Living Art: The Watermark Arts News Blog

At Watermark Arts we think deeply about water. The Watermark Arts name came from a dream about the transformative qualities of water, and many Watermark artists are inspired by the fluid movement practice of Continuum.

During the month of March we offer you myriad ways to engage with your own fluid body and the waters of the world. 

First, we are thrilled to introduce you to artist and planetary activist Shelley Ostroff, who along with co-creators, has initiated World Water Year 2021and the World Water Law. The World Water Law is a global call for citizen action to protect water sources.

On Sunday March 7, Elaine Colandrea, Melanie Gambino and Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell will guide participants in a Continuum Water Blessing during the ISMETA conference, “Engaging Embodiment: Somatic Practices for Health, Education & Social Justice.”

All are welcome to celebrate the life affirming properties of water on Sunday March 21, the day before World Water Day, for Watermarkings – a dance, poetry and music performance. Register for this free online event below.

Throughout the month, experience your own internal fluidity each Wednesday with Megan Bathory-Peeler and Elaine Colandrea in Moving Body Meditations, part of Shantigar Foundation Online Programs.  

Could concern for the world’s waterways, and the well-being of all life forms, be a unifying cause? We look forward to your engagement.

Please join us!

Read the newsletter here.

The Watermark Arts Creative Team

2021 has arrived; flux is inherent in all beginnings.

At Watermark Arts, we are aswirl with fresh artwork, a new retreat location, and a blossoming of spring projects.

Our new artists, both deeply informed by Continuum, deliver you to the waters of creation. With joy, we introduce you to dancer/poet Lumini Merced and to an expanded selection of Judi Bachrach’s poetry. 

Peer into the world of Dharmakaya Center for Well Being,steeped in the nature of Ulster County, NY. Elaine Colandrea will present two Continuum weekend workshops in the coming year at this scenic, tranquil, private retreat.

March will bring a Water Blessing sponsored by ISMETA (3/7), a World Water Day performance (3/21), and a 5-week Moving BodyMeditations online series with Shantigar Foundation. Look for more details about March events in our next mailing.

Further on the horizon, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies has invited Elaine and Watermark Arts to organize a Summer 2022 workshop. 

From this potent space of new beginning, please contemplate the somatic art in our winter 2021 newsletter here. 

The Watermark Arts Creative Team

Dear Friend,

As the wild, crashing currents of 2020 ebb and a new year flows in, I reflect upon the quality of water that has been most instructive in meeting unprecedented times: Adaptability.

If ever there was a time for opening oneself to new possibilities through life-affirming somatic art, it is this present moment. I am awash with gratitude for everyone who has viewed our exhibits and films and attended our online offerings. Your participation makes Watermark Arts whole and complete.

At the heart of Watermark Arts are the nearly 60 artists whose sensuous and alive artwork graces our online galleries, newsletters, exhibits, performances, films and publications.

As our annual capstone, Watermark Arts invites you to delve now into our fourth journal, WaterSense, featuring My Body, The Wetland, a reflection on interdependence, collaboration, and vitality. In the 2020 Journal, we bow to those whose contributions made possible numerous Water Blessings, the Elemental Art Exhibits, Susan Harper: Heart of Continuum, and Materadancescapes – all included in WaterSense.

The 2020 Journal will remain available on the Watermark Arts website, along with our three earlier issues: The Artistry of Water, Continuum & Creativity, and The Creativity of Health. All of which offer potent reflections on the gift of adaptability – meeting what is.

Together, with love, we head into the unknown,

Elaine and the Watermark Arts Creative Team

Elaine Colandrea   Prue Jeffries         Sandra Capellaro          Rori Smith
Artistic Director      Creative Director  Galleries Administrator  Editor/Writer

View the newsletter here.

This August, Watermark Arts is thrilled to adventure into a new medium of creative exchange – the Zoom film premiere! We invite you to reserve your place in the virtual audience as we share two new films with subjects quite dear to me.

A trio of short dance films responding to the canyons and caverns of Matera in southern Italy, a site steeped in mythology and human history as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Q&A with choreographer Elaine Colandrea, filmmaker Prue Jeffries, composer Morena Boschetto, and performers Claudia Catani and Naomi Walker will follow the films. Special guests Teresa Barbaro and Paolo Montagna will join live from Matera to speak about the distinctive features of the film location.

A cinematic celebration of Susan’s extraordinary life journey.
Born in Africa to missionary parents, Susan began her devoted exploration of Continuum with Emilie Conrad in 1975, partnering with her in various ways until Emilie’s death in 2014. Continuum Montage, Susan’s lifework, began as a record company and grew into the full expression of the innovative somatic practices born of Susan’s deep inquiries and collaborative nature. Susan Harper, Heart of Continuum was created to honor Susan’s 70th birth year. A birthday toast with Susan will follow the film.

Reservations are limited for these one-time-only events. Reserve by clicking on the designated premiere buttons below. I hope to see you at Materadancescapes, Susan Harper, or best of all – both!

With enormous excitement,
Elaine and the Watermark Arts Creative Team

View the newsletter here.