Learn how to make watercolor paint with Arlington artist Anna Pancoast on Sunday November 24th from 10am-noon at Mystic Open Studio. We will make a spectrum of artist-grade watercolor paint using non-toxic purchased and handground pigments. Topics we will cover include: watercolor binders, safety when working with dry pigments, accessible pigments to forage locally, crushing pigments, mixing paint with a palette knife and muller, and using repurposed materials in our paint making practice. This workshop is open to everyone middle school age and older. You will receive a list of resources and materials to bring to the workshop. Cost is on a sliding scale of $30-55 per person, with a $5 additional materials fee included. Email anna.kathryn.pancoast@gmail.com with any questions.

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One of my creative projects during the summer of 2024 was helping organize an ecologically themed mural in Arlington, MA with Extinction Rebellion (XR) Boston. The mural was designed by Kevin Shanahan using XR block print art for individual elements of the flowers, butterfly, and hourglass. At the center is the extinction symbol of an hourglass in a circle that represents how time is running out to address the climate crisis. Many volunteers contributed to this project over four community paint days for ground-level work and over countless more days as part of our XR mural crew. We had a mural celebration with the Arlington community on Sunday November 20th, 2024 and I was interviewed by Arlington Community Media Inc. (ACMi) shortly thereafter.

I’m delighted to be joining other artists from i3C (Inspiring Change for the Climate Crisis Artist Group) in the show “Regenerating Earth” at Higgins Art Gallery.

October 17th - November 8th, 2024
Reception: Thursday October 17th, 2-4:30pm
Virtual artist talk: Thursday November 7th, 3:30-4:30pm

Regeneration is a process of regrowing something lost. It could look like tending the garden to build up soil fertility and biodiversity. Or like putting the pieces back together to restore function. It could also be rediscovering a sense of agency in our role as caretakers of human and more-than-human communities.

My contribution to the show touches on all three. It is a quilt made from repurposed domestic textiles, incorporating outgrown baby socks and a favorite skirt worn to threads. The textiles are overdyed using plants from my garden and a solar oven, their colors shifting, merging, and making space for new possibilities. This work is a reminder that I have transformed and that I have agency in the process going forward.

Agency (from the series Dream Space)
2024, 33 x 40 inches, naturally overdyed and repurposed domestic textiles

Photo by Alex Shure

Join me for an afternoon of community watercolor paint making on Sunday May 12th, 2024 (Mother’s Day) from 1:30-3:30pm at Mystic Open Studio. Together we will make a spectrum of watercolor paint using non-toxic purchased and handground pigments. The process is simple, no experience necessary. This event is free and open to everyone elementary school age and older as part of the art exhibition “Dwell” on view at Mystic Open Studio May 12-27. RSVP by emailing anna.kathryn.pancoast@gmail.com to receive a list of resources and suggested materials to bring to the event.

From April 11th through May 3rd 2024 I am showing my Dream Space series at The Tender, a micro gallery in Concord, MA. The gallery is curated by Katherine Spencer.

Show Statement
Dream Space is a series of textile collages depicting an internal landscape for considering the future and its (im)possibilities. Utilizing naturally overdyed domestic textile scraps, this project realizes dreams of working with manufactured and natural abundance. I begin in the garden, gathering dye plants and heating solar-powered dye pots. The process continues with a mindset of rest, self-care, and letting go through hand-stitching, intuitive piecing, and being guided by the shape of unironed textiles. This series grounds me and provides support for my work as a parent and community builder for climate justice. As these textiles steeped in personal history are transformed through color and pieced back together, I generate new narratives for how to dwell in the present and dream of the future.

I’ve been working with artists Lisa Benson, Molly Zimmer, and Jess Cofrin to organize a group show as part of the Taking. Up. Space. Initiative with the Thrive Together Network. Ten female and non-binary identifying New England artists working in a range of mediums will be showing their work at Mystic Open Studio in May.

Participating artists: Lisa Benson, M.J. Benson, Roxanne Boyd, Jess Cofrin, Jenna Clouse, Alison Judd, Anna Pancoast, Amanda Petrozzini, Daniela Wenzel, and Molly Zimmer.

Local folks, come join us at the Opening Reception on Saturday May 11th and stay tuned for workshop updates during open gallery hours.

Featured Work:
“Agency” from the Dream Space series by Anna Pancoast, 2024, 33 x 40 inches, Naturally overdyed textiles

March 1st, 2024: It was a pleasure to be interviewed by Ruchika Erravandla about my work with Extinction Rebellion Boston. Art has been a rewarding way to get involved with climate action and I am grateful to be working with such a talented and dedicated group of rebels. For more information about Extinction Rebellion Boston, check out xrboston.org and join me at an upcoming Art Build!