Dear guests and visitors to the opening ceremony of Galerie 360 KreativWerkstatt,
Pablo Picasso once said:
All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.
My name is Anna-Maria Philipp. I am the mother of two wonderful little artists who inspire me again and again with the free spirits that children naturally have. At the beginning of last year, I converted a vending machine into an art vending machine in order to give other artists from the region, and myself, the possibility of a cost-effective sales channel without too much of a time investment. The vending machine was given the title "the smallest gift shop in Hessen" with the addition, "not even an employee fits in there".
The amount of interest from regional artists, as well as many of the products for sale, was too great to be accommodated in the unique machine. I found having contact with many artists very enriching and with that contact came the idea to connect artists with each other.
Monthly network meetings, weekly participation with first one, then two, stands on the Oberursel Altstadtmarkt and finally the Pop Up Store in Oberursel city center in the run-up to Christmas, made awareness of the network grow rapidly.
An artist's wealth of ideas is gigantic. Now imagine the wealth of ideas of more than two dozen artists who inspire each other again and again.
Because advocating for and marketing art and artists can sometimes be described as a thankless task - something which has also been addressed several times in network meetings - the idea came to me to create a place to pass on our dedication to art; on the one hand to inspire others with it and on the other hand to increase appreciation for our work.
Here we are now in the KreativWerkstatt, where adults can immerse themselves in art and children can let their creativity run wild (small limitation: creative freedom does not extend to the white walls).
The premises are designed in such a way that they can be used for a variety of creative offers. Today, when presenting the courses taking place here in the near future, we can already see how diverse the offers in the KreativWerkstatt are. Let yourself be inspired by the passion the hosts have for their work and for the workshops offered.
Some of the artists and craftspeople affiliated with the network are presenting themselves today in the exhibition rooms at the furniture manufacturer. Browse through trendy teak furniture and regional arts and crafts!
Over the course of the evening, there will be another highlight in addition to the guided tours of the Krebsmühle site. I don't want to reveal too much yet. We will meet at 6pm in the courtyard.
The opening today is only possible thanks to the active support we have received from family, friends, the Galerie 360 network, neighbours, the owners of the Krebsmühle and many other people involved. I would particularly like to emphasise the Krebsmühle community, which welcomed us with open arms.
Today, soup is served by the wonderful restaurant "die Linse".
So that nobody goes thirsty, the furniture manufacturer is supplying us with drinks.
This evening's guided tours of the Krebsmühle will be accompanied by Susan and Hans-Jürgen, veterans of the Krebsmühle community, who will pass on stories from their own experience to interested parties.
My next project is already about to begin, as you can see. Therefore, let's not waste any more time and officially open the KreativWerkstatt. Then we can get creative together and get started making art. What remains for me now is to wish the providers of the workshops great and full courses, so that the KreativWerkstatt can survive here in the Krebsmühle for a long time.
Gemeinsam kreativ.