REDISCOVERY IN THE
MAKING
GALLERY TAKEOVER EXHIBITION
DECEMBER 14, 2023 - FEBRUARY 22, 2024
Every year, Ruth’s Table and Creative Spark partner with older adult communities, local nonprofits, and intergenerational partners to bring together older adults and adults with disabilities through engaging and inclusive creative experiences.
This year’s theme, Rediscovery in the Making will allow our communities to creatively reimagine the everyday to reveal riches within ourselves and others. The act of making is a continuous experimentation where our confidence and curiosity shed new light on the connections in our lives. Rediscovery in the Making brings forth pieces of ourselves that we want to enhance or to shift, repurposing our current qualities and choices towards an inspiring future path.
Rediscovery in the Making is part of Gallery Takeover , an annual collaborative project. Throughout the year, Ruth’s Table and Creative Spark work with many community partners to implement meaningful, arts-based experiences that culminate in a community-led exhibit. This interactive program serves as a platform for every participant, regardless of their age or abilities, to create, share, and connect through art.
Opening Celebration | Onsite
January 20, 2024 | 2-4pm
At Ruth’s TableClosing Celebration | Onsite
February 22, 2024 | 5:30-7:30pm
At Ruth’s TableExhibition Dates
December 14, 2023 - February 22, 2024
Ruth’s Table Gallery
PARTNERS
Ruth’s Table and Creative Spark offer an inclusive program of creative explorations tailored to the diverse needs and abilities of our participants. The culminating Gallery Takeover exhibition aims to create an inclusive gallery experience that represents the diverse voices of our communities. We would like to express our endless thanks to all of our 2023 participants and partners, including:
Accessibility
Each artwork in this exhibition is accompanied by written and audio artwork descriptions available through "Audio Description" links below. In gallery, artwork descriptions are available via QR codes on the wall labels.
Explore the complete playlist of recordings here →
WHITE ON WHITE
Many hands formed this papercraft assemblage, measuring 21” x 24” framed, with each workshop participant creating an individual paper box a few inches wide, filling it with micro sculptures of paper techniques - cutting, folding, rolling, and shaping. Artist Aiko Cuneo nestled the sculptures together to form the final 3D piece. No two sculptures are alike, representing the diversity found in our community as we sit side-by-side.
INTERWOVEN IMPRESSIONS
Inspired by work in Intertwined, a collaborative exhibition between SCRAP and Ruth’s Table, this monoprint project encouraged participants to experiment with ink and textiles by creating multiple prints from a scrap of fabric. Creating ghost prints as part of the process helped participants explore rediscovery through repetition and chance as they revealed each unique monoprint to create a series. Led by teaching artist Suzanne Reich.
Heart of Gold
Inspired by Kintsugi, a Japanese practice of mending pottery using gold, this project represents the healing journey. Through care and intention, we can find resiliency, as displayed in the many makers from New York to California, who created hearts representing their inner light shining through. The hearts are framed by yarn twisted together by groups of workshop participants of all ages. The twists of the thread garland hanging around the framed hearts hold the energy, experience, and emotions of the hands that worked together to create it. This collaborative thread was made to set the intention of Ruth’s Table as a safe space where all can create and learn together.
symbolic stamping
Stamping is a form of printmaking that involves transferring an image or design from a molded surface onto paper using ink. This interpretation of print-making allowed communities to express aspects of themselves using shapes, numbers, and colors. Participants designed a unique symbol that reflects their interests, personality, or values and rediscovered their design by experimenting with repetition and layering.
COLORFUL TRANSFORMATIONS
Participants from across the Bay Area took part in an art project where they used washable markers to represent their personal journeys through colorful patterns, showing how they've changed and grown. When water was added, the mandalas transformed, just like how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. The new designs kept parts of the old ones, showing how we carry bits of our past with us as we grow.
collective lotus origami
This vibrant piece is a patchwork tapestry of lotus origami, where each 2x2 inch square of multicolored petals fold and interlace seamlessly, forming a visually striking mosaic. Each lotus origami piece was handcrafted by Ruth’s Table participants and gathered in a harmonious display, creating a mesmerizing tapestry that captures the collective beauty of individual lotus blooms. Workshop led by teaching artists Aiko Cuneo and Lilli Lanier.
Origami tiles
This square artwork is a colorful patchwork made by different friends at a workshop led by artists Aiko Cuneo and Lilli Lanier. Each square is a 1.5x1.5 inch origami creation, where two different colored papers are folded into four triangles—two of each color. Imagine a big quilt made of these unique squares, where each friend brought their own touch of creativity. It's like a journey of rediscovery because, through simple folds and vibrant colors, everyone finds something special within themselves. The artwork is like a story, showing that when we share our unique talents, we can create something beautiful together.
fly me to the moon
Painting by Lina, age 77
Story: Man, and Women meet, he is flying and she is on the Moon with her Music on her mind, and the Sun has set.
They are both thinking about how it’s going to be when they get older together. The man has his sheep on the boat and he is near a chapel, as he does not want to be alone in life, and thinks he and the lady need to be together forever in this world.
constellation collages
As we move through our daily lives, we often forget about the night skies above and all of the mythical animals who live there. Birds, horses, dogs, and fish, among many other animals, are found among the stars above.
This project, facilitated during At Home with Growing Older’s annual Age-in event at Ruth’s Table, encouraged participants to create a tissue paper collage of a cosmic sky with an animal constellation. Participants rediscovered their relationship to the night sky while honoring an animal that’s important to their lives. The collaged constellation here represents a sampling of collage techniques and mark-making styles. Led by teaching artist Alexandra Bailliere.
Cogenerational Social Healing Series by Dance Generators
Dance Generators is an intergenerational dance company housed at the University of San Francisco’s Performing Arts & Social Justice department. With members ranging in age from their teens to their nineties, the group fosters artistic collaboration between undergraduate students and Bay Area older adults in performance, community engagement, and activism.
In these videos , you’ll find an introduction to Dance Generators followed by pairs of younger and older members of the dance company reflecting on their experience connecting and moving together as partners, including what they’ve discovered about themselves, their bonds to one another, and their own aliveness.
Videography: Douglas Rae
Editing: Anjali Daryanani
Produced by: CoGenerate & The On Being Project
Orizomegami
Guided by teaching artist Aiko Cuneo, participants folded paper using origami techniques and then dipped the folded papers into liquid inks and watercolors. The inks naturally spread out and blended within the folds and creases of the paper in ways that the participants could not have predicted. After drying for a week, the papers were unfolded and participants rediscovered new patterns and blended colors in their folded papers.
Paint chip mosaic
Envisioned and guided by artist Aiko Cuneo, many hands touched this collage of repurposed paint chips, with each workshop participant choosing paint chips of contrasting colors, cutting triangles, punching holes, and layering the colors for a mosaic-like effect. Each square comprises a top layer with a myriad of small holes meticulously punched, revealing glimpses of the vibrant bottom layer beneath. The result is a stunning interplay of colors, with the punctured patterns creating a dynamic and visually engaging effect. Each pattern becomes a metaphor for finding hidden treasures in overlooked materials.
Inner treasures
Geodes may look ordinary on the outside but inside they hold spectacular treasures and stories to be discovered...just like us! Participants created a mixed-media watercolor geode in a color palette of their choosing while considering their own inner treasures of history and experience.
my imaginary bird
Panting by Larry D Lee
Birds are a common subject because the artist's elder daughter volunteers with a bird rescue organization. This bird shows off a palette of beautiful colors and a twinkle in its eye. In the artist's mind, it's an imaginary, magical bird, with the power to rule the world.
“After his retirement, Dad was mostly occupied with caring for Mom in her last years. It was after she passed that, at the urging of his youngest daughter, he resumed the painting he had enjoyed doing as a young man before enlisting in the US Army. He continues painting today, exploring a number of mediums and subjects.”
home & shelter
Creative Re-use class participants explored the topic of “home and shelter” through the use of collage. The group discussed the pandemic and the isolation and now the gathering of everyone at Ruth's Table again. Using repurposed paper materials, each participant made their interpretation of home. It was assembled as a collaborative piece using discard library book covers connected together to make an accordion book structure, making a "town" or "neighborhood." Led by teaching artist Monica Lee.
Voices of Rediscovery
A collection of voices edited together into an audio tapestry. A toll-free hotline asks each caller to share “one thing you’re rediscovering about life at this stage.”
FULL EXHIBITION
This online exhibition presents a selection of the artwork in Rediscovery in the Making. Explore the full exhibition in person at RT gallery from December 14 - Feb 8, 2024.
GALLERY TAKEOVER
Rediscovery in the Making is a part of our Gallery Takeover program, a series of annual exhibitions that display the resulting works created through programs led by Creative Spark and Ruth’s Table.
SUPPORT RT
Ruth’s Table thanks our generous donors for ongoing support. Your support is vital and every gift matters.
