Stanza in Blue:
Caol Áit

a permanent art installation
a living poem

at ArtHouse6
Johnstown, Penn. USA

a poem by a poet, living inside a poem

About

Stanza in Blue : Caol Áit is a permanent art installation in ArtHouse6 located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA by the artist Asa Ana. The artist transformed a traditional bedroom into a living poem. The artist designed, sculpted, and painted ephemera, art, and other collectibles for each stanza of the poem “Design” by Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of the United States. Each stanza has a clue or a representation inside the room, which is painted—floor to ceiling—an ethereal blue, giving the sensation of floating or walking in the sky. The experience aims to allow viewers to experience a “thin place,” what Scottish/Irish folklore call in Gaelic “Caol Áit.” The folklore considers “thin places” as spaces where the veil between heaven and earth seems to grow translucent, even permeable. In Italian “stanza” means “room.” The artist lived in the room while he built the installation, allowing himself to live inside a poem. Visitors are challenged to find each stanza’s representation inside the room.

Tease

"and make a circle in it with my finger."

Live inside a poem

Visitors are challenged to find each stanza in the room. Appointments to stay overnight, so you too can live inside a poem, Are available for 2021. The room hosts a queen bed, made for individuals or couples who plan to hold each other tight inside the words and care Only A poem can Bring. A Dresser, rocking chair, and table sit quietly for you to read or write. The stay includes sweets from Blaines Boring Chocolates of Johnstown, PA, and an anthology of words, a book of poetry from local poets.

Stanza in Blue sits within Arthouse6, a collection of Private studio spaces for painters, chefs and candle makers. Your visit will include access to the amenities inside Arthouse, free wifi, a study filled with poetry and books about art. You'll have access to the Tuscan Tasting Room and Off the Rails Gallery on the first floor. Special dinner and catering options are available. The Kitchen is stocked with local fare, the essentials. AS a larger interactive experience we ask visitors to write a stanza of their choosing and drop it in the laundry chute outside the Blue room hallway where it will end up in a large scale Art experience for the public to see.

Inside a poem preview

About the artist

Asa Ana is an interdisciplinary artist who creates artistic interventions that reimagines community behavior. He has exhibited and curated artspace 101, 103, and 202 – a series of popup galleries in Homestead, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Ana curated social practice artworks in Pittsburgh and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA and completed a cross-cultural public art project at Villa Flores, working in Porto Alegre, Brazil, to build artistic and creative experiences to make the Fourth District of the city neighborhood safer. Ana exhibited at Gallery 13, Wicker Park, Chicago, Il., U.S.A. and in various group shows – with his first solo exhibition at PRISM, a former gallery in the Garfield neighborhood in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. His earlier artistic programming work launched art events called “FLUX” throughout Pittsburgh neighborhoods with the art collective GroundZero Action Network. The work is archived in the Heinz History Center of Pittsburgh. Ana is an advocate and researcher identifying public spaces for artists to perform or present their work. He managed an all-volunteer collective of street performers, supported by the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, Honorable Bill Peduto. He wrote legislation to make street performance legal in Millvale, Pennsylvania, USA. He has a permanent public art sculpture on the grounds of Carnegie Library of Homestead in Homestead, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He has been recognized with the New Person Award by the Thomas Merton Center, which honors activist artists who use art to address political and social change. He was selected as one of Pittsburgh’s “40 under 40” for the arts by Pittsburgh Magazine and Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project. Ana has been recognized by the United States Congress and the House of Representatives, including the Pennsylvania State Senate, for his artistic programming work in the Monongahela Valley in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Ana is a PhD student studying how art and creativity activates Post-industrial communities.

Poet of Laurete if Johnstown