Artists @ Work celebration

AAW Artists Francesca Olsen, Luiza Folegatti and Desiree Taylor will speak at MOSAIC Gallery 51 in North Adams on their artistic practice and reflecting on their work and partnerships over the past year.

Folegatti will give a talk about her “Mothering in Migration” project, as part of the final celebration of the AAW.

It would be lovely to see you all there, share also the work of the amazing Desiree Taylor and Francesca Olsen, eat some amazing Turkish food and dance

Join us on March 1 from 5–8 PM at MOSAIC Gallery 51 in North Adams as we celebrate the AAW Artists — Francesca Olsen, Luiza Folegatti, and Desiree Taylor — and honor their community work in partnership with Berkshire Immigrant Center, Have Hope Peer Recovery Center, Latinas413, and Ventfort Hall.

The gallery will open at 5 p.m. for drinks and bites, with AAW Artist presentations beginning at 6 p.m. The event is free, and all are welcome.

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Luiza Folegatti is a Brazilian artist based in North Adams (USA). Previously, she spent five years in Berlin (Germany) integrating artistic practice, teaching, and social advocacy work around the rights of women migrants. Her work focuses on gender and migration, and she applies photography, video, performance, and visual anthropology methods.

Luiza strongly believes in the positive impact generated by projects that combine photography, education, and community building. She has taught photography at HMKW Berlin (Germany) and Bennington College (USA), besides facilitating photography workshops for several non-profits supporting immigrants. Currently she is producing a photo essay about mothers and daughters in the Berkshires and their experiences with migration.

During the past few months with AAW, Luiza developed arts programming for immigrant mothers residing in the Berkshires. Building on her previous work with the Berkshire Immigrant Center, and now in collaboration with Latinas 413, they have organized mother- daughter photography sessions, photography exhibitions, and a workshop to map and discuss resources for immigrant mothers.

These materials will be used for creating a handout for advocating for immigrant rights within the region. Luiza hopes to strengthen the connection between immigrant mothers and local support, to highlight the work already done by latina community leaders, and to educate the broader community about specific challenges faced by immigrant families.

Francesca Olsen is a quilter, writer, and consultant. Her creative work focuses on storytelling, heritage, ritual, magic, and the power and significance held in objects and stories. A recent survivor of breast cancer, she has adapted her practice to translate and document the experience of being in treatment and what happens when treatment concludes.

Olsen is a connector whose work aims to build community by holding space for others who have their own lived experience with cancer. She hopes to create a dialogue that bridges survivors, caregivers, family members and supporters, providing perspective and education about cancer treatment and recovery to reduce stigma and prejudice.

In 2023, she worked with the Phelps Cancer Center in Pittsfield on a month-long exhibition of art by breast cancer survivors which included her Quilts of Power series, three quilts representing chemo, surgery and radiation. She has also shared her experience in B Magazine and Oprah Daily.

As an AAW artist, Francesca has been talking to young adult cancer patients and survivors about their experiences in an effort to research and highlight what this demographic needs. She will present this work later in the year, alongside quilts that depict some of the statistics around YA cancer as well as quotes from interviewees.

Shortly after starting AAW, Francesca learned that her cancer had returned in her spine and bones and had to undergo an emergency spinal fusion surgery. Since then, she has been recovering and creating digital mockups for upcoming quilts. Now that she is in treatment again and her cancer is not curable, she is looking to speak with stage 4 patients age 45 or under about their experiences.

Desiree Taylor M.Ed., M.A., is an educational storyteller specializing in telling and teaching stories from American history using an African American perspective lens to inspire communities to apply the lessons those stories may contain to their individual and communal lives.

Desiree loves that the arts can act as magic to move us individually and collectively to richer places that might take a lot longer to get to otherwise. One of the themes that continues to come forward for her through art and in other ways, is inclusion- what does it look like, and what does it mean? She believes investigating this theme is a worthy endeavor.

As a historical storyteller, Desiree is always considering who’s telling the story and how the story is likely to be received by the larger culture. For her project with Artists At Work, Desiree is working with Have Hope Peer Recovery Center, a community-based support system of The Brien Center with over 100 years of history in the Berkshires.

Offering support to the Center’s focuses on mental health and substance abuse recovery, Desiree is sharing her passion for storytelling and using her skills to conduct workshops that help the community explore and express what is key in their lives and experiences. She hopes to help people discover and give voice to their own narratives as individuals and a part of a larger community, understanding that analyzing where they have been can uncover how to carry hope into the future.