Ahavani Mullen, Aum № 4 (detail), 2022. Acrylic and graphite on canvas, 78 x 78”
Accompanying her current show of paintings and wall-mounted sculptures, Vessel of Soundless Sound, Tusen Takk alumni Ahavani Mullen will guide a series of morning meditations on sound and silence, focusing on the breath and heart center, while clearing the mind. Ahavani has had a daily meditation practice for over 25 years, and has been fortunate to receive inner and outer guidance from her teacher, Sri Chinmoy.
After the meditation session, enjoy a sound bath led by Commongrounds exhibiting artist Kevin Summers and composer/performer Andrew Dalio. To conclude, the artists will reflect on how meditation and sound inform their work and art-making process, followed by an open Q&A.
Join us after for coffee and a tour of the artists’ work installed throughout the Commongrounds building.
Suggested donation: $10
ARTIST BIOS
Ahavani Mullen is a visual artist who constructs paintings, sculptures and installations which have evolved from silence. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Tusen Takk Foundation, the Macedonia Institute, Vermont Studio Center and Hypatia Trust. Other honors include awards from James Rondeau, Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, and grants from 3Arts, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She has presented exhibitions in gallery and university settings such as Northwestern University, Hyde Park Art Center, CIRCA Gallery, Gallery 1871, Olivet Nazarene University, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Maryland, and at the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, MI in spring 2023. Her work is included in numerous private and public collections, and can be viewed at: https://www.ahavani.com
Kevin Summers is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Garfield Township, Michigan. His current body of work focuses on our relationship with the environment, conservation, history, community and ourselves using sound, light and found objects. The work invites us to walk freely back into a world we can appreciate as sublimely beautiful, awful, tragic, hilarious, alive and full of grace. His collaborative sound baths, performed with Andrew Dalio, use resonance, modular synthesis, feedback, drones, improvisation and pure tones to help people reconnect and relax into the energetic world. Kevin is currently an Environmental Art Fellow at SEEDS Ecology and Educational Centers. He was awarded "Best in Show" at the Northwest Michigan Regional Juried Exhibition at the Dennos Museum Center in 2022. His sound work has most recently been featured at the Dennos Museum Center, the Commongrounds Cooperative and released on Bags of Meat Volume 1 by Carrion Bag Productions.
Andrew Dalio is a composer/performer originally from New Orleans, but here in Traverse City since 2012. His pieces range from ambient to noise. https://andrewdalio.bandcamp.com/
THE TUSEN TAKK CHANNEL: AN ARTIST ENGAGEMENT SERIES AT COMMONGROUNDS
The Tusen Takk Channel is a partnership with Alluvion Arts @ 414 at Commongrounds in downtown Traverse City, MI. The Channel will feature Tusen Takk’s artists-in-residence in rotating exhibitions and in live programs at the Alluvion, all serving to anchor Tusen Takk’s public programming in the region.
Commongrounds is a real estate cooperative cultivating a more empowered community through cooperatively-owned places that connect people and actively integrate wellness, arts, family and food. The pilot project is a four-story mixed-use building at 414 E. Eighth Street, hosting a variety of nonprofit, business, and residential tenants; visual arts programming; and events and activities.
Learn more about the Tusen Takk Channel
Ahavani Mullen: Vessel of Soundless Sound has been funded in part by a mini-grant from Michigan Arts & Culture Council and the Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network.
