My name is Annemarie Zwack. I am an artist. I specialize in working with communities to realize their artistic dreams. I facilitate collaborative creative expression. I believe, together, we can create “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible” —C. Eisenstein.
Doctrine of Discovery & Decolonization
Earlier this year, I made a request, via my website, that Pope Francis rescind the Doctrine of Discovery, a Papal Bull from 1493 that was used to justify colonization by European countries, first as a religious concept, and later as a legal precedent. I was very happy...
BEYOND
The JOY of collaboration, in the making of each installation, infuses the experiential art each visitor participates in, when they dare to venture BEYOND!
Memorial Mosaic as Community Container for Joy and Grief
Black Girl Alchemy self determinative public art mosaic: honoring the life of DeJour Gandy-Malone, helping a community heal
Sculpting Black JOY
In honor of Dejour Gandy, a beloved teacher at the Downtown Ithaca Children’s Center, and with the help of his family and the community, Black Girl Alchemists created a mosaic mural that will be the focal point of a memorial garden.
Black JOY
Black Girl Alchemy is a curriculum of liberation designed by Dr. Nia Nunn & Nydia Blas, to combat historical and current social conditions negatively impacting Black Girls and Women.
Be Your SUPER SELF!
Everyone is different. What’s important is that we all be our SUPER SELF!
Mural Collaboration in the DR
The Mariposa Foundation, DR in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, invited me back in November 2017, to collaborate with a LOT of people! The Mariposa Foundation, DR works to end generational poverty by investing in the lives of girls. I worked with the Mariposa Foundation...
Ithaquatica!
Ithaquatica! was our theme for 2017
Translating Shared Values into a Vibrant Testament of Community
This is what Community looks like! in Ithaca, NY
TEDx Flour City
I am so excited to share my TEDx presentation with you! Here it is:
Richford, NY Community Mosaic Complete!
creating art together is a powerfully positive statement of values, and a testament to the ability of communities to define themselves, and create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible
Mariposas in the Dominican Republic
This November I had the incredible opportunity to work with girls at the Mariposa Foundation, DR. I was invited down to make mosaic portraits with the girls who attend the center in Cabarete, DR. We worked with a local potter and made tiles from raw clay, fired them...
1st St. Mosaic Project
We did a 2 day community build installation in late August. Here's some snaps of the fun! This is the 2nd year of an ongoing community built, artist led and organized, mosaic mural (now about 70' long!), on the wall of the DPW facility, facing the Sciencenter parking...
Up-cycling colored glass
broken glass is artist’s raw material in these leaf printed ceramic tiles fired in a solar powered kiln
Kitchen Back-splash Project
A woman recently contacted me to commission a mosaic back-splash for her kitchen. She already had red accents in her kitchen, so she chose a theme of red vegetables and fruit. Here are some shiny cherries, watermelon, radishes, peppers, tomatoes, and apples. (I made...
1st Street Mosaic Project
The first panel, in the ongoing 1st St. Mosaic Project, is now complete and stands sparkling in the sun for all to see!
Upward Bound Drawing at Cornell
This is my third year teaching art classes to the students in the Cornell Upward Bound program. Today we worked on figure drawing and some portraiture, in charcoal on large format paper, with a model. And the model is a young woman who took private art lessons from me...
Spiral of Life
a spiral of handmade ceramic leaf tiles nestle in between these matte river rocks creating a permanent design for floor or wall installation
Wild Edible Tiles
Ithaca residents created these beautiful tiles of wild edible plants and fungi for the 1st St. Mosaic project near the Sciencenter
Buddhas Big and Small
If you look very carefully, you may see the face of Buddha in the hills of Ithaca, in my mosaic Feels Like Home, on Tioga St. And perhaps you remember my Potential Buddhas series of paintings? Well, these days I am making Buddha faces, of many shapes and sizes, as...
Ceramic Leaves
These high-fired ceramic leaves are made from impressions of real leaves, most of them Burdock leaves. Burdock is a "weed", with fierce burrs, but it's root is used to help the heart and cleanse the blood. Sometimes the veining pattern in the leaves reveals the image...
Public Art Mosaic Unveiling
"Feels Like Home" was installed by the Ithaca Department of Public Works and wrapped in a big blue plastic tarp for the unveiling. It only took them a few hours to hang all 6 panels in their stainless steel frame. JJ and I were on...
Plant Mosaics
Please join the Van Etten Elementary School community to celebrate the completion and installation of these two mosaic benches depicting the life cycle of plants. They were made possible in part by a grant from the New York State...
Local Food relies on a healthy watershed
This Saturday in Ithaca the Food Justice Summit is happening and I will be there at the Watershed Wall to talk to folks as they do a Walkathon that winds it's way through downtown. I will also have a table at...
Visionary!
The American Visionary Art museum always has something to inspire your inner visionary. Check out the mosaics that inspired me while I was there.