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Upcoming Workshops

@ IS183 Art School of the Berkshires

COLLAGE AND MIXED MEDIA: EMBELLISHED PAPER FOR PAINT-PAPER COLLAGE

Friday, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm May 14th - June 21st 5 Sessions Tuition: $400.00 $25 material fee included in tuition
Embellished surfaces using mixed media is the frontier for unique collage design. Create a portfolio of resist painted, paste patterned, marbled and uniquely textured papers for the painted paper collage projects. Read more about this workshop.

COLLAGE AND ARTIST BOOK Workshop

Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Jun 01 - Jun 02 2 Days
Tuition: $169.00 $25 material fee included in tuition
In this workshop, collage is used to bring content into our discovery of basic book forms. It opens the door for students interested in book binding and construction, embellished journals, visual sketch books and variations on artist books. Learn four basic book forms: accordion fold, pamphlet stitch, Japanese stab binding and 4- Room Book. Read more about this workshop.

Little Red/IS183 Art Jump Start Spring Collage Ideas especially for Mothers and others

May 11 10AM- 3PM

Bascom Lodge Summit-Solstice Sketch & Paint Workshop

June 23 1-5PM

NYS Arts in Education

Artist in Residence at New Lebanon, NY Middle School Fall- 10 week program using the Lincoln Center Institute methodology for instilling imagination, creativity & innovation through education in the arts. The curriculum will focus on the installation art of Sol Le Witt , math and English for 7th and 8th grades as an interdisciplinary collaboration.
Read more at http://www.lcinstitute.org.

@ Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health

Spring 2013:: Vibrant Visionary Collage: Your Artist Journal as Creative Sanctuary Spring Yoga and creativity retreat for women

March 3-8, 2013 Is your inner artist searching for a creative sanctuary? Does your spiritual life need a a sacred playground? Reboot your expressive soul during this vibrant, energizing retreat for women. Read more about this workshop.

Penland School of Arts and Crafts

Karenʼs professional development includes joining Paulus Berensohn and Caverly Morgan for a special one week workshop at the historic Penland School in NC for Slow and Savor: Mindfulness and Service in the Craft Arts This workshop will be a hands-on exploration of the practice of mindfulness with craft as the medium.

... see more workshops...

News and Events

RITES of Passage Installation and performance

June 7-9, 2013 "Rites of Passage is a multidisciplinary performance in two parts- the first a multi-media installation, and the second a dance-play, in homage to the unique initiatory stages in women’s lives from girlhood through elderhood." Part one is a living museum wherein women in the community, as well as men, will be “installed” throughout the house. Karen and collaborator Suzi Banks Baum will install their work in one room of the house. Read more about the project on the Rogue Angel Theatre website and watch a video about the project on Facebook.

 10 x 10 DADA Birds mixed media collage by Karen Arp-Sandel at Seven Salon, Stockbridge, MA

10 x 10 Festival Pittsfield, Ma

Opening February 16th, 2013

 10 x 10 Karen joins 10 visual artists to express their 10 most important influences over the past decade. Artworks measure 10 “ x 10 ”. Title: Lunation+Dreamtime: Collage/mixed mediaSee more on the Alchemy Initiative website

IS183 Art LAB -Faculty Art Exhibition

May 3- June 3 2013 IS183 Art School of the Berkshires and The Red Lion Inn will team up to launch The 1st Annual Stockbridge Art Lab—a series of “pop-up” galleries in the town of Stockbridge exhibiting the work of IS183’s faculty artists. Read more on the IS183 website.

Art House Coop Sketch Book Tour 2013

It's Like a Roadtrip, but with Sketchbooks.

The Sketchbook Project is a global, crowd-sourced art project where participants from all walks of life are sent a sketchbook and have until January 15th to fill the pages and return it for inclusion in a traveling exhibition and permanent collection at The Brooklyn Art Library. Anyone – from anywhere in the world – can participate in the project.
Check out the tour as we head to Brooklyn, Austin, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Portland, SF and LA!

A Book about Death Australia

Opening: October 18, 2013 at 6pm Exhibition finishes November 24, 2013 Sandy Hook collage Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah,
New South Wales, Australia
Australian artists Heather Matthew and Julie Barratt join forces to bring ABAD to Australia in 2013. Heather has work in the original New York ABAD exhibtion as well as in Brazil and Seattle. Julie curated Objects of the Dead: the Hankie Project where many international and Australian ABAD artists contributed artefacts commemorating the dead. Artist #22 Karen Arp-Sandel: 28 Compassion Collages in memory of Newtown , CT. USA.

FeMail Art Gallery at www.femailart.com

Visit and learn more about my on-going collage/mail art collaboration. I’ve been generating mail art for over 30 years. This part of my art process includes the revolutionary act of sending original artwork through the mail over state lines and internationally with artist friends. I began to digitally catalog my mail art during The Curious Tourist Project, which you can see at www.curioustouristproject.com. My current collage chronicle through mail art with my collaborator Suzi Banks Baum, is documented on our FeMail website. I am a member of IUOMA ( International Union of Mail Artists). http://iuoma-network.ning.com/

Recent Commissions

  • collage on hotel room wall

    Shard Mosaic Wall Installation Project

    Commission in process at the home of D & K Gallagher, Amherst, MA
    12 - 36" x 66" shard mosaic panels for installation in outdoor room

    See more images of the mosaic wall in the gallery...

  • collage on hotel room wall

    Madonna and Child

    June 2009 Mixed Media Collage on canvas panel

  • collage on hotel room wall

    The Queen in Room 225

    April 2009, Mixed Media Collage installation for Guest Room #225 at the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA 30" x 36"

collage of Karen Arp-Sandel portrait

Karen Arp-Sandel, Visual Artist and Kripalu Yoga Faculty, is a spiritual activist who brings three decades of experience to her fresh, playful approach to mixed media creativity. A multi-faceted educator for people of all ages and abilities, including at-risk youth, Karen’s enthusiasm and scholarly knowledge, flow into her crystal clear instructional style at all levels.

Her passion is to illuminate the transformational power of living a creative life. In the context of her spiritual art immersion workshop, her students experience positive change, renewal, emotional enhancement and creative inspiration. Karen is also co-founder of FeMail, www.femailart.com, whose collage process and DIY kits and cards birth worldwide mail art networks. Dedicated to uniting people through creative collaborations, Karen’s outreach spans national and international borders.

Night to Day

Mandalas

Mail Art

mail art image

See more of Karen's mail artwork...

Travel Art

mail art image

See more of Karen's travel journals...