This past Thursday, March 27, the Welker Room was transformed into an art oasis as visual arts, spoken word, and music were showcased for the 2014 Extraction. This is the third year the Artist Collective has hosted the art festival. Extraction was a combined effort of Artist Collective members Meg Scanlon, Rosemary Davies and Denesha Moorefield. Together they reached out to painters, sketch artists, printmakers, sculptors, musicians, writers and overall art enthusiasts to come and celebrate all things artistic.
Extraction began at 8 p.m. and upon entering, guests were greeted with the “Caffé D’Amore” coffee station. Here, people could order handcrafted specialty beverages prepared with local and organic ingredients made fresh by Sarah Walsh, a trained Barista and owner of “Caffé D’Amore”.
The artwork displayed at extraction was very well received. First year Lynzy Groves’ cityscape was appreciated along with senior Shannon Ward’s floppy disk boxes.
First Year Jilene Penhale admiring student artwork
“I was inspired to make the boxes when I saw my mom throwing floppy disks [away],” Ward said. “I come from a recycling family so it is very rare for us to throw anything away. I pulled them out of the trash; I had to do something with these.”
Attendees were free to browse the artwork at their leisure, snacking on pita chips and artichoke dip. There were many stations where attendees could experience art first hand.
Denesha Moorfeld had a henna station where she tattooed participants. Kristen Shaeffer, a Film and Digital technology professor, is currently working on a collaborative animation project exploring how people are connected to one another in ways we cannot perceive. At extraction, Shaeffer passed out worksheets of silhouetted dancers. Those who were interested were asked to trace the silhouette of dancers and dedicate the their drawing to someone they have a strong connection with.
Later in the evening there was spoken word poetry. First year Maryann Fix opened with two heartfelt poems showing vulnerability and love. Other featured readers included Liz Sawyer, Chloe Bell and Kaitlyn Lacey.
First Year Meg Scanlon helped plan the event
“I think it’s nights like these, that are centered around people’s passion, that make Chatham so beautiful” Fix said.
The evening concluded with live music. Sophomore Melissa Garrett performed some of her original ukulele songs and sang a duet with senior Esther Troetschel. Following Garrett was sophomore Natalie Beck, who sang some of her original songs accompanied by the ukulele as well. Senior Esther Troetschel then sang a solo in Yiddish.
“I’m very happy with the turnout” said Davies. “In Extraction we make the art we see in ourselves. Whether it’s in visual, spoken word, or music you can really [see] all of the art forms working together.”