Kunst Groen

What the artists show about works is completely their choice, they are free in it, it is about their works, they fill in what art means to them. This immediately explains the variety of artistic expressions that can be seen here.

The starting point used by the artist is exceptionally important in this respect.
He or she can leave with the idea that the works made in the studio are exhibited in a decor, more specifically here the vest or an adjacent garden. This means that the artist tries to reconcile two fixed data, the work and the decor, without radically changing both.

A second way of works found here is the creation of a work in function of a chosen location. The artists choose a location that appeals to them. the reason may be different: the attractive environment. the mastery and applicability of certain techniques or the challenge of the experiment. The environment changes little or not in this method, but there is nevertheless a significant influence through the creation.
Art is the variable here.

In a third approach the artist will change the environment, he will confront them with other elements, bring them in, the environment will become art by the artist . The art and the environment are interwoven into one variable.
The result of the artwork will eventually show which starting point the artist has chosen. The fact that risks are taken here, both by the organizers and by the artists, only increases the artistic enjoyment of the consideration.

The VZW ‘ Kunst Groen ’ wants to confront the numerous green spaces in Haspengouw and in and around the city of Sint-Truiden with visual art.

The VZW ’ Kunst Groen ’ wants to be a breeding ground for artistic talent and give people from their own soil and from their own region maximum opportunities.

Artificial Green

HISTORY

‘ Kunst Groen ’ started modestly in 1994 as an initiative of some artists, art lovers and the then ‘ Circle of Friends Domain Terbiest ’, of which Ludwig Vandenhove was chairman.

The eeHaspengouw Marianne Bamps 1rste exhibition took place in May 1994: a meeting between culture and art and nature in the beautiful decor of the castle domain Terbiest ( Terbiest 104 in Sint-Truiden ). This was the start for a ( two ) annual recurring event in the city of Sint – Truiden.

From 1996 the organization of the exhibitions was done by the actual association ‘ Kunst Groen ’. The board members were: Bernadette Sterken, John Deckers, Frank Delbeke, Patrik De Wolf, Jos Herck, Paul Vanvoorden, vice-chairman Nadine Libens and chairman Ludwig Vandenhove.

Later Sandra Vandepoel and Jo Pirard joined the association.

Nadine Loos and Fabienne Vangrieken helped with the organizations.

The first five editions of ‘ Kunst Groen ’ took place on the castle domain Terbiest. In 2004 the switch was made to the Tichelrijvest, part of the green vest belt around Sint-Truiden, combined with a number of private gardens in the Schepen Dejonghstraat, the Tichelrij campus of the Education of the Flemish Community ( GO! ), the playground of the Sint-Jan Berchmansschool and the urban extracurricular childcare Tutti Frutti, which was located there until 2009.

haspengouw_640This created a unique partnership between the environment, the residents and the participating artists.

In 2006 the project was conceived even bigger.

‘ Kunst Groen ’ not only organized exhibitions for the second time in the private gardens of the Schepen Dejonghstraat and on the Tichelrijvest, but worked together with the Academy Haspengouw [ Image ] and the Provincial University of Limburg ( PHL ), department of Vrije Kunsten, an art project on the fully renovated cardigans around Sint-Truiden.

The project ‘ CONVESTED ART ’ was a great success.

No fewer than 115 artists cooperated.

In 2007 the actual association ‘ Kunst Groen ’ de VZW ‘ Kunst Groen ’.

The members of the VZW ‘ Kunst Groen ’ are Marie-Thérèse Boyen, Thierry Decocq, Patrik Dewolf, Jos Herck, Jo Pirard, treasurer Frank Delbeke, secretary An D'Hoker, chairman Nadine Libens and honorary chairman Ludwig Vandenhove.

blossom_haspengouw_01The VZW wants to confront the numerous green spaces in Haspengouw and in and around the city of Sint-Truiden with visual art. She wants to have as many non-professional artists as possible, which certainly does not mean that less quality is offered. On the contrary, the VZW ’ Kunst Groen ’ wants to be exactly a breeding ground for artistic talent and give people from their own soil and from their own region maximum opportunities.

In 2008, the VZW organized its large ‘ Kunst Groen ’ on the Tichelrijvest and in the private gardens of the Schepen Dejonghstraat for the first time as VZW ‘ Kunst Groen ’ – exhibition. The artworks were of a high level and many people visited the exhibition. In short, the VZW ‘ Kunst Groen ’ was again able to speak of a successful manifestation.

Haspengouw in general with its numerous open spaces and the city of Sint-Truiden with its many green lungs and places in particular, still offer many possibilities for the VZW ‘ Art Green ’. Since we only work with volunteers, we have our limitations in terms of activities. If we want to continue to grow, we will have to dare to think about a certain form of professionalization at some point, although making maximum use of volunteering.

In addition to the now biennial initiative ‘ Kunst Groen ’, the VZW ‘ Kunst Groen ’ takes several other initiatives every year in which artworks are exhibited in public and / or private green spaces. On May 27, 2007, the VZW ‘ Kunst Groen ’ participated in the ‘ Park Day ’. 36 works of art were exhibited in the city park, on the domain ‘ t Speelhof and on the castle domain Terbiest. The VZW ‘ Kunst Groen ’ worked for this event together with Houses of Communications, the Beeldentuin Terbiest and the city of Sint-Truiden.

In December 2007 the exhibition ‘ Light breaks Darkness ’ on the Tiensevest, in and around the police house of the local police Sint-Truiden – Gingelom – Nieuwerkerken, to the Clockempoort.

In the meantime, this event has become a fixture within the activities of the city of Sint-Truiden in December: in December 2008 there was the successful exhibition ‘ Red Light ’ and in December 2009 the VZW organized the exhibition ‘ One Kuub Light ’.

Each time the artists enveloped the vest in a fairytale light and the police house lived up to its image as ‘ open house ’ with original works of art.

In 2011 this initiative will continue again under the heading ….

In the weekend of 17, 18 and 19 July 2009, the VZW ‘ Kunst Groen ’ participated for the first time in the Opentuinenweekend of the Verbond van Volkstuinen, department of Sint-Truiden, in which a number of private gardens open to the public were also placed throughout Sint-Truiden.

The ninth edition of the exhibition ‘ Kunst Groen ’ ran from Thursday 13 May 2010 to Sunday 30 May 2010. The exhibition took place again on the castle domain Terbiest: we are returning to the roots, as it were. That year, too, many talented artists participated in the event

DSCN0563The non-profit organization ‘ Kunst Groen ’ will start from this year, in addition to the now ‘ traditional activities ’, with exhibitions in the gardens of the various ( former ) presidencies of Sint-Truiden. The first initiative will take place in the Melveren rectory garden in late 2013.

The exhibitions of ‘ Kunst Groen ’ are always of a high quality.

The non-profit organization ‘ Kunst Groen ’ monitors the quality of the works on display and is particularly critical of the potential participants in projects. However, the emphasis remains on young people and giving new artists, together with established values, maximum opportunities.

Everything happens ‘ low budget ’.

‘ Art Green ’ has now become a household name in art circles.

If you are interested in the operation of the non-profit organization ‘ Kunst Groen ’, you can email info@kunstgroen.be.