Living with Dying: Grief, Loss, Beauty and Joy
Dear Community Members and Local Businesses,
BluSeed Studios of Saranac Lake, New York is beginning its fundraising efforts for a very unique and moving community event this Fall.
We are hosting the non-profit Heart2heart with their book celebration, Heartspace: Real Life Stories on Death and Dying - and a collaborative art exhibition, Living with Dying - Grief, Loss, Beauty and Joy.
It is our hope that this event will bring together a community of friends, colleagues and other area residents to provide a space to explore the paradox of grief and loss - beauty and joy - that death brings to the table. Combining visual art and storytelling in a discussion and exchange about death and dying gives us an opportunity to continue the dialog around an experience that we all have in common and a subject with which we often struggle.
Please see the following information about your donation and let me know if you have any questions:
Event Date: Saturday, October 2nd, 2021
Event Location: Bluseed Studios 24 Cedar Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Donation pickup: I can pick up either on Friday October 1st or Saturday October 2nd..
Donation items: Financial support through cash or check.
Appetizers to be eaten at room temperature with a napkin.
Desserts to be eaten at room temperature with a napkin.
Wine and/or beer
75 people
Tax deductible info:
Bluseed Studios is supported by partners, contributors and a great Board of Directors. BluSeed Studios is a 501(c)3, a charitable non-profit, EIN #80-0030909
heart2heart is generously supported by contributions from the community, which are welcomed throughout the year, and are tax deductible through the fiscal sponsorship by Abundance NC (aboundancenc.org), a 501(c)3, a charitable non-profit, EIN #20-4327530. This is called an “in kind sponsorship”
Social Media: We will be posting on Facebook to advertise the event and promote our corporate sponsors. Please make sure you “like'' our Facebook at BluSeed Studios and heart2heartnc so we can tag you on posts. We would appreciate any “likes'' and “shares” of our posts as well!
Again, your contribution to this event means so much as we continue to provide a space and promote a shared environment where artists, educators and community members have the opportunity to learn and participate, experiment and diverge, exhibit and perform, move ideas and aesthetics forward, and to share this diversity as an all-inclusive gateway to artistice experience.
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Heart2heart, a North Carolina-based non-profit, provides services for individuals, families and communities who are navigating the living path of death, dying and beyond. Cathy Brooks Edwards is the founder and executive director of heart2heart (www.heart2heartnc.com). Cathy, known as Brooksie, is an alumna of Paul Smith’s College and Plattsburgh State University. After graduating with a Masters in Counseling from SUNY Plattsburgh, Brooksie moved to North Carolina to further pursue her education in bodywork. After years of developing her own style of mind/body healing, she used her deep knowledge and experience to support a friend diagnosed with ALS and his family through a heart-breaking year of his dying time. After his death Brooksie completed her International Death Doula Training with Doorway into Light, a program based on Maui in Hawaii.
These experiences, and more, informed Brooksie’s understanding that deep listening, gentle guidance, hands on and live music healing can offer comfort and ease for individuals, their families and their community during the dying time and beyond. She felt strongly that these services should be available to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. That’s why making these services accessible to those in need is part of heart2heart’s mission. Heart2heart is generously supported by contributions from private foundations and community members. Donations are tax-deductible through their umbrella organization Abundance NC (www.abundancenc.org), a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit.
In 2019, heart2heart was honored and delighted to publish its first anthology Heartspace: Real Life Stories on Death and Dying. Through the heartfelt words of nineteen storytellers, Heartspace challenges us to shift the paradigm of death and dying in our culture while offering its readers a chance to open their own hearts to healing and growth. Brooksie’s roots in the Adirondacks and the fact that four of those nineteen powerful storytellers have similar connections to the region, fueled the idea of creating a shared community event in Saranac Lake.
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Diane Fine, the curator of the art exhibition Living with Dying is a Distinguished Teaching Professor at Plattsburgh State University of New York, where she teaches printmaking and book arts. Diane is also one of the contributing storytellers. The exhibition will be located in the gallery at Bluseed Studios for the month of October.
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Saturday, October 2nd there will be an opening reception for the exhibition, readings, and live music from 5:00 - 8:00 PM at Bluseed Studios. www.bluseedstudios.org Introductory remarks by Cathy Brooksie Edwards, and a brief gallery talk by Diane Fine will begin at 6:00 PM. Four contributors to the Heartspace anthology, including Diane Fine, Amiel Landor, Amy Parker and Jennifer Scanlon, will read excerpts from their chapters in the book. Refreshments will be served and live music will be offered by Jeffrey Wanzer Dupra. www.jeffreywanzerdupra.com
Sunday morning, October 3rd - heart2heart and Hospice High Peaks www.highpeakshospice.org will offer a community healing event - Tending to the Heart - Living with Grief - at Mount Pisgah Lodge in Saranac Lake. Participants will have the opportunity to explore their own journey around the impact of loss and grief in the support of community with introductory lecture, gentle guidance, light movement and live sacred music. The journey will be lead by Brooksie Edwards, founder of heart2heart and supported by the Hospice High Peaks counseling team. The soundscape will be provided by Adirondacks own Peggy Lynn and Dan Duggan. www.quercusmusic.com and www.esperanceproductions.net. This is a free event and donations are welcomed.
Sunday evening, October 3rd - heart2heart and The Adirondack Death Care Community will host a Death and Cupcakes community event at Bluseed Studios. This event is designed after the global movement of Death Cafes. It is an opportunity to have open and honest dialog around navigating the living path of death, dying and beyond. A presentation by Dr. George Cook on End of Life Challenges will open the conversation. Colleen Corrigan, Founder of The Adirondack Death Care Community will be co-facilitating conversation. This is a free event and donations are welcomed. Of course, Cupcakes will be served!!
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Thank you for your generous offer to be a Corporate Sponsor for Bluseed Studios art exhibition Living with Dying - Grief, Loss, Beauty and Joy and the heart2heart’s book celebration Heartspace: Real Life Stories on Death and Dying.