Plainsboro Public Library will hold its annual Festival of the Arts on Saturday, September 22, from 1 to 5 p.m. The celebration will include a number of free hands-on arts and crafts events and will also feature “A View from Below/A View from Above,” an exhibit of mixed media art by members of the library art group. The exhibition, which opened on September 8, will remain on view through Thursday, September 27.
Viewers may vote for their favorite gallery work and take part in a raffle for a basket of art and craft items by the artists. The three artists whose works receive the most votes will win cash prizes. Voting will take place from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and the raffle and awards presentation will follow at 4:45 p.m. West Windsor and Plainsboro artists include Liz Adams, Vimala Arunachalam, Pat Goldsmith, Kat Liau, Vinnie Nanda, Dave Olson, Maria Pisano, Wen Shui, Tatiana Sougakova, and Marcia Tavares.
Children and adults may participate in group projects, such as the creation of large-scale paintings or of sculpture using found objects. They will also be invited to create their own paintings; to try Chinese-knot tying; to design bookmarks, mandalas, and prints; to try their hands at embroidery; and to make holiday gift cards. There will be demonstrations of Chinese brush painting, calligraphy, and stained-glass cutting.
The introduction of a seven-foot “Earthloom,” constructed by Scout Troop 168, will be a highlight of the festival. Inspired by the Earthloom Foundation located in Maine, High School South junior Imraan Adat, a Plainsboro resident, initiated the troop’s loom construction as his Eagle Scout project.
Earthlooms represent community: “The EarthLoom is a living symbol of our intention to weave together the fabric of community” says the founders of the Earthloom Foundation. Festival goers are invited to contribute any object that can be woven into the loom’s first piece of cloth — such as a ribbon, a strip of fabric, or a string of beads. The resulting weave will be representative of Plainsboro’s diversity.
“We are really excited about the potential uses of the loom — especially how it may be used in our Plainsboro history program focusing on collaborative works of art and as a tool to help facilitate a story-sharing session,” says Donna Senopoulos, co-founder of “Voices and Faces of Plainsboro,” a program she developed with Julie Donaldson to create an historical archive of Plainsboro.
The library is looking for long-time township residents to contribute personal stories and local memorabilia. Plainsboro residents will be invited to record their thoughts on Plainsboro history and their own previous hometowns at a “Memory Drive” booth. Long-time residents are encouraged to stop by and share information and to find out how they can participate in creating a historical archive of Plainsboro history in the upcoming months.
This fall the library will be scheduling interviews of residents and conducting workshops to facilitate visual journals or written accounts of personal histories. The objective is to collect as much of our founding history as possible, but also to include newer residents to represent the diverse community. Included in the history program are oral and video interviews, a life stories performance group, a writing workshop, and two visual workshops geared towards non-artists. Eventually, the library will host an exhibit of the combined works and create a digital archive that can be freely accessed.
The arts festival will be held in front of the library (indoors in case of rain) from 1 to 5 p.m.
Festival of the Arts, Plainsboro Public Library, 9 Van Doren Street. Saturday, September 22, 1 to 5 p.m. Free. Rain or shine. 609-275-2897. www.lmxac.org/plainsboro.
