YOU DID IT! WE DID IT!

THANK YOU to ALL WHO HELPED US REACH OUR GOAL!

Our time together in Boulder was truly rich.  Over the course of our week long residency, we brainstormed like crazy, took mountains of notes, worked late into the early morning hours to get at the heart of what we are, what we're doing, and how we're going to continue. 

In addition, we engaged with 25 middle and high school students from Watershed School's art and photography classes.  In these workshops, Gabriela talked about the photographer's relationship to movement as they work. Students used stage directions and elements of dance to create simple improvisational structures, comparing how visual artists and dancers think about space, movement and composition.  It was super dynamic.  

In this video, made after our residency by Gabriela and Denisse, you'll see a glimpse of our time together.  Thank you, again, for helping us get started!

in english and español:

NEXT STEPS:

• establishing fiscal sponsorship and a cohesive fundraising plan
  
• creating our blog
• planning 2015 residencies

STAY TUNED!

Chicken Bank Collective

Tejiendo comunidades entre fronteras a través del arte del movimiento.

Weaving communities across borders through the art of movement.

our campaign

Chicken Bank Collective, a group of artists who have worked together enough to know we want to work together for a good long time.

Who We Are and What We're Up To: 

Zap McConnell (North Carolina, USA), Gabriela Bosquenegro (Cholula, Puebla, Mexico), Denisse Cardenas Landeros (Mexico City, Mexico), Paola Suculima De La Concha Zindel (Cholula, Puebla, Mexico), Cinthia Pérez Navarro (Cholula, Puebla, Mexico), Julie Rothschild (Boulder, Colorado, USA) and
Amanda Martin (Athens, Georgia, USA).

We are Chicken Bank Collective, 7 Women, Dancers, Choreographers, Visual Artists and a Filmmaker, coming together from different states and countries to make films, perform dances, and engage in community service and public art.  The Chicken Bank is literally and figuratively where we collect our resources, be it money, time or sewing skills.  Once it's in the bank, it belongs to the collective. 

At this moment, we are in the start up phase of creating this international dance and art collective.  We will soon have fiscal sponsorship and then non-profit status, meaning all donations will be tax deductible. 

In the meantime, we have our first gathering coming up in Boulder, Colorado. 

During our inaugural meeting, we are going to get down and dirty and into the nitty gritty of what it is going to take to make this collective a sustainable reality. 

• How do we do this?  Scheduling, funding, planning, generating audience and reaching out to our communities.   All things we have done independently, and now seek to do so collectively. 
  
• What do we then bring to each others' communities and how does our collective voice reach beyond the confines of our borders? 
• Giving back to our communities, making art that we feel has an impact on how we treat each other, ourselves and our environments is essential to us.  

While the world of arts funding isn't looking so plentiful, and hasn't in quite some time, we are more certain than ever that we must continue to make art, to perform, to teach, to get kids involved in the arts and to encourage creative expression.  We are gathering in order to support each others' visions, to hold each other up, to be honest, to make work that we believe in.  Your financial support will help us collaborate in person and work collectively to inspire others through
dance, art and film.

In Boulder, we have a great opportunity to participate in the public art project "Around the Bend."  Zap and Julie were just awarded a grant by the City of Boulder to create a public art installation that aims to give people a new look at how they move between point A and point B, and what they encounter in the midst.  We are inviting residents of Boulder County to join us as we explore this question.
Here's more on the project: AROUND THE BEND. 
 

Our vision for our future: we want to meet and work together 2-3 times a year.  We will all take turns hosting and directing projects in our home towns in Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina and in Mexico, as well as in additional locations around the world where we can reach into our combined network of amazing artists to
bring our ideas to fruition.  

What We Need and How You Can Help

For those of you who have supported us as individual artists in the past, we invite you to help us take these early steps and stay afloat during this start up phase.  $3000 will get us rolling.  To be able to continue to work together in person is a significant financial challenge, but one we believe is worth the effort.

Your support in any amount helps us take this leap of faith.

Whatever it is that you can do to help us get going, a small donation, a BIG donation, a shout out to your art loving friends or a simple word of support, we extend our appreciation.  And we hope that Chicken Bank Collective can come to
your community in the very near future.

With Gratitude,

        Amanda Martin  

   Gabriela Bosquenegro  

                                  Cinthia Pérez Navarro 

   Denisse Cardenas Landeros 

                                                   Zap McConnell  

  Paola Suculima De La Concha Zindel

                            Julie Rothschild  

There is always a chance that we won't reach our goal of $3000.  If that happens, we will act frugally, as we are already well versed at, and stretch each dollar to it's fullest extent.  And if more than our goal comes in, it goes into the Chicken Bank!