The Common Cup

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Who We Are

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The creative process of the To: & From: began with a pile of National Geogrophic Magozines from the 70s, calendars lost on top shelves, and old children's books collecting dust. Amused with the choos and interest of the images, I wos inspired to start producing collages. After the the most intriguing and random images were unearthed from the piles of scrap, I wos left to work with what would be the subjects of the strange, imaginative stories of To: and From: A Collaboration of Art and Prose. From these collages come postcards, and from these, the large body of acrylic paintings. After creating the life-size paintings, I took a step back and wondered how myself or others might tell a story of each piece. I began writing intricate stories on each postcard to match its piece, all written to and from imaged characters of o story that I felt best fit the pieces. „To: and From: A Collaboration of Art and Prose" wos shown at CIA Cafe in Portland Maine for a solo show in November 2020. The work is now gladly being shown by Artist Sophio Noel at the Common Cup Cafe here in Ann Arbor for the month of February. Prompted by my desire to involve others in my pieces in a collaborative way, I ORIGINALLY placed mailboxes under each piece in the 2020 exhibition filled with each pieces consecutive postcards. The public was free to use their imagination and interact with the art as they wrote their own stories "to:" whoever they wished, "From:" whoever they wished on the postcards. By the end of the two month long exhibition, the mailboxes were filled with whimsical stories and narratives of the pieces, some sounded like the anonymous viewer's day up until they had stumbled upon the work at the cafe, and others contained monkeys from space and flying cars. Whoever anyone fell inspired to write, it was amazing to experience this collaborative storytelling conversation with the public through my artwork. For this month at the Common Cup, you can view and read the coordinating postcards Sophia herself wrote by scanning the QR code next to each painting. I hope you enjoy!

The Common Cup

Cultivating a Culture of Belonging

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What We’ve Been Up To

Artist Statement: Sophia Noel

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