One of our very own p2g contributors with a very cool idea hosts a much needed event
Artist Julie Ann Otis Opens Election Therapy Booth for Bostonians at Park Street Station
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2016
(BOSTON) – Award-Winning performance and installation artist Julie Ann Otis sees the stress and frustration many Bostonians have endured during this presidential election cycle. With an “Election Therapy” booth set up outside Park Street Station, she hopes to provide some much needed relief once residents step out of the voting booth and away from the long, dramatic, and intense political ride that began nearly 17 months ago.
Armed with a typewriter, a willingness to listen, creative solutions, and zero credentials as a healthcare professional, Ms. Otis’ Election Therapy Booth will offer anyone suffering from Post-Trump Trauma, Post-Hillary Hysteria, Post-Stein Schizophrenia, or post-Johnson Jitters the diagnosis and prescription they so desperately need.
“I was actually inspired to create this booth when I got to talking with Senator Elizabeth Warren at my local nail salon,” Ms. Otis said. “She was as frustrated with trying to talk across party lines as I was in my own neighborhood, or even in my own family!”
“Feeling demoralized and resigned seems like one of the only things we all have in common, so why not start the conversation there? I’m hoping that an honest conversation with a non-partisan stranger about how completely crazy the politics of our country have become might give people a little levity, perspective, and re-empowerment. At the very least, I can give them a prescription for some wishful thinking, a recipe for truth serum, or a social media fasting regimen.”
“Feeling demoralized and resigned seems like one of the only things we all have in common, so why not start the conversation there? I’m hoping that an honest conversation with a non-partisan stranger about how completely crazy the politics of our country have become might give people a little levity, perspective, and re-empowerment. At the very least, I can give them a prescription for some wishful thinking, a recipe for truth serum, or a social media fasting regimen.”
Ms. Otis has grown a following of her unique performance installation art and poetry. She was named Somerville’s Fellow of Interdisciplinary Arts in 2016, Opus Affair Artist of the Year in 2014, and received a Somerville Arts in Union grant for her work in 2015. She is a long-time advocate of artists taking active roles in social activism, politics, and city planning.
The Election Therapy Booth will be open on Tuesday, November 8th, from 1-7pm at street level outside Park Street Station.
Artist Bio:
Julie Ann Otis a public installation artist, business coach, and the creator of Active Receptivity Coaching, which she uses both with coaching clients and in her artistic work. She recently performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston) and at Aeronaut Brewery (Somerville), where she composed and projected poetry in real-time alongside an animation artist and an electronic music artist. Other multidisciplinary creations include an environmental poetry installation, “Answering Mara,” at The Art Farm (Nebraska) and “Incubus,” performance poetry choreographed with aerial dance in rope and harness at the A.R.T.’s Oberon. Her interactive poetry installation, “Free Verse,” combined vintage typewriters, public give and take of free writing, and live-time composition. Last year, her performance installation of “the Complaint (& Catharsis) Department,” a re-imagining of the R.M.V., offered affirmation and consolation for attendees of Somerville’s Pity Party. Accolades include Somerville’s Artistic Fellow of Interdisciplinary Arts 2016, Opus Affair Artist of the Year in 2014, and exhibitions at Boston City Hall in 2013 and 2015. Julie Ann’s next installation will be a two-month photopoetry collection at Bloc 11 in Somerville from January 10 – March 10, 2017. More information at www.julieannotis.com.
Julie Ann Otis a public installation artist, business coach, and the creator of Active Receptivity Coaching, which she uses both with coaching clients and in her artistic work. She recently performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston) and at Aeronaut Brewery (Somerville), where she composed and projected poetry in real-time alongside an animation artist and an electronic music artist. Other multidisciplinary creations include an environmental poetry installation, “Answering Mara,” at The Art Farm (Nebraska) and “Incubus,” performance poetry choreographed with aerial dance in rope and harness at the A.R.T.’s Oberon. Her interactive poetry installation, “Free Verse,” combined vintage typewriters, public give and take of free writing, and live-time composition. Last year, her performance installation of “the Complaint (& Catharsis) Department,” a re-imagining of the R.M.V., offered affirmation and consolation for attendees of Somerville’s Pity Party. Accolades include Somerville’s Artistic Fellow of Interdisciplinary Arts 2016, Opus Affair Artist of the Year in 2014, and exhibitions at Boston City Hall in 2013 and 2015. Julie Ann’s next installation will be a two-month photopoetry collection at Bloc 11 in Somerville from January 10 – March 10, 2017. More information at www.julieannotis.com.
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