Jess || mother + artist (based in Philadelphia)

Just noticed the original post about the next pop up didn’t include the slide with things like time, address, cost, etc. My apologies! Here it is and enjoy this quote from Henriette Wyeth: “In still life I became obsessed by the shape or color of an object—a shell, flower, stone. They are simple, elemental—but very complex. The way in which one object relates to another becomes a drama. I paint the air that goes around it—the mystery, color. Anything can be interesting if you like it and study it. It’s a very personal thing.” —Henriette Wyeth @wildflowerrcollective @wellspringmotherart

Motherhood. It requires and gives so much. Particularly in those early years it is a time that stretches us, stretches are capacity to hold and love and listen and respond, it expands us, sometimes almost to the point of breaking. The beauty and the chaos intertwined. On June 11, join Wellspring: A Mother Artist Project in collaboration with The Wildflower Collective for an artmaking pop-up workshop for caregivers and children to make art together and explore. Inspired by the art of mother and painter Henriette Wyeth we will delve into the beauty hidden in the ordinary, our senses and the goodness of getting to make art alongside your child, sharing in a unique experience of freedom and exploration. For all the details check out the link in our bio or visit: https://forms.gle/CmhJSbZinKbXfppu9 @wellspringmotherart @wildflowerrcollective

“An artist is not special. An artist is an ordinary person who can take ordinary things and make them special.” -Ruth Asawa The creative impulse lives deep within each of us, and sometimes it is our children that remind us of that. Of how good and core to our being it is to touch and hold a brush or weave or move a wooden bead across the contours of a pipe cleaner. Make space for making. It’s good for your body & soul. -Jess

“When you put a seed in the ground, it doesn’t stop growing after eight hours. It keeps going every minute that it’s in the earth. We, too, need to keep growing every moment of every day that we are on this earth.” -Ruth Asawa It was such an immense joy to get to gather, play, imagine, and make together with this delightful group of mamas and littles in the beautiful space that is Ruby Mountain Goods @ruby_mtn (thank you Molly!). We sang, moved our bodies, explored the life and work of artist Ruth Asawa and got our hands and hearts moving as we made our sculptural collages. Can’t wait to gather again, keep an eye out for news soon of the next Wellspring Pop-Up coming in May! -Jess

Only 2 spots left!! Join us for the Wellspring Artmaking Pop-Up for Caregivers and Littles. We’ll be making, playing, and exploring together, all inspired by mother and artist, Ruth Asawa. Check the link in the bio and stories for all the details and to snag one of those final spots! WHO: Caregivers and littles ages 18 months to 5 years old WHEN: Tuesday, April 21 10:00-11:30am WHERE: Ruby Mountain Goods, 6782 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119 COST: $35/child (adult included) @ruby_mtn

Searching for some quiet, light & peace amidst the darkness, sadness & evil in our world #motherartisteyes #chiaroscuro with the @okeedokeebros in the background

Exciting 👏 News 👏 Come join us for a POP-UP process art experience for little artists and their grown-ups inspired by the art & life of sculptor Ruth Asawa on Tuesday April 21st! Through artmaking, story, song, & play we will explore: -art making with ordinary materials -our five senses & the elements of art -how to train our eyes to see beauty in the everyday -and inspired by Ruth Asawa herself, we’ll think about how life and art can flow into and out of each other and how motherhood is integrated into that as a way of finding rest and refreshment amidst the chaos of life with littles (even if you don’t think of yourself as an artist!) WHO: Caregivers and littles ages 18 months to 5 years old WHEN: Tuesday, April 21 10:00-11:30am WHERE: Ruby Mountain Goods, 6782 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119 COST: $35/child (adult included, ask about sibling discount if interested) Note: Spots are limited to insure freedom for movement and play! See bio link and stories to register! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to the instructor, Jess Sweeney (Painter, Arts Director, Educator and Mom of 4). Her email is: [email protected] Come create with us! @wellspringmotherart @commonplaceliving @ruby_mtn

Taking a break here for Lent. Mainly to take a break from the parenting ad algorithm that feels constant on my feed these days. Parenting is hard enough without the temptation to look for more answers that actually just create the feeling that I’m actually not doing well at parenting. And I know that’s a lie to get me to consume and buy miracle fixes. I will still be posting art and reflections and such over on @wellspringmotherart Remember you are dust. And also remember He has risen.

We live in an age of intense sensory overload. If we let it, we can be inundated constantly, constant images, constant sound, constant news, constant. Distraction and overwhelm are not knew phenomena to the human experience, and yet it does feel that our contemporary context has a particularly intense experience of these. It is so easy to tap out on engaging with life, with the world, with the real. So easy to say no to relationships, to unexpected wonders, to the ordinary everyday encounters. The ease in which we can tap out and say no to these things can leave us feeling trapped, isolated, without meaning, anxiety flooding us. Join the Collegium Institute for it’s spring Ars Vivendi Arts Initiative conversation as we welcome writer, Shemaiah Gonzalez, @shemaiahg , author of Undaunted Joy: The Revolutionary Act of Cultivating Delight. In this evening conversation, moderated by Ars Vivendi Director and artist, Jess Sweeney @commonplaceliving , we’ll explore how we can carve out space for silence amidst the noise, find rhythm and pattern instead of the chaos of doom scrolling, how we can cultivate joy instead of anxiety? Ultimately we’ll explore how pausing and choosing to craft a life with space for joy and wonder and delight, what we might call an artful life, can do what Picasso claimed was art’s role: to” wash away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Date: Monday, March 16th, 5-6:30pm Location: Penn Newman Center (111 S. 38th St, University City Philadelphia)

“Our vision of the world is shaped by what we see. What an artist sees, therefore, shapes the world that she shows to others in her work. Again and again, I look at these frail, magnificent bodies. I look at them to be sure they’re safe. I look at them because they demand it of me: “Mama, look at me”… If I’m bored by those closest to me, what hope do I have of experiencing reverence for the stranger? How quickly can boredom erode into disregard, which can erode into violence, when we fail to be awed by others? On the contrary, if we practice a discipline of loving contemplation (which Ricketts points to in the work and practice of artists like Becky Suss, Marilynne Robinson and more)… will our vision be trained to regard all people through eyes of love? … If we really saw each other, would our communities be marked by tenderness and not brutality?” -an excerpt from The Mother Artist by @bycatherinericketts Today’s news and the awfulness of the last weeks has had me in a whirlwind of sadness, anger, disbelief. Today particularly I’ve been thinking a lot about the disintegration of culture, a visual noise that blinds us, imagery that corrodes and does violence to our bodies and souls. And so today I wanted to try and share images that are giving me hope and flooding my imagination, that show another way of caring, loving, and having awe in the other. These works are from a variety of artists, mothers, fathers, living and dead, black, brown, and white but all help us to see and to be opened up. Elizabeth Catlett Archibald Motley Jr Alice Neel Latoya Hobbs @latoyahobbs Frederic Bazille Horace Pippin Elizabeth Catlett Clementine Hunter Saturnino Herrán Thanks to @sr_josephine @esaumccaulley @lorewilbert @brcremer @asherald for your words that helped me further process and think through the violence and lies that are being thrust into the political and social visual landscape.

Motherhood. It is a portal and way of life. An adventure and a transformation. A death and a rebirth. A delight and a cross. Full of joy and anger and sorrow and goodness. A place where wonder and confoundment meet. A realm of losing and discovering oneself. So much to carry and hold. In 2019, at 36 weeks pregnant with my first baby I walked into the doors of @lifecyclewellnessandbirth . I was met with care and wonder and goodness. I was not just a name on a chart going through some sort of strange medical process, I was a whole person with a heart and mind and soul who was preparing for a transformation and the arrival of a new little soul. I was treated with kindness, with a lovely sense of humor, and as worthy of understanding my body and what to anticipate. Lifecycle gave me the gift of their time and attention. Since then I have had four babies under their roof and have continued to be held and nurtured, through postpartum, through my nursing journey, through a surgery they walked me through. They have excitedly made my other kiddos part of the process by welcoming them at appointments and teaching them too. Letting them work the Doppler and measure my belly and hear the baby’s heartbeat. I had looked forward to continuing my care there through various stages of life and to maybe one day even see my grandchildren born there. I’m so sad, shocked, and angry, and feeling the void that this closure will leave in the Philadelphia area. #maternalcare #maternalcarematters #motherhood @lifecyclewellnessandbirth

Only a few days away! Join us this Friday as we explore the art of crafting a beautiful life; exploring what it means to shape our souls and navigate the wrestle and struggle amidst that. This event is free and open to all, to save your spot rsvp here: /calendar/on-the-poetics-of-making Excited to explore this topic with three PA-based artists: @amybornman @joshuastampermusic @leenowellwilson This event is co-sponsored by the Penn Art History Dept., Penn Visual Studies Dept., Penn English Dept., and Wellspring: A Mother Artist Project. @pennarthistory @pennvisualstudies @pennenglishdepartment @wellspringmotherart