The Exchange

"What I Did In Quarantine" has opened at the Exchange Gallery -- more than 100 pieces by more than 50 artists from seven Pennsylvania counties (and the Bronx). They work in painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, sculpture, digital arts (including video), fibers, and 2-D and 3-D mixed media. Some of the artists have shown here for years; some have never shown here before -- and at least a couple have never shown their work in any gallery anywhere before. Some have made art for decades (for one of them, upwards of eight decades); two have not entered kindergarten yet. Our gratitude goes out to ALL of these artists for sharing their work with us; without them, we would have an empty room here -- but with them, because of them, we have the miracle of human creativity to share with YOU.

Look at everything going on around the world, brought to us by ArtOfPA!

Just in time for the holidays AND #GivingTuesday, The Exchange has its first on-line Gallery shopping site up and running! Go to artofpa.org/shop-the-exchange and browse through all 250 of the pieces available in the "Mask & Carry" show: You can buy right there and we will ship your choice(s) to you. All prices include tax and shipping (except in some cases where the shipping will depend on the distance). And 100% of your purchase benefits The Exchange. Call us if you have any questions: 570-317-2596.

We appreciate the people in our community who really "get it" about The Exchange and what we do -- why, in fact, we have the word "exchange" in our name: It signifies the exchanges of ideas and inspirations that go on among the people who get involved here and what they share with each other and with our community as a whole. Coming shortly to our Gallery, in the "What I Did In Quarantine" show, this sign. It represents what Kim Kus and Justin Hummel did during quarantine, when their business shut down: They started a new business, with this as the first sign for it. We celebrate their initiative and their flexibility and their creativity. And we enjoy eating their pierogi.

Year-end thanks to First Columbia Bank & Trust Co. and to Weis Markets for their ongoing generous support of our "Backstage Pass to the Blues" program -- largely on hiatus in 2020, but we look forward to moving ahead with full steam as soon as we can. If you would like to connect your students to musicians sooner than later, or just later, please get in touch with us at 570-317-2596 or [email protected] destinationblues.org/backstage-pass

We look forward to seeing you today (until 6:00) or tomorrow (11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.) when you drop off your artwork for the "What I Did In Quarantine" show -- any work in any medium done since the start of the COVID crisis ten months or so ago. Fifteen artists, from age 4 to age 70+, have entered work so far: poetry, paintings, drawings, photography, collage, sculpture, fibers, and video. We can't wait to see it all on display here!

Some songs make us feel joyful, like this one by Bruce Cockburn: youtube.com/watch?v=syS9wU1Sr8A. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, all of those, or none of those, we wish all the best to you and yours for the rest of 2020 and for 2021 and beyond.

George Graham on WVIA-FM plays a much wider range of Christmas music than you will hear elsewhere on the radio; in this Monday night's set, he included Brooks Williams's rendition of "I Wonder As I Wander", released in 2002 on the Signature Sounds Recordings CD "Wonderland: A Winter Solstice Celebration". You can listen to the song -- and fourteen others, by artists including Rani Arbo, Peter Mulvey, Mark Erelli, and Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer -- at shop.signaturesounds.com//wonderland-a-winter-solstice-cel; you can also buy the individual tracks and the whole album as downloads there, and the whole album as a CD.

Our friend Bret Alexander invites us all to his performance from his kitchen this Wednesday, the 23rd, at 8 p.m.!

The Zoo comes to us!

We LOVED having the Howard Gospel Choir here in Bloomsburg early in 2020 -- one of the highlights of the year, by far. We can join them for an on-line concert on Wednesday this week.

Look at the productive year our friend Chet Davis has had!

We had a white National Maple Syrup Day last Thursday, and we may yet have a white Christmas -- but in any event, the world of art comes in ALL colors.

You can enjoy BTE's "A Christmas Carol" when it airs on WVIA-FM at noon on Sunday, December 20, and it will also be available from www.btepodcast.org on the 21st.

PLEASE STAY SAFE.

Seasonal music from our friends in the JP Williams Blues Band!

During the half of the day yesterday that our executive director stayed home after the snowstorm, he and his family went out sledding (using two old kayaks). Then he came in to the Gallery and got on a Zoom meeting and did some paperwork. Which half of the day do you think he enjoyed more?

It snowed. And we need to go out and play in it before we open up today, so we'll see you at 2 o'clock this afternoon.