A Hands-on Creative Ritual for Remembering and Letting Go
Join us for a creative opportunity to honor a death (of a loved one, a pet or any type of death) through a simple art project, using paper and fabric to create a set of mini-wings. Not everyone wants to talk about death and sometimes we need to use our hands and grab a pair of scissors! This workshop will be held at 3S Artspace in the main Gallery and led by Bess Welden (of the Death Wings Project) and Laura Cleminson (of the Pre-Dead Social Club).
Bess and Laura are kindred spirits, each working to bring death out into the open. The invite us to remove the invisible barriers surrounding death and the acknowledgement of loss by offering creative opportunities for anyone to get closer to it—on their own, with friends or family, or in community at an art gallery in New Hampshire! Come solo, bring a friend, neighbor, or family member. This Wing-making Workshop is built on their mutual belief in the power of community and in creating new rituals for remembering and honoring deaths.
About Bess Welden:
Bess Welden is a theater-maker, visual artist, and educator living and creating in her adopted home state of Maine. She founded Death Wings Project in 2021 which offers creatively compassionate art-making and storytelling programs about loss and grief. Her play, Death Wings, won the 2020 Maine State prize of the Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights and was co-produced in Maine by Dramatic Repertory Company, The Theater Project, and Meetinghouse Arts in 2023. Her play Madeleines won the 2022 National Jewish Playwriting Contest and will premiere at Portland Stage in March 2025. Bess was a 2022 National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellow for her work at the intersection of art and social change. She recently served as Playwright-In-Residence for the 2024 Maine Playwrights Festival. She teaches theater at Colby College.
About Laura Cleminson:
Laura Cleminson is the founder of the Pre-Dead Social Club, a mission-based organization creating opportunities to “keep the die-a-logue alive” as it relates to the thing we all have in common – we’re all going to die someday. She is a death doula, hospice volunteer, active member of the NH Health Care Decisions Coalition (part of the Foundation for Healthy Communities), TEDx Speaker and functional artist. She believes in the transformative power of community and meeting people where they are at.
We’re grateful to 3S Artspace for partnering with us and providing an inspiring venue!
Tickets are available on a sliding scale. Ticket price includes supplies to assemble your wings. (Those who register will be emailed a welcome letter detailing what you can bring for your wings.)
----
NOTE: This is not a grief session. If you’re currently experiencing deep grief or active trauma, please consider waiting to join us at a later date.