Thanks to our sock monkey volunteers!

Adorable monkeys sewn by fresh art volunteers

April is Volunteer Awareness Month, and to celebrate, we'd like to give a huge "thank you" to our wonderful sock monkey volunteers. Twice each month, a group of dedicated volunteers gather at fresh art's office space to sew sock monkeys. The monkeys are then sold to raise funds to support fresh art's various programs. Recently, we've recruited some new volunteers through Meetup. See below for some pictures of our volunteers in action. To our volunteers: Thanks so much for all you do!

Sock monkeys at the Atlantic Antic!

What: The 37th annual Atlantic Antic street festival

When: Sunday, October 2

Where: Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn
(fresh art's booth will be on the block between Smith Street and Boerum Place)

Time: noon until 6 p.m. (Rain or shine!)

Directions: Take the F train to Bergen Street, the A/C train to Jay Street, the 2/3/4/5 train to Borough Hall, or the R train to Court Street. Alternately, head toward the New York Transit Museum and their bus festival. fresh art will be close by!

Details: The largest street festival in New York City, the Atlantic Antic stretches for more than a mile and attracts more than one million people each year. Stop by to buy a monkey or just say hi! The fresh art booth will be just one on an entire block dedicated to kid-friendly activities like pony rides, storytelling, and face painting, so bring the whole family. Hope to see you there!

St. Margaret's House Exhibition

On Monday evening, June 14, St. Margaret's House hosted an opening reception for an exhibition of artworks by seniors living at the facility. The exhibition showcases twenty-four oil and watercolor paintings created over the past year as part of a fresh art painting workshop taught by Beverly Bergman. The year-long exhibition in the New Horizon Wing at St. Margaret's House (49 Fulton Street at Pearl Street) is open to the public daily from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. See below for some photos from the opening reception.

Artist Beatrice Exelbreth

Artist Bernadino De La Cruz

Artist Marjorie Grimm

Artists Sr. Promise and Nancy Tsang

Sock monkeys at Saks Fifth Avenue!

This month, you can buy a fresh art sock monkey at one of ten Saks Fifth Avenue stores! The promotion is part of a Saks Father's Day campaign. Check out this lovely ad, which appeared in the Saks catalog in June.

The sock monkeys are all made with socks donated by Ozone Designs, and 99% of the proceeds go to support fresh art. The flagship New York City Saks Fifth Avenue store will have the biggest selection of sock monkeys--look for them on the sixth floor in the mens' underwear and sock department, right next to shoes.

Happy Father's Day, everyone!

Sock monkeys for sale!

Look for fresh art's sock monkey table at the Bleecker Street Fine Art & Designer Craft Fair this Sunday, May 22 from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. We'll be on the east side of Bleeker Street (between West 11th and Perry) in front of Bond Scents next to Magnolia Bakery in the West Village. Hope to see you there!

fresh art loves japan

Along with the rest of the world, we at fresh art have been so saddened by the devastation our friends in Japan have faced as a result of the March 11 earthquake and tsumani. One of the volunteers in our sock monkey sewing circle, Yoko, a native of Japan, created a special monkey to show her love and support for her home country.


As Yoko's monkey illustrates, our hearts go out to all those in Japan and around the world who have been affected by the earthquake and the tsunami.

Visit us at the Prospect Heights Craft Fair on April 9!

On Saturday, April 9th, fresh art will be selling sock monkeys at the third annual Prospect Heights Craft Fair at PS 9 in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Please stop by 80 Underhill Ave (between St. Marks Avenue and Bergen Street) to see us and stock up on some spring sock monkeys.

The Prospect Heights Craft Fair benefits the art programs at this neighborhood public elementary school, so come out and support their cause as well as ours! You can take the A or C train to Washington Ave, the Q train to 7th Ave, or the 2 or 3 train to Bergen Street. The B26, B41, B46, B65, and B69 buses will also do the trick.

Hope to see you on April 9, and happy spring!