New URL for the Henna Gathering: HennaGathering.org
Register by filling out this form! Be sure to note that you're registering for the Northeast Henna Gathering.
4th Annual Northeast Henna Gathering
Friday, March 26 through Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday:
3 Invited Lectures by Catherine Cartwright-Jones:
Body and Place,
Rangoli, and
Henna in Persia
5-8pm
@ the RISD Auditorium
17 Canal Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02906
Afterwards, hang out and henna each other in your rooms at Hotel Providence.
It's about a .5 mile walk from the RISD auditorium to Hotel Providence.
Note that Google Maps is horrible and does not recognize 17 Canal Street as a valid address -
your GPS may not either. So bring a map and plan accordingly.
Saturday and Sunday:
@ The Spot on Thayer
286 Thayer St, Providence, RI
12-8pm
- Night of Henna, PPD, and Global Economics of Henna - Catherine Cartwright-Jones of HennaPage (OH)
- Bridal Consultations - Kim Brennan of Hasina Mehndi (Canada) - preview here and here
- Moroccan Henna II and Marking The Body: Henna's Place in the Global Culture of Body Arts - Nic Tharpa Cartier of Henna Tribe (MA)
- Scientific Method for Henna Artists - Jen Schafer of Henna Muse (OH)
- Intro to Henna - Heather Caunt-Nulton of Henna By Heather (RI)
- Whitespace and Shading - Nev Levin of Remarkable Blackbird (ME)
- Photographing Henna - Roy Jones of HennaPage (OH)
- The Science of Aftercare - Colleen Finnerty (MA)
- Pysanky (Ukranian Easter Eggs) for henna artists - Olena Wilshanetsky of Bent Tree Design (OH)
- Glitter tattos - Lauren Grover of HennaDancer (CT)
- Running a Henna Business - Hiral Shah of Hiral Henna (MI)
- Pregnant Belly Henna - Bridget Punsalang of Aurora Mehndi (IL)
A sneek peak at the studio room of The Spot on Thayer
(we'll also have the other room with lots of comfy chairs):
Registration :
Friday's lectures are free.
$100 preregistration fee covers
-ALL Saturday + Sunday activities - lectures, workshops, demos, crafts, etc
-unlimited free supplies! henna, glitter, aftercare stuff... you name it, we'll have it!
-a goodie bag with lots of cool stuff including, at the least:
Jamila henna powder, cajeput essential oil, glitter, pre-rolled henna cones, bindis
To register, please fill out this contact form.
Include a note saying you're registering for the Northeast Henna Gathering
Heather will then email you the adress to mail a check to.
To be added to the email list for further information as it is confirmed:
More info:
Where to stay:
HOTEL PROVIDENCE
We've gotten an amazing group rate of just $125/night.
This is almost 66% off the normal rate of $320/night!
This is a boutique luxury hotel... right downtown... for an out-in-the-suburbs-motel rate!
It's cheaper than staying
at The Holiday Inn Express in North Attleboro MA, which is where most attendees stayed last year...
Most of the rooms have 2 double beds (we've booked EVERY double bed room in the house).
Some rooms have 1 king or 1 queen bed.
Hotel Providence is just 1.2 miles from The Spot, where all of the workshops and demos and other good stuff will be going on.
So, if you're adventurous, you can walk up historic (steep!) College Hill, passing RISD and Brown . You can also use bus route 92.
If you want to keep things as easy as possible, a taxi will be very affordable.
Be sure to tell them you're booking at the group rate for the Northeast Henna Gathering!
139 Mathewson Street | Providence, RI 02903
401-861-8000 | 800-861-8990
Stay at Hotel Providence, the official hotel of the Northeast Henna Gathering to ensure that you cross paths with
(and can travel back and forth with) your old and new henna pals!
email Heather to get on the list of people looking for roomies, which will be emailed out periodically to others on the list
How to get to Providence:
Airports: Boston Logan and TF Green (Providence/Warwick) are both nearby.
Driving a rental car from TF Green is much easier, but Logan is definitely a better if you plan on taking public transportation
(silver line to South Station, commuter rail to Providence stop).
There's a shuttle bus that stops at 3 out of the 4 important locations for you if you're flying in to TF Green and staying at Hotel Providence. It also stops on College Hill, which is where The Spot is.
http://www.airporttaxiri.com/
Now that we know this exists, we recommend it as the easiest and cheapest available ground transportation solution for you.
Nearest highway offramp if yo'ure driving:
Exit 22, Downtown Providence (stay to the left for Downtown)
Getting to The Spot:
If you're driving, there's plenty of parking on-street parking around. Stick to parking on Bowen St or Brook St if you are not used to city driving. If you are, you may get lucky and find a spot right on Thayer.
Buses from out-of-town pull into Kennedy Plaza (if it's Peter Pan, be sure to NOT get off at the "terminal", which is actually in neighboring Pawtucket, RI...they sometimes fail to make this clear!)
Then from Kennedy Plaza you can hop on the #40 bus outbound towards Butler Hospital...
get off at the Thayer St/ Waterman stop.
Also note that the Airport Taxi Shuttle Bus from the Providence/Warwick airport that stops right o n College Hill, close by The Spot.
If you're flying in to Boston, you can take the commuter rail train.
Google Maps is your friend in finding other specific directions - both driving and public transportation.
What to bring or not to bring:
Don't bring henna supplies - we'll have tons! (...unless you're only comfortable with your own stuff...you know who you are:)
Wear clothing that allows your fellow artists to henna as much of you as possible
if you want some really cool larger-scale artwork...
short/no sleeves, pants you can easily roll up, perhaps a backless shirt / tank top.
Bring a camera to take photos of your work - we'll be taking photos all day,
but may not capture every beautiful moment, as there will be so many!
You'll also get to use your camera in the hands-on portion of Roy Jones' workshop.
Bring a BURNED CD (aka disposable copy) of any music you want us to play in the background at any time.
More Info on our Location:
The Spot
286 Thayer St.
Providence, RI
The Spot is a super-awesome artist space with the following useful ammenities:
1. 2 big rooms with tons of beautiful artwork around to inspire you
2. Really excellent natural light from huge windows
3. Lots of comfy chairs...and lots of open space in the room that doubles as a dance studio
4. A fully equipped stage with lots of hand drums around that we're welcomed to use
The Spot can accommodate up to 80 people. We'll probably cut off attendance at much lower than that so that there's plenty of room to spread out and be comfy.
More info at thespotonthayer.com.
Where to eat
We'll have snacks (fruits, veggies, nuts, yummy carby goodness) and drinks on hand at all time, but it's up to you to get your own lunch/dinner.
*unless we decide to provide it for you at the last minute... we make no promises but will do it if we can... this will depend in part on our ongoing good relationship with local restaurants :)
The absolute closest and easiest food is at East Side Pockets, like 4 buildings to the left of The Spot.
We suggest you eat there if you want speedy, easy, tasty food.
You can even call ahead to take-out: 401-453-1100
Across the street you'll find Kebab and Curry, a great Indian place. Eating there takes a long time, so it's not highly recommended during the conference unless you want to have a late dinner after all the workshops are over.
There are plenty of other places up and down Thayer St...
A bit of info on the East Side / Thayer St for you:
Thayer St has long been *the* artsy cool street in a very artsy cool city. You'll hear locals complaining that it is going downhill, which is true, as big chain stores with deep pockets come in raise the rents for everyone, forcing some of the quirkier shops to close.
But...it is still by far the coolest single street in the city with the most stuff to do that is of interest to henna artists :)
Some of the other cool things within walking distance of The Spot are:
-Spectrum India, a huge Indian gift/clothing shop
252 Thayer St
www.spectrumindia.com
-Byblos Hookah Bar
235 Meeting St
www.providencebyblos.com
...a good meetup space for those who want to continue hanging out after 8pm on Saturday... absolutely gorgeous...
There will be a signup sheet for people who want to go to Byblos on Saturday. It's $10-20 per person for hookah, food, and drinks. This isn't officially part of the Northeast Henna Gathering. It's more of a late-night hangout for those of us who don't intend to get much sleep but won't be staying at the hotel... probably lots of Providence area folks will end up here... Just FYI.
-Bedlam, an alternative fashion boutique with the best selection of Indian skirts (and sometimes blouses) second to Spectrum.
Owned by Heather's good friend Matthew :) Be sure to mention she sent you!
183 Angell St
www.bedlamgoth.com
-Avon Cinema, showing independent films
260 Thayer St
www.avoncinema.com
What? No Bellydance stuff?
No, there is no bellydance stuff officially connected with the Northeast Henna Gathering this year. We're taking the event back to its roots.... all henna (okay and other temporary body art, and some traditional crafts) all the time.
FYI, your conference co-organizers this year are Heather Caunt-Nulton, Nick Cartier, and Colleen Finnerty.
The Northeast Henna Gathering is run as a not-for-profit event. We haven't officially filed for non-profit status quite yet... but we intend to fully reinvest any proceeds that may be earned in next year's Northeast Henna Gathering... most likely in the form of travel stipends for our workshop leaders! Wouldn't that be nice?