Santa Cruz Memorial has the distinguished honor of presenting, before its final installation in a permanent museum collection, an exact replica of Abraham Lincoln’s coffin. Their exhibit will feature authentic Victorian mourning decor around the funeral home, cemetery entrance, and viewing bier. The exhibit will include information about 18th-century mourning practices and the elaborate traveling funeral of America’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. The date of the exhibit coincides with the actual date of Lincoln’s arrival in Springfield, Illinois, on May 3 and his burial at Oak Ridge Cemetery on May 4, 1865.

Presented by Arting Ways and Hospice of Santa Cruz County.  

Reminders of our loved ones may be abundant at home, but some people like to travel with sweet keepsakes and mementos in their purse or pocket.  In this workshop, we will re-purpose mint tins to carry and display your favorite images and small items wherever you go.  No previous experience necessary.  Lunch is included. 

In the morning, we will choose patterns and images to decorate the outside of the tin, cut or trim the pieces to size/shape, and adhere them to the tins.  After lunch, we will embellish the tins with paint, trimmings, text and images, or whatever you can think of!

Participants should bring images, fabrics and objects to feature in their artful design.  We'll provide the tins and basic materials/supplies such as modge-podge, brushes, paints, colored/patterned papers, trimmings and some “bling”.  If you have photos that you would like to include in your design, bring them and we’ll photocopy them for use on your tin – you’ll keep the unharmed original.  You can bring whatever trimmings, fabric, stickers, stamps, objects, or other tools/supplies of your own that you would like to use.  

Registration Required; to register contact Hospice of Santa Cruz County at (831) 430-3000 or griefsupport@hospicesantacruz.org.  

Here are some inspiring videos and web sites featuring different ways people have decorated their tins:

• youtube.com/watch?v=blPzqQo3Ghc (6 min, 18 sec)
• youtube.com/watch?v=LjR1EnJH4kU (8 min, 30 sec)
• youtube.com/watch?v=sJ007K7YUIc (11 min, 50 sec)
• youtube.com/watch?v=4kejK2HMIC0 (16 min, 23 sec)
• kbatsel.blogspot.com/2011/02/tutorial-altered-altoid-tin.html
• treasureinanearthenvessel.blogspot.com/2013/07/tiny-tin-treasure-boxes.html
• gsgreatescape.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Altoid-Tin-projects.pdf

NEW PRESENTATION DEBUT!

Humans around the globe have a long and rich history of roadside memorial tributes, with widely varying styles and traditions.  The photographic presentation discusses the social, religious, legal, and practical aspects of the memorials' forms and functions, the very presence of which is often controversial.  The historical perspective is complemented by the personal story of nine memorials on one short stretch of road near Santa Cruz, California. 

Cost: $10 donation appreciated, $5 students and seniors.  No reservations necessary.  (About Art Twistory)

The art and architecture styles that comprise any cemetery can visually describe its culture in various aspects.  The inscriptions and images on tombstones, monuments, and other objects indicate a society’s general outlook on death, its prevailing religions or secularization, gender roles, and other social stratification such as race and ethnicity.  There is quantifiable data about life expectancy, birth and mortality rates, family size, and even some political and economic history recorded in the wood, stone, and earthen assemblages.  This photographic presentation looks at how funerary art and architecture evince the values and trends of cemetery occupants and their contemporaneous society, from ancient faraway burials to modern local customs.  Cost: $10 donation appreciated, $5 students and seniors.  No reservations necessary.  (Supporting essay here)  (About Art Twistory)

Do the words merry widow sound familiar?  You may have heard of her and she likely has had an effect on your life, but do you know why and how?  This historical pictorial presentation will "uncover" (pun intended) who she is and how her legend endures everywhere from the bedroom to the boardroom in modern art, politics, and business.  Cost: $10 donation appreciated, $5 students and seniors.  No reservations necessary.  (About Art Twistory)

Heighten the merriment by wearing or bringing a Merry Widow of your own...

Everybody Leaves is a participatory memorial art project that will be installed on Del Monte Beach in Monterey on July 1, 2017, for MPYRE Strikes Back (the Monterey Regional Burning Man event).  The form is an abstract tree bearing autumnal leaves.  People are invited to write and/or draw memorial names and tributes on the leaves, then we will gather the leaves and burn them with the effigy in a public bonfire at sunset.  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter (#EverybodyLeaves) for updates and more information.

The Burning Man project has been variously described as an art festival, a circus, a camp-out, a sociological experiment, a rave, a ritual, a Bacchanalia, druid puke...  Whatever.  Amid this enigmatic occurrence stands a temple, solemn and serious, dedicated to the memory of the deceased. Every year, thousands of people at Burning Man find a way to intertwine an unusual celebration of life with an unusual commemoration of death. This beautiful photographic presentation examines the roots, traditions, and meaning behind the annual creation and destruction of the temples at Burning Man.  $10 donation appreciated, $5 students and seniors.  No reservations necessary.  (Supporting essay here) (About Art Twistory)

Do the words merry widow sound familiar?  You may have heard of her and she likely has had an effect on your life, but do you know why and how?  In honor of National Women's History Month, this historical pictorial presentation will "uncover" (pun intended) who she is and how her legend endures everywhere from the bedroom to the boardroom in modern art, politics, and business.  Cost: $10 donation appreciated, $5 students and seniors.  No reservations necessary.  (About Art Twistory)

Heighten the merriment by wearing or bringing a Merry Widow of your own...
 

EXTRA BONUS!!  Items from the MAH archive will be on rare display for this event (Thanks, MAH!).

What was John Borden doing in Santa Cruz in 1876?  Who commissioned the large wooden grave marker of this bachelor with no local relations?  Why would a 21st century scholar biographize him instead of the many better-known residents of Evergreen Cemetery?  These questions and more will be discussed (and possibly answered) during this pictorial historical presentation.   $10 donation appreciated, $5 students and seniors.  No reservations necessary.  (About Art Twistory)

** Extra BONUS: **  Items from the MAH archive will be on rare display during this event (Thanks, MAH!).

The art and architecture styles that comprise any cemetery can visually describe its culture in various aspects.  The inscriptions and images on tombstones, monuments, and other objects indicate a society’s general outlook on death, its prevailing religions or secularization, gender roles, and other social stratification such as race and ethnicity.  There is quantifiable data about life expectancy, birth and mortality rates, family size, and even some political and economic history recorded in the wood, stone, and earthen assemblages.  This photographic presentation looks at how funerary art and architecture evince the values and trends of cemetery occupants and their contemporaneous society, from ancient faraway burials to modern local customs.  Cost: $10 donation appreciated, $5 students and seniors.  No reservations necessary.  (Supporting essay here)  (About Art Twistory)

The Burning Man project has been variously described as an art festival, a circus, a camp-out, a sociological experiment, a rave, a ritual, a Bacchanalia, druid puke...  Whatever.  Amid this enigmatic occurrence stands a temple, solemn and serious, dedicated to the memory of the deceased. Every year, thousands of people at Burning Man find a way to intertwine an unusual celebration of life with an unusual commemoration of death. This beautiful photographic presentation examines the roots, traditions, and meaning behind the annual creation and destruction of the temples at Burning Man.  Cost: $10 donation appreciated, $5 students and seniors.  No reservations necessary.  (Supporting essay here) (About Art Twistory)