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“Art at the Market” will showcase local artists and WMCAT art activities

Aug30

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Successful local artist, Derrick “Vito” Hollowell has taken part in “Art at the Market” the past several years.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market hosts “Art at the Market” during market hours, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 17 at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 900 Fuller Ave. SE 49506.  The date was chosen to coincide with Artprize as this event is not always accessible to artists from the Market’s neighborhoods or neighbors living nearby.

Also, the neighborhood has many accomplished artists in its midst. Art at The Market will provide them an opportunity to showcase their talents, inspire their neighbors and share any messages that their art expresses. Our Kitchen Table (OKT) has engaged artist and former director of Heartside Art Gallery, Sarah Scott, to organize the event.

WMCAT mobile printmaking! The Bandit Zine button-maker! The market’s community partner in the event, The West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology, will set up its mobile printmaking station. Students are designing a pro-community image that can be printed on fabric. Market patrons can bring their own blank shirt or fabric to be printed-on or buy a blank shirt on-site. They can also make their own buttons, courtesy of The Bandit Zine, a local zine accepting works of all different mediums from across the world focusing on social-justice issues. Bandit Zine will also vend local body-positive zines and wears.

Featured artists include:

Derrick “Vito” Hollowell has had work on exhibit at Hopcat, Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, Richard App Gallery, his gallery, the L Loft,  and New York City’s MOMA. Vito will display original paintings and prints.

Sofia Ramirez-Hernandez,  Saugatuck Center for the Arts 2016 Artist in Residence, will show framed drawings from her #SofiaDrawsEveryDay project that documents her will to fight her own tendencies and the good times, too.

Magnus Anyanwu, a Heartside Gallery artist, will display his Third-eye paintings. Anyanwu’s influences include Japanese anime, Sailor Jerry tattoos and his industrial design studies at Kendall Collage of Art and Design.

Chasity Khanyi Moore, doula and healing arts practitioner of Love and Light Healing, will vend her wrapped crystals and healing body salves and oils.

Rokhaya Ndao, Motherland Beauties, will showcase handmade jewelry and bags. Motherland Beauties offers African art and accessories, promotes African art and culture and funds women’s projects in Senegal, West Africa.

Claire Fisher, artist/musician, will show her vibrant, whimsical folk art that comments on icons of modern life and spirituality.

Eddie Killowatts, musician/artist, will show his pencil drawings and shadow boxes – and play a couple sets on guitar for the event. Killowatts currently plays bass for local Latin-rock band, Cabildo.

 

Friday’s market hosts GRFD safety program & GR Creative Youth Center

Aug24

 

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The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market seeks to share community resources as well as nutritious foods. Last week, Planned Parenthood shared important information about its important programs and services.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market will host two important community partners Friday. The Grand Rapids Creative Youth Center (CYC) provides Grand Rapids kids with free after-school creative writing programs. They will share information about their programs and host two hands-on activities. Kids will be able to make their own little books and participate in a black-out poetry activity.

 

The Grand Rapids Fire Department Residential Safety Program will share information on how homeowners can access free in home fire safety assessments, free smoke alarm upgrades and installations and one-on-one fire safety consultations specific to the residence.

Now that the harvest season is full swing, market vendors have even more delicious fresh, local produce for sale. In addition, patrons will find Watkins products and cottage foods like popcorn and cookies.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market warmly welcomes patrons using Bridge cards (SNAP), WIC Project Fresh, Cash Value Benefits, Summer EBT, Double Up Food Bucks and debit cards. When using the Double Up Food Bucks program, patrons purchasing Michigan produce at select farmers’ markets with Bridge cards receive $1 for each $1 dollar spent, up to $20 each market visit. The market takes place Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 900 Fuller Ave. SE 49506. This is the last Friday market of the season. The Saturday market runs through mid-November.

 

 

Detroit Healing Arts Come to Grand Rapids

Aug4

adela_2015One Bite at a Time: Food as Medicine

  • Adela Nieves ADS, CCT, RMT
  • 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday August 11
  • Sherman Street Church,
    1000 Sherman St. SE, Grand Rapids 49506
  • Free. Donations accepted.

As part of its Women of Color strategy, OKT is bringing some amazing women (and one man!) to Grand Rapids to educate and inspire through a series of events entitled Women of Color Cook, Eat and Talk. On August 11, Adela Nieves ADS, CCT, RMT, presents “One Bite at a Time: Food as Medicine.” OKT cooking coaches will start the event with a healthy-foods cooking demo and sampling “Take the time to nourish your body by learning some important guidelines for food grouping and combining for ailments such as arthritis, gout, sinus allergies, anxiety and hypertension,” Nieves says. “In this workshop we will share information that supports a strong digestive system and helps the body break down food easily, while also discussing simple and hearty meals. So fun!”

A traditional community health and healing arts practitioner, Nieves currently is studying to become a Naturopathic Doctor. She is deeply committed to integrative wellness approaches, practicing Acudetox (ear acupuncture), indigenous traditional medicine, cupping therapy, whole person natural care, and Reiki for individuals and groups struggling with addiction, PTSD, stress and trauma.

Adela co-founded Homemade Healing, a small neighborhood wellness center in Southwest Detroit. There, she practices supporting those in their journeys to tell their own stories and define health, healing and wellness for themselves. “Homemade Healing is a collaborative space where we decide and practice what healing is for ourselves,” Nieves says. “We offer bodywork and energy work, natural health consultations, classes and shared space that prioritizes the local community.”
In February, the Women of Color Cook, Eat & Talk event featured, Lila Cabbil, president emeritus of the Rosa Parks Institute, and Barbara Roos, former GVSU film department head and 60s civil rights activist, facilitated a dialogue  on white allies against racism. On May 12, Lottie V. Spady, Detroit food and media justice activist, taught about Herbs from Your Garden as Medicine. On May 21, Shane Bernardo, outreach coordinator for Detroit’s Earthworks Urban Farm, led a daylong Anti-racism Summit.

On November 10, Shakara Taylor, mother, returning generation farmer, educator, activist-scholar and PhD student at Michigan State University Department of Community Sustainability, will speak about Woman-ism and Agroecology: An Intersectional Praxis.

VoiceGR Survey at the market Saturday

Jul29

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Representatives of the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University are coming to the market Saturday to ask patrons to take part in the 2016 VoiceGR Survey. VoiceGR is an evolving community survey designed uniquely to connect demographics with the opinions, attitudes, and perceptions of greater Grand Rapids area residents on topics such as ability to meet basic needs, access to healthcare, neighborhood safety,employment, education, and racism and discrimination. The data gathered from the survey is meant to help create a baseline to stimulate conversation on pertinent issues to our region. 

“We primarily administer the survey at community events and meetings throughout the summer and provide incentives to community members for taking the time to complete the survey,” says Taylor Bowe, project assistant.

The survey asks questions about you and your experiences. It takes about 10 – 15 minutes to complete.You can skip any questions you do not want to answer.The survey does not ask for your name.Your personal information will NOT be shared.In the spring of 2017, results can be seen on www.VoiceGR.org.

You can also take the survey online.

 

The primary goal of VoiceGR is to provide objective data to residents, nonprofits, governments, businesses, and other decision makers regarding the perceptions and needs of the community.

Detroit Urban Garden Tour

Jul26

unnamed.png19th Annual Detroit Tour of Urban Gardens & Farms presented by Keep Growing Detroit

On Wednesday, August 3rd guests will travel by bus and bike to get a taste of the routes that Detroit grown food is traveling from farm to table and learn a little bit more about the deep roots of the urban agriculture community. All tours will leave from Eastern Market Shed 3, located east of Russell St. between Adelaide and Division. Check-in begins at 5:00pm and tours will leave at 6:00pm sharp.

Stick around after the tour for a reception featuring delicious food prepared with Grown in Detroit produce by some of Detroit’s best local chefs. Back by popular demand, we’ll also be hosting the “Good Food Bazaar” an interactive space at the reception designed to help introduce tour guests to opportunities to become active volunteers, consumers and supporters of the organizations and entrepreneurs behind the good food momentum in the city.

Registration is now open and early registration is strongly recommended. To register, visit detroitagriculture.net or call 313-757-2635. The fee for the tour, paid when you register, is a sliding scale $15-$100 to offset cost of producing the event, which is valued at $50/person.

Farmers’ Market at the Capitol July 28

Jul25

fmxlr1w__400x400The Michigan Farmers Market Association (MIFMA) is excited to host three Farmers Markets at the Capitol on the East Lawn of the Michigan State Capitol Building in Downtown Lansing. The events will kick off on Thursday, July 28 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. with the future events being held on Thursday, August 25 and September 22.

At the July market, shoppers can visit more than 70 vendors from across the state who sell Michigan-grown and produced products ranging from fresh fruit and vegetables to flowers, meat, cheese, baked goods, prepared foods and much more. Two complimentary yoga classes provided by Lululemon Athletica will be held on the lawn of Capitol from 10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Shoppers are encouraged to join in! In addition, shoppers can learn to prepare their favorite fresh, seasonal produce with cooking demonstrations provided by the Holt Farmers Market throughout the day near the east steps of the Capitol Building.

“Hosting this event on the lawn of the State Capitol allows us to demonstrate the positive impacts Michigan’s 300 farmers markets have on their local communities. Our goal is to remind legislators that farmers markets stimulate the local economy, foster community development, and support the health and wellbeing of community residents,” explains MIFMA Executive Director, Dru Montri.

The market accepts Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) Bridge Cards, Double Up Food Bucks, WIC Project FRESH and Market FRESH, ensuring that all Michigan residents have access to the fresh, local fruits, vegetables and other food products sold at the market.

Sponsors for the July event include CATA Clean Commute Options, Physicians Health Plan, Lansing State Journal, Michigan State University Federal Credit Union, Michigan Farm Bureau, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, GreenStone Farm Credit Services, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The market is hosted by the Michigan Farmers Market Association, a statewide association with a mission to advance farmers markets to create a thriving marketplace for local food and farm products.

To find a full list of farmers markets in Michigan, including those that accept food assistance benefits, visit www.mifma.org/findafarmersmarket.