Call for Participation!
Marigolds and Monarchs: Mail Art Exhibit
Call for Participation!
Join a community Mail Art show that celebrates life, death, nature, and culture.
Have you ever heard of Mail Art? Mail Art is a piece of artistic joy that is sent to someone through the mail. Basically, you create a flat piece of art, such as a postcard, put a stamp and address on it, and drop it in a mail box.
Create a piece of unframed art that can be sent to the Southside Library in an envelope via the Postal Service. Or, if you dare, create a postcard and mail it to the Library without the envelope!
Mail to:
Southside Library
6599 Jaguar Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87507
The Mail Art that we receive will be displayed at the Southside Library during the month of October 2024. To make our display cohesive, we have a theme; please include at least one of these items in your piece of Mail Art:
• Monarch butterfly
• Marigold flower
• Skull or skeleton
You’ll find many ways to create a small scale, flat piece of art. Combine your glue with some of these supplies:
• Ephemera or found pieces of paper
• Images or print from old books
• Penmanship or typography
• Doodling or sketching
• Short poetry such as haiku
• Rubber stamps
• Washi tape
• Embossing
• Handmade paper
• Images from magazines
• Decorative paper napkins
• Coloring book pages
• Something torn from the newspaper
• Paint, pencils, crayons, pastels, ink
And this is just a partial list!
The foundation of your art piece is called the substrate. The substrate is the piece that you glue all of the other pieces to. You can use a variety of things as the substate. I have used the following: index cards, cardstock, mixed media paper, watercolor paper, and vintage Rolodex cards. You might also consider glueing your finished creation to something a little stiffer: chipboard. Chipboard is the very thin cardboard that is used to make cereal boxes. This thin cardboard gives your creation a little more weight, and it will prevent your piece from curling.
Now, just because we like to make collages, that doesn’t mean you have to make a collage to participate in this project. Maybe you’re a painter. Maybe you’re an illustrator. Maybe you’re a graphic designer. Maybe you’re a poet. There’s so much artistic talent out there, especially in Santa Fe. But keep in mind, this is a Mail Art exhibit. Your piece of art must be flat and fit in an envelope.
This is a community art show, open to everyone, but we have one firm rule: The art must be family-friendly.
