Connectivity, "Perspectacles" project

  2017 Carnival of Connectivity , Artifacts Wheel of Fortune project

2017 Carnival of Connectivity, Artifacts Wheel of Fortune project

  2017 Carnival of Connectivity,  Birds of Gowanus project

2017 Carnival of Connectivity, Birds of Gowanus project

Hall of Gowanus

The Hall of Gowanus is a community-curated archive of art, artifacts and documents related to the history and environment of the Gowanus Canal, a post-industrial waterway that has played a central role in Brooklyn history. The archive was conceived and co-curated by Sasha Chavchavadze and Tammy Pittman at Proteus Gowanus , an interdisciplinary exhibition space, from 2009 until the gallery closed in 2015. The Hall of Gowanus was a Project-in-Residence at Proteus Gowanus with a designated 12” x 25” exhibition space.

Artifacts were donated by community members to the Hall of Gowanus, often gathered during excursions along the canal. Eymund Diegel, a Brooklyn citizen scientist, amassed many of the artifacts, assisting with installation and presentation. Artists were invited to respond to the artifacts, leading to ongoing, rotating exhibitions of art, artifacts and documents.

In 2012, educator Angela Kramer created the Hall of Gowanus Molinology Project at Proteus Gowanus to explore the forgotten history of tide mills on Gowanus Creek. Some of the earliest mills in America were in Brooklyn, including Brouwer's Mill, built in the mid-17th century near today's Union Street Bridge. Angela offered hands on family workshops on tide mills.

In 2014, Angela Kramer and Sasha Chavchavadze presented the Hall of Gowanus in a TedxGowanus talk.

After 2015, Eymund Deigel, Brad Vogel, Owen Foote and other members of the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club community, continued to collect Gowanus artifacts, creating the Gowanus Dredgers Hall of Gowanus collection, which is currently on display at the Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse.

From 2016 - 2020, the original Hall of Gowanus archive was stewarded by the Gowanus Canal Conservancy , and used in GCC’s educational programming. GCC staff created a Hall of Gowanus Story Map in 2020 describing the archive in the context of the Gowanus environment and history. Since 2020, the original archive has been in storage at FOOTNOTE Project Space.

Special Projects

From 2016 - 2019, a selection of artifacts from the original Hall of Gowanus was on display at the Gowanus Souvenir Shop, curated by Ute Zimmerman. Ute created a website called Gowanus Wunderkammer People’s Archive Program to document artifacts, inviting the community to contribute to the archive.

In October 2021, the art collective Assembly Required curated three interconnected exhibitions that incorporated the Hall of Gowanus artifacts at the Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse, Footnote Project Space and Artpoetica Project Space. The exhibitions were open during the month of October, including the Arts Gowanus Open Studios weekend on October 16/17.

In Spring 2021, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy created a three-month special exhibition of the original Hall of Gowanus artifacts displayed in their window at the Can Factory on 3rdSt/3rd Ave in Brooklyn.

In 2017, Ute Zimmerman designed a Hall of Gowanus logo, and created a document outlining the important role a Hall of Gowanus museum could play in the Gowanus community.









Sasha Chavchavadze, Gowanus Lost
Sasha Chavchavadze, Gowanus Lost

Archival Pigment Print on Canson, assemblage of mixed media art and artifacts from the Hall of Gowanus Archive

Hall of Gowanus, Proteus Gowanus, 2007
Hall of Gowanus, Proteus Gowanus, 2007

Maps of the Gowanus Creek and Canal from the 1600s to the present, and Gowanus artifacts. Community curator Eymund Diegel created the installation, mounting the maps on vintage wood found along the Canal.

Unnatural Histories Interactive Vitrine
Unnatural Histories Interactive Vitrine

Created by educator Angela Kramer in 2008 for the Hall of Gowanus at Proteus Gowanus. The vitrine contains interactive drawers for viewing Gowanus artifacts with descriptive text.

Unnatural Histories Interactive Vitrine
Unnatural Histories Interactive Vitrine

The vitrine was refurbished in September 2021 by educator Angela Kramer and her daughter Eliza. It is on exhibition at the Footnote Project Space.

Hall of Gowanus, Proteus Gowanus, 2010
Hall of Gowanus, Proteus Gowanus, 2010

The Hall of Gowanus was used as an educational tool by local schools from 2007 - 2018.

Hall of Gowanus logo designed by Ute Zimmerman
Hall of Gowanus logo designed by Ute Zimmerman
Assembly Required Exhibitions
Assembly Required Exhibitions

In October 2021 the art collective Assembly Required organized three exhibitions that revolve around the Hall of Gowanus artifacts at FOOTNOTE Project Space, Artpoetica, and the Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse.

Hall of Gowanus Window Display, Spring 2021
Hall of Gowanus Window Display, Spring 2021

The Gowanus Canal Conservancy hosted an exhibition of Hall of Gowanus artifacts in their window in Spring 2021

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Back to Public Projects
artist: Sasha Chavchavadze, "No Words",
7
SALLY Project
2
Footnote Project
Sweet Aminata
42
Carnival of Connectivity
  Proteus Gowanus exhibition detail, 2005
8
Proteus Gowanus
  Art for the Family by Victor D'Amico,  Museum of Modern Art, 1954
12
D'Amico Gowanus Laboratory
Sasha Chavchavadze, Gowanus Lost
8
Hall of Gowanus

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