Moving Mountains: The Mustard Seed Project (in-progress)
A dried mustard “tree” harvested from Serena Kovalosky’s Eco-Garden is the foundation for “Moving Mountains: The Mustard Seed Project” which explores the symbolism of the mustard seed for restoring faith in our ability as individuals and communities to achieve humanity’s dream of peaceful coexistence.
Kovalosky is working on this project as the 2024 Artist-in-Residence at the Slate Valley Museum in Granville, NY and her live, interactive Open Studio engages visitors throughout the creative process.
CLICK HERE for the full schedule of Open Studios and Seed Journey programs.
From her museum studio overlooking the exhibition area, Kovalosky invites visitors to pull up a chair for a chat, and a parallel creative experience of their own, as they witness the artist’s meticulous, six-month journey of placing tiny mustard seeds from around the world, one by one, on the branches of the foraged mustard “tree” as a contemplative exercise in how “impossible” goals are achieved – one tiny step (seed) at a time.
Monthly “Seed Journey Sessions” offer the opportunity for the public to experience a creative process similar to that of the artist’s and participate in the co-creation of a community installation inspired by the museum’s permanent exhibit, “The Dream and the Reality.”
Kovalosky shares surprising stories of how plant seeds and recipes traveled the world and influenced cultures as participants string dried vegetables with historical links to each of the ethnic groups that came to the Slate Valley to work in and around the quarries from the 1840s to the present.
Glass seed beads in red, black, green, gray and purple will also be strung for the installation as a visual representation of the Slate Valley as the “colored slate capital.”
Serena Kovalosky’s mustard “tree” sculpture and the community-created “Seed Journeys” installation will be exhibited at the Slate Valley Holiday Festival in December with the 2024 theme of “Peace on Earth.” The exhibition will continue through December 14.
CLICK HERE for the full schedule of programs and exhibitions.
Visit the Mustard Story-Box for photos, stories and the creative process
Moving Mountains: The Mustard Seed Project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, administered by the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council.
Visit this page for updates and/or SUBSCRIBE and follow the journey….
Serena Kovalosky 