Creative Somerville Series: Free Talk Highlighting Local Creative Entrepreneurs

[somervillebeat.livejournal.com]

The Creative Somerville Series is a series of “fireside chats” with local creatives and entrepreneurs in design, tech, food, social impact and other fields–celebrating the creative and entrepreneurial energy that makes Somerville great. The Creative Somerville Series is not your typical power point and Q&A. Our free fireside chats are about getting to hear someone’s story, learning about how they think and create, and getting to share creative energy and ideas in an intimate setting. The events are co-sponsored by the Somerville Beat and Somerville Local First.

Upcoming Events

Superpower Shenanigans & Public Space Playtime
A Conversation with Katarzyna Balug, Co-Founder, Department of Play
Wednesday, February 25, 7 p.m.
@ Aeronaut Brewing Company (14 Tyler St., Somerville)
Free, but space is limited, so reserve your spot now.

Katarzyna Balug is an artist and urbanist whose practice flows from performance, installation, and sculpture to teaching, civic design and planning research. Inspired by science fiction worlds and informed by urban planning studies, Balug’s work addresses the urgent need for imagination in urbanism. Department of Play runs temporary play zones (TPZs) that bring people together to imagine collectively and share their visions of the future. Their recent BLOCK PARTY in Union Square invited Somervillians to “consider key built elements for the first Martian dwellers.” Their forthcoming installation for the Fairmount Corridor will take place on the train, a space that is “passed-through but unmemorable” as a starting point for imagining other forms of co-existing in a crowd. Balug’s work has been shown at venues including the Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz, Poland, at the Boston Arts Festival and at FARO Tláhuac in Mexico City.

A Florist’s Path: The Beauty & The Dirt
A Conversation with Rose Mattos and Erin Heath, Founders of Forêt Design Studio
Thursday, March 19, 7 p.m.
@ Aeronaut Brewing Company (14 Tyler St., Somerville)
Free, but space is limited. Tickets will be released soon.

Forêt Design Studio is a floral & event styling company based in Somerville, MA founded by best friends Rose Mattos and Erin Heath. With their background in creating visual displays at Anthropologie, the ladies consider themselves “concept-driven” designers creating unique inspired events that are both cohesive and yet imaginative. Both are self-taught florists drawn to the natural elegance of seasonal flowers, fruiting branches, ripening berries and turning acorns. Each year, they work with local growers to choose the coming season’s bounty thus creating true “seed to table” arrangements. The ladies of Forêt have written for Design* Sponge and their clients include IDEO, MIT Media Lab, Society of Grownups, Style Me Pretty, BHLDN, and Anthropologie. Their work has been featured in Magnolia Rouge, Domino Magazine, Martha Stewart Weddings, Boston Wedding Magazine, Boston Home Magazine, Design New England and on the Somerville Beat. In 2014, they were named Best Wedding Florist in Boston for both Boston Magazine and theImproper Bostonian.

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