The Alternative Press

The Big Read is going strong and we are very pleased to tell you about a hands-on activity that will be coming on way very shortly: Bean mosaics.

While our Big Read book,  In the Time of the Butterflies, is  set in the Dominican Republic, one of our goals is the exploration of common themes and shared experiences among cultures. Beans are about as close to a universal food as you can find. Most cultures include them in their cuisine—for example—dal, cholent, pasta fagioli, Yankee baked beans, moros y cristianos, etc. We are not going to cook beans at the library, but we are going to use them to create a library exhibit for all to enjoy!

Local artists, Vicki Parker, Connie Pinkowski and Sandra Cerchio, have volunteered to assist members of the community in making bean mosaics. The individual mosaics will then be combined into a larger mosaic which will be displayed at the Scotch Plains Library this spring, to coincide with the library’s Festival of Latin American Cultures on May 11.

Bean mosaic creation will begin on March 21 at 7:00 PM when the Scotch Plains and Fanwood Arts Association will hold a workshop and meeting at the Kuran Cultural Arts Center, Carriage House Pocket Park in Fanwood. Materials will be provided, and you may bring your own beans as well, if you wish.

The very next week, our three local artists will be at Scotch Plains Public Library to create mosaics with the public, all supplies provided, and you may bring your own beans as well, if you wish.

The dates will be:

• Teen Beans (grades 6-12) on Tuesday, March 26 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM and Wednesday, April 3, 3:30-5:00 PM
• Children’s Beans on Thursday, March 28 at 3:00 PM
• Community Beans (for everyone) on Wednesday, March 27 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM and Saturday, April 6 from 10:30 AM -1:00 PM

All Big Read and Scotch Plains Public Library events are free and open to the public. No reservations are needed to make the bean mosaics at the Kuran Cultural Arts Center or the library.

Over the next several months The Big Read continues with two more musical events, lectures, a video chat with Julia Alvarez, many book discussions, a butterfly release and a festival, so check our web page: http://www.scotlib.org and Big Read blog, http://bigreadsppl.tumblr.com/ for more information.