My dear friend Ruth Cobb wrote this press release for me.  I should never author press releases. I use way too many exclamation points. Ruthie on the other hand gets it just right. I miss Ruthie. She is among one of my very dearest friends, we had a few things in common - making do with what we had, being generous with what we had when we could, a love of laughter and a good story, and road trips with apple pie at the end of them.  Ruthie is a collector of good folk and history, making her a tremendous networker and community resource.  I have been encouraging her to be press release ruthie for years!

DATE: June 2016

CONTACT: Sara Holodnick, The Bureau of Historical Investigation, (360) 305-3172,    e-mail: [email protected]

RE: The Lost Art Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local artist encourages the art of letter writing

It’s no secret that people write and mail fewer letters today. Everson collage artist and photographer Karen Hanrahan wanted to put the “art” back into the art of letter writing, so she launched a collaborative project encouraging others to create and mail their collage envelopes to her. The results of her “Lost Art Project” have drawn praise from participants and smiles from her mail carrier. A display of Hanrahan’s photography and the collage envelopes will be featured during June at the Bureau of Historical Investigation in Bellingham.

Hanrahan has long been a fan of collage, and enjoys the process of arranging image and text fragments from magazines and other sources to create intriguing and whimsical art. She also likes getting “old-fashioned” mail. In order to get the word out about her project, she did resort to modern technology.

“At the beginning of March, I sent an e-mail to friends and created a Facebook post with a tutorial about making collage envelopes and asked people to create and mail samples of their work to me for a display,” said Hanrahan.

The response was very enthusiastic. Envelope collages came from as far away as Prague, and from folks of all ages who were delighted to be part of the project. A seven-year-old participant included a little joke book, and Hanrahan’s mail carrier told her the collages really brightened his days on the mail route.

Hanrahan’s “Lost Art Project” will be displayed beginning with June’s Art Walk - Friday, June 3, from 5 to 9 p.m. at The Bureau of Historical Investigation, 217 W. Holly St. in Bellingham, through June. For more information, call (360) 305-3172 or visit the website at www.thebureaubellingham.com.

The Bureau of Historical Investigation is a gift and souvenir shop offering special events and guided historical walking tours in Bellingham.

The work of Karen Hanrahan may be viewed at: http://karenhanrahan.zenfolio.com/

( envelope collage and post cards ready to mail )