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Soon is Now

Soon is Now empowers communities through workshops that celebrate traditional crafts and sustainable practices. By merging heritage techniques with modern sustainability, they foster creativity and cultural connection while promoting ecological awareness.

Natural Paper Making with local plantsat Scenic Hudson&#39;s River Center, Long Dock Park, Beacon, NY (the Red Barn)For Adults $45 each/or adults registered with a child ages 8-12 &nbsp;- &nbsp; Total $55 for adult and child.Kids 13 and up can attend solo for $45/each.We have 4 sliding scale seats so reach out directly for the pricing on those: eve@soonisnow.org For this three-hour workshop, Artist <a fr-original-style="" href="https://michelebrody.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">Michele Brody&nbsp;</a>will demonstrate the stages involved in gathering local plants for regeneration into handmade paper. She will focus on introducing participants to her practice as an environmental artist, making paper from locally gathered invasive plant species such as mugwort, paper mulberry, and phragmites, which she transforms into visual interpretations of the native species and habitats they disturb.&nbsp; Workshop participants will have the opportunity to take part in a range of activities, including learning to identify local species for paper making and how to gather them sustainably to prepare the stalks and reeds for pounding and beating into pulp. All will have the chance to get their hands wet while learning how to pull a sheet of their own handmade paper, which can be embellished with found leaves and flowers, or collaged with any personal items you would like to bring, such as photographs, locally dried plants of your own, or found images from printed materials.<div fr-original-style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"> </div>Participants will also have the chance to listen to a slide presentation of Brody&rsquo;s artwork while drinking mugwort tea, and discussing the relationship of native and non-native/invasive plants in a world greatly affected by our changing climate and migrating communities. ***Be dressed to get wet and a little dirty, hats and gloves. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1775929054/wysiwyg/c7af9yabdc7ne0tk9wbf.jpg" style="width: 226px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 0px 5px 5px; text-align: right; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: right; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 226px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 0px 5px 5px; text-align: right; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: right;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">Michele Brody is a Bronx-based Artist. The nature of her practice merges environmental activism with material poetics, examining the flux of life shaped by entropy and human-made climate change. Rooted in fiber-based traditions, she works primarily with handmade paper and natural fibers. Through the labor-intensive&nbsp;<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1776182150/wysiwyg/h0i3pdrkirzsa5apvsmz.jpg" style="width: 600px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; text-align: left; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: left; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 600px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; text-align: left; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: left;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">process of paper making, she aims to give material form to impermanence, care, and environmental responsibility. The production of her work focuses on site-specific installations with an environmental and community-based social practice. Influenced by a family of builders, Brody developed an early sensitivity to materials and space, receiving an MFA in Fibers and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been awarded grants from NYFA, Pollock/Krasner Foundation, and the Bronx Council on the Arts, and attended residencies at Skowhegan, Headlands Center for the Arts, and Wave Hill. International exhibitions include El Museo de Arte y Dise&ntilde;o Contempor&aacute;neo, Costa Rica, and nationally at the Hunter Museum of American Art, Tennessee. Notable projects in NYC include the LES Tenement and Bronx Museums, and public artworks for the MTA and Department of Education. Recent achievements include the award of the Nature Conservancy&rsquo;s Andy Warhol Visual Arts Residency and Second Place in the 2024 Fiber Art Now Winter Excellence in Fibers IX exhibition.<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1775929120/wysiwyg/bm6h0fmlbi26j1ggb6bg.jpg" style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1775929854/wysiwyg/h11xnj2qjviiwlbuxnqd.jpg" style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1776212014/wysiwyg/smpska6ybqyceexff9dk.jpg" style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1775929871/wysiwyg/fvivufotb87hzxo5rref.jpg" style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fragment from a Lost Marshland,&nbsp;by Michele Brody, photo by Mark Shaw.<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1776182451/wysiwyg/sep0spytahsiqs3qyx1x.jpg" style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Arboreal. Ethereal, Nine Birches, by Michele Brody, photo by Mark Shaw

Natural Paper Making with local plants, Michele Brody

A collaborative workshop led by textile artists&nbsp;Drishti Jaggi&nbsp;and Disha Dhadiwal.&nbsp; For Adults/or adults registered with a child age 11+.&nbsp;All children must be accompanied by an adult.&nbsp;Please feel free to reach out with any questions. eve@soonisnow.org<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1776111760/wysiwyg/gkjkcpeptaufahkrvxoz.jpg" style="width: 228px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 0px 5px 5px; text-align: right; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: right; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 228px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 0px 5px 5px; text-align: right; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: right;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"> In this hands-on session, participants will learn the fundamentals of batik, explore natural dye processes, and create their own unique textile pieces. The workshop celebrates the intersection of heritage craft and sustainable color-making, offering an engaging and immersive experience. This workshop is accompanied by Bengali savory snacks &amp; chai introduced by Aditi Goswami of <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.calcuttakitchens.com/about" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: initial; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">Calcutta Kitchens</a>, Kingston, NY. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1775933834/wysiwyg/ychepnwohly3js3ueubq.jpg" style="width: 241px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; text-align: left; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: left; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 241px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; text-align: left; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: left;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"> BIOS:Drishti Jaggi is a New York&ndash;based textile artist, designer, and educator whose practice centers on sustainable material innovation and traditional craft techniques. Trained in textile design with an MFA from Parsons School of Design, her work bridges heritage practices such as natural dyeing, batik, and weaving with contemporary narratives around ecology, identity, and material storytelling. Drawing from her experience in India and the United States, Drishti explores the intersection of craft and climate, often working with organic dyes, bio-textiles, and community-based processes. Her projects engage with themes of environmental responsibility, cultural preservation, and the transmission of knowledge through making. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1775933887/wysiwyg/hnlhahdowmu8czha7hmj.jpg" style="width: 233px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 0px 5px 5px; text-align: right; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: right; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 233px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; margin: 5px 0px 5px 5px; text-align: right; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); float: right;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"> Disha Dhadiwal&nbsp;is a textile artist and designer exploring the intersection of materiality, tradition and sustainability. Educated at Parsons School of Design in New York and Central Saint Martins in London, her work bridges contemporary design with deeply rooted craft practices.&nbsp; Working primarily with natural dyes, her process is guided by the philosophy of ahimsa, or non-violence. Through plant-based dyes, she embraces an intuitive and slow approach, where color emerges through time, layering, and interaction with natural elements. Her practice considers each stage of making an ecological act, aiming to minimize harm across the life cycle of materials through mindful sourcing and careful processing.&nbsp; Drawing from Indian textile traditions, Disha reinterprets these techniques through a contemporary lens and brings this experience into her teaching, focusing on process understanding, experimentation and building confidence in working with natural dyes. Aditi Goswami, Owner/Founder,&nbsp;<a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.calcuttakitchens.com/about" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: initial; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">Calcutta Kitchens</a>, Kingston, NY<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1775932829/wysiwyg/fqcpngdemrfnw7jbonti.jpg" style="width: 487px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto 5px 0px; text-align: left; max-width: calc(100% - 5px); position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-radius: 10px; background-clip: padding-box;" fr-original-style="width: 487px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto 5px 0px; text-align: left; max-width: calc(100% - 5px);" fr-original-class="fr-draggable fr-rounded"> <p dir="ltr" fr-original-style="line-height:1.38;background-color:#ffffff;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;" id="isPasted" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0pt 0px; width: 100%; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Aditi Goswami is bringing Bengali flavors to the table, using local seasonal greens to create some very special savory snacks served with traditional chai and sweets. Cooking flavorful meals is second nature to Aditi. Her love for cooking started when she was as young as five. Moving continents to start a new life in America was not part of her plan but the love of cooking and feeding kept her connected to her roots. Feeding her two sons and working full-time meant that sometimes a quick and easy meal was necessary. She opened her first brick-and-mortar store in Kingston&rsquo;s historic Midtown neighborhood as a place that distilled Aditi&#39;s years of cooking and farmers market experience into a cozy corner store where freshly prepared homestyle food is served alongside a marketplace for South Asian staples and local finds and a section for frozen prepared foods. It has since become a part of Kingston&#39;s growing food scene and iconic landscape. Saturday May 23rd at Scenic Hudson&#39;s River Center, Long Dock Park, Beacon, NY (the red barn). <div fr-original-style='color: rgb(32, 33, 36); font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' style='color: rgb(32, 33, 36); font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;'> </div><div fr-original-style='display: flex; visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; width: 886.667px; height: 560px; overflow: hidden; z-index: 3; color: rgb(32, 33, 36); font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' style='display: flex; visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; width: 886.667px; height: 560px; overflow: hidden; z-index: 3; color: rgb(32, 33, 36); font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;'><div fr-original-style="display: block; min-height: 1px; height: 560px; width: 56px;" style="display: block; min-height: 1px; height: 560px; width: 56px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"> </div><div fr-original-style="-webkit-box-flex: 1; flex-grow: 1;" style="-webkit-box-flex: 1; flex-grow: 1; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"><div fr-original-style="display: flex; -webkit-box-pack: end; justify-content: flex-end; -webkit-box-align: end; align-items: flex-end; width: 764.667px; height: 560px;" style="display: flex; -webkit-box-pack: end; justify-content: flex-end; -webkit-box-align: end; align-items: flex-end; width: 764.667px; height: 560px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"><div fr-original-style="height: 560px;" style="height: 560px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"><div fr-original-style="float: right;" style="float: right; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"> </div><div fr-original-style="height: 0px; overflow: hidden; clear: both;" style="height: 0px; overflow: hidden; clear: both; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"> </div></div></div></div><div fr-original-style="display: block; min-height: 1px; height: 560px; width: 66px;" style="display: block; min-height: 1px; height: 560px; width: 66px; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;"> </div></div>

Soon is Now

Past events

Past events

Natural Paper Making with local plants, Michele Brody

ROOTS & RESIST: Traditional Batik with Natural Dyes accompanied by Bengali savory snacks & chai

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