The twenty-fifth tabletop happening of 5×7 UNDERGROUND occurred on Friday, May 21st, 2021 from 5-7 p.m. “Emerge” was the theme and chosen by member, Mary Beth Francis. “We’d just had the Euterria theme which focused on the natural world, it was spring so nature was reawakening, we were awaiting brood x, and the cicadas are fascinating, and — at least here — we are easing out of pandemic life,” explains Mary Beth.
The twenty-fifth 5×7 Underground met outside at Sterner Art Factory in Silver Run. It was wood fire pizza time once again at the Sterner Art Factory!
Artists in attendance included: Jeff Sharp, Mary Beth Francis, Jim Roberts, Lauren Latané-Valis and Thomas Sterner.
Each artist presented their interpretation of Emerge beginning with Mary Beth Francis who made her first ever silk screen prints! After each 5×7 UNDERGROUND artist presented their work in rotation, the work was displayed for a gallery photograph. Thomas Sterner then gave us a preview of some of the work he is creating for the upcoming show, Mobiles and Stabiles.
The group also spent some time discussing and planning for the #drawwestminster5x7 drawing initiative that would kick off on June 5th at Art in the Park in Westminster Maryland. We also discussed the Art Gallery for Everyone project and mini-grant we received which we will be publicly announcing soon.
2021 is the year Brood X emerges en masse in Maryland and other east coast states. Every 17 years, this marvel of nature inspires amusement, admiration, and annoyance. This time, the symbolism of their emergence and loud socialization coincides with the emergence from the isolation and limitations of the pandemic in this area, though with heartbreaking concern that people around the world are still suffering the throes of Covid 19
Frogs undergo significant changes from their watery egg and tadpole states to emerge into air and land. This is inspired by fond childhood memories of witnessing this metamorphosis with tree frog tadpoles collected in a peanut butter jar from a friend’s pool.
A blue moth emerges from its cocoon; a symbol of rebirth and transformation.
Inspired by the poem Emerging by Pablo Neruda, this work addresses the search for meaning in the past, present, and future.
Every seventeen years, the brood-x cicada emerges throughout Carroll County, Maryland and the surrounding areas…but still no sign of them in Westminster, MD.
As we begin to emerge from the Covid-19 Pandemic, we have the unique opportunity to reinvent how we live, embracing some of the habits we developed during isolation. Personally, making more art, listening to new music, exercising and eating local are now high on my priority list. What will you do now with this unique opportunity? This letterpress print was created in response to the Atlantic article, “A Once-in-a-Lifetime Change to Start Over“.