- Announce - lists.fireflyartscollective.org

Ticket Registration *Reminder*
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 12 Mar '12

12 Mar '12

Fireflies, First things first: The time for tickets is upon us (hurray)! Our ticket policies are all new this year, so please read this whole message to minimize ticketing confusion or disappointment. There are several major ticketing concerns the new policy aims to address: 1. Accurately quantify ticket demand (to grow the event) 2. Enable purchase for groups/families 3. Avoid limiting the availability and time window for purchase 4. Avoid technical difficulties with ticketing websites 5. Discourage hoarding 6. Eliminate potential for scalping This year we will use a registration and random ticket distribution process, rather than the traditional "mash the refresh button and hope to score" procedure. And yes, we know there's a chance that this will totally backfire, so there is a failsafe. Read on... **Event Dates** Wednesday July 4th, 2012 @ noon through Sunday July 8th 2012 @ noon **Event Price** Tickets will be $75 + ~$3 for PayPal fees. It's a steep price increase, but is necessary in order for Firefly Arts Collective to be a year round presence. Some things you'll see right away are an expanded art grant budget and more land and parking (flat parking) at this year's event. **General Registration Information** To be eligible to purchase a ticket to Firefly, you will need to fill out a registration form. All tickets will be tied to a specific person, so you must enter your legal name and birthdate (must exactly match a government issued ID). You will be turned away at the gate if your name and birthdate do not match your ticket. If you do not have a government issued ID you must contact tickets at fireflyartscollective.org directly to register. All information will be kept confidential. **Registration Dates** Registration is open March 9th and close March 19th (ten days). You can register at http://www.tinyurl.com/firefly2012registration. If you will not be able to access the Internet during that time, another person can enter your information for you. **Sign up as Individual or Group!** There are two options during sign up: individual or group (of 2-10 people). You will have as much of a chance to get tickets in a group as you would individually, but groups will be "all or none". If you're an individual, just enter your own name and leave the other nine person fields blank. If you are part of a group (2-10 people) that wants to go only if everybody gets a ticket, put everyone's name on the same form to sign up as a group. Again, groups are "all or nothing": everyone gets a ticket or no one does. If you would like to `gift' a ticket, register for the `giftee' with their legal name and birth date. If your name and/or birth date appears in duplicate as an individual and as part of a group, we will attempt to contact you (via emails and phone numbers on the form). If we fail to reach you, your name will default to individual registration. **Alternate Registration** If you cannot use the Google form to register you can email tickets(a)fireflyartscollective.org . Please only do this if you cannot use the form because it will require manual work by the ticket committee. Please include your name, as it appears on your government-issued ID. Please also include your date of birth and phone number. If you do not want to send your date of birth we will have to call you. Finally, you must include the reason you cannot use Google so that we can make sure we do not store your information in a way that you do not want. Your message must be received before registration closes on March 19th. **Minors** All minors must be registered in the same group as one (or more) of their legal guardian(s). Children 10 and under (born after 7/4/01) will not need tickets, but must still be registered. ID is not required for minors, but all minors must arrive at the gate with the legal guardian that was in their registration group. Any minor who does not arrive at the gate with their legal guardian will be turned away. A minor is defined as someone who is under 18 on July 4th, 2012. **Random Drawing and Wait list** Once the initial random drawing is complete, everyone who registered will receive an email. For those who were awarded ticketing opportunities in the drawing, you will receive instructions regarding your one week purchase window. All others will be added to a randomly ordered waitlist and informed of your number in line. At this point, anyone who missed the initial registration period will have a chance to be added to the end of the waitlist. We will periodically update the waitlist so that you have an idea as to where you are. If a ticket goes un-purchased or is returned, the next person on the waitlist will be given the opportunity to purchase a ticket. This will keep rolling until the start of the event. We will periodically update the Blink and Announce lists with a `now serving number X' notice so that you will have an idea of how close to the top of the waitlist you are. IMPORTANT: If you've purchased a ticket and find you cannot attend, please take the time to get a refund. You'll be enabling another Firefly to go in your place (see below)! **Purchasing Tickets - Random Drawing and Wait List use the Same Rules and Process** You must buy your tickets within one week of receiving the email indicating that you are eligible to purchase a ticket. This applies to both tickets awarded in the initial drawing and anyone who becomes eligible through the waitlist. If you do not buy your ticket in that period you will lose your ticketing opportunity to the people at the top of the waitlist. Two weeks prior to Firefly the payment window will be shortened in increments at the discretion of the ticket committee. **Paying for Someone else's Ticket** If you'd like to pay for a ticket for another person, you will be able to do so (even if you didn't register for them). You will only be able to purchase another person's ticket during their window of availability. **Refunds** If you decide you cannot attend you can contact tickets at fireflyartscollective.org for a refund and your ticket will be assigned to a person at the top of the waitlist. Because your ticket is associated to your name and your birthdate, you cannot resell your ticket. This is to prevent any scalping of tickets and to keep them at a fair price for all. **What if I Missed the Initial Registration Period?** After the initial registration window, you will be able to fill out the registration form, but your name will be added to the bottom of the waitlist in the order it was received. We will inform you of your number. Keep an eye on the Blink and Announce lists for the number being served. **Discretionary Ticket Reserve** One of our major concerns is making sure that vital components of the event are managed properly and that mission-critical people, such as art grant recipients are able to attend the event. As a result, we are holding back a certain number of tickets to be sold via discretionary selection. You must still register even if you think you might qualify for one of these tickets. The number of reserve tickets and how exactly they are awarded has not been determined yet and will largely depend on the demand for tickets. We will do our best to make the process transparent and understandable. **Our Way Out** The ticketing process we have crafted is brand new for Firefly and attempts to avoid the pitfalls of similar processes. We really want to find an equitable, sane way to distribute tickets, and this is our first shot, so we do not know how it will work out. Therefore, if we are completely overwhelmed by the number of ticket registrations, or if the registration process is otherwise found untenable, we will revert back to exactly the way tickets were sold last year: Online sales through a third-party ticketing service. **Thank You!** The ticketing committee met with members of the community to hear ideas and concerns and the Board spent many enthusiastic hours discussing pros and cons of different ticketing options. This year's ticketing procedure is the most sensible result of the feedback and will hopefully be a big improvement. We are really excited about this ticketing process and think it has a real chance to smooth out the harsh edges surrounding ticket purchase for our event. **Recap** Event: Jul 4th - Jul 8th 2012. Name and birthdate on govt' ID must match information on ticket. Minors must enter with a registered legal guardian. Gate crew will enforce policies. Register: Enter legal name and birthdate via http://www.tinyurl.com/firefly2012registration between Mar 9 - 19. Groups: Groups and families can register as an all or nothing group of 2-10 people. Chances: Groups and individuals have same chance to be awarded tickets in initial drawing. Kids: Kids under 10 are free, but must be registered. Drawing: Random drawing after Mar 19th. Waitlist: Anyone not selected in random drawing is put on randomly ordered waiting list. Purchase: One week window to purchase. Receive email with instructions when eligible. Cost: $75 + ~$3 for PayPal fees. Resale/give to friends: Tickets are not transferable. Resale can be done only through official Firefly process. Gifting: Only possible if the giftee is registered and you pay for their ticket in the appropriate window. Returns: Send email to tickets at fireflyartscollective.org for refund info. ~ Firefly ~

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Alternative Registration Option
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 09 Mar '12

09 Mar '12

Fireflies, If you cannot use the Google form to register you can email tickets(a)fireflyartscollective.org . Please only do this if you cannot use the form because it will require manual work by the ticket committee. Please include your name as it appears on your government issued ID. Please also include your date of birth and phone number. If you do not want to send your date of birth, we will have to call you. Finally, you must include the reason you cannot use Google, so that we can make sure we do not store your information in a way that you do not want. Your message must be received before registration closes on March 19th. ~Firefly~

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Firefly Registration
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 09 Mar '12

09 Mar '12

Fireflies, The registration form is now available here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGFjbmVBQWxwaVBkWGVuR1… <3, ~Firefly~

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Firefly Registration: Random Drawing (or How This Lottery Will Work)
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 07 Mar '12

07 Mar '12

Dear Fireflies, Here is how we plan to randomly distribute ticket-buying privileges so that everyone has the same chance of being able to buy a ticket, whether they're signing up by themselves or in a group: *Random Drawing/Lottery Method* All of the unique people who are registered by March 19th at noon will be divided into equal-sized "buckets" (or call them blocks, chunks, or bins). Then ticket-buying opportunities will be randomly distributed to as many of those buckets as we have room for this year. The group option is for people who know that they want to all put themselves in the same bucket, and thereby tie their chances together, but it doesn't increase or decrease the chance that that group or an individual person in that group will get to buy a ticket. Similarly, people who just register by themselves have the same chance of being in one of the buckets that gets to buy tickets as someone in a group. Our intention is for there really to be no advantage or disadvantage to group registration, except in the ability of groups of people who are close or depend on each other to plan what they're doing this year. We've thought about this pretty hard, and we don't think there's really any way to game this system one way or another, but if you think of one, we'd like to hear about it sooner rather than later. *Odds of being able to buy a ticket* As for the actual chances, we unfortunately won't know what those are any more than you will until we see how many people register. Last year, Firefly sold 600 tickets in three rounds of open first-come, first-served, two-tickets-per-buyer buying. The Firefly event this year will have more people than last year, but not by a very large number. If we don't have a lot more than 600 people registering this year, then odds of getting to buy a ticket will be quite good. If we do have a lot more than 600 people, odds will be worse, unfortunately, but there's no perfect solution to our limeted capacity at this time. We're all waiting to see how many people register this year. *Thanks for your patience!* If we have any excuses for not explaining this in the previous message, the best ones are that we didn't want to bulk up that long and detailed message any more than it was already, and it took us long enough to draft that message anyway to get all the details right. We hope this clears things up a bit and means that you can all keep talking about it, just with less speculation about what we're up to! ~ Firefly ~

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Firefly Registration
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 05 Mar '12

05 Mar '12

Fireflies, First things first: The time for tickets is upon us (hurray)! Our ticket policies are all new this year, so please read this whole message to minimize ticketing confusion or disappointment. There are several major ticketing concerns the new policy aims to address: 1. Accurately quantify ticket demand (to grow the event) 2. Enable purchase for groups/families 3. Avoid limiting the availability and time window for purchase 4. Avoid technical difficulties with ticketing websites 5. Discourage hoarding 6. Eliminate potential for scalping This year we will use a registration and random ticket distribution process, rather than the traditional "mash the refresh button and hope to score" procedure. And yes, we know there's a chance that this will totally backfire, so there is a failsafe. Read on... *Event Dates* Wednesday July 4th, 2012 @ noon through Sunday July 8th 2012 @ noon *Event Price* Tickets will be $75 + ~$3 for PayPal fees. It's a steep price increase, but is necessary in order for Firefly Arts Collective to be a year round presence. Some things you'll see right away are an expanded art grant budget and more land and parking (flat parking) at this year's event. *General Registration Information* To be eligible to purchase a ticket to Firefly, you will need to fill out a registration form. All tickets will be tied to a specific person, so you must enter your legal name and birthdate (must exactly match a government issued ID). You will be turned away at the gate if your name and birthdate do not match your ticket. If you do not have a government issued ID you must contact tickets(a)fireflyartscollective.org directly to register. All information will be kept confidential. *Registration Dates* Registration will open March 9th and close March 19th (ten days). We will email the Blink and Announce lists with a link to the registration form. If you will not be able to access the Internet during that time, another person can enter your information for you. *Sign up as Individual or Group!* There are two options during sign up: individual or group (of 2-10 people). You will have as much of a chance to get tickets in a group as you would individually, but groups will be "all or none". If you're an individual, just enter your own name and leave the other nine person fields blank. If you are part of a group (2-10 people) that wants to go only if everybody gets a ticket, put everyone's name on the same form to sign up as a group. Again, groups are "all or nothing": everyone gets a ticket or no one does. If you would like to “gift” a ticket, register for the “giftee” with their legal name and birth date. If your name and/or birth date appears in duplicate as an individual and as part of a group, we will attempt to contact you (via emails and phone numbers on the form). If we fail to reach you, your name will default to individual registration. *Minors* All minors must be registered in the same group as one (or more) of their legal guardian(s). Children 10 and under (born after 7/4/01) will not need tickets, but must still be registered. ID is not required for minors, but all minors must arrive at the gate with the legal guardian that was in their registration group. Any minor who does not arrive at the gate with their legal guardian will be turned away. A minor is defined as someone who is under 18 on July 4th, 2012. *Random Drawing and Wait list* Once the initial random drawing is complete, everyone who registered will receive an email. For those who were awarded ticketing opportunities in the drawing, you will receive instructions regarding your one week purchase window. All others will be added to a randomly ordered waitlist and informed of your number in line. At this point, anyone who missed the initial registration period will have a chance to be added to the end of the waitlist. We will periodically update the waitlist so that you have an idea as to where you are. If a ticket goes un-purchased or is returned, the next person on the waitlist will be given the opportunity to purchase a ticket. This will keep rolling until the start of the event. We will periodically update the Blink and Announce lists with a “now serving number X” notice so that you will have an idea of how close to the top of the waitlist you are. IMPORTANT: If you've purchased a ticket and find you cannot attend, please take the time to get a refund. You'll be enabling another Firefly to go in your place (see below)! *Purchasing Tickets - Random Drawing and Wait List use the Same Rules and Process* You must buy your tickets within one week of receiving the email indicating that you are eligible to purchase a ticket. This applies to both tickets awarded in the initial drawing and anyone who becomes eligible through the waitlist. If you do not buy your ticket in that period you will lose your ticketing opportunity to the people at the top of the waitlist. Two weeks prior to Firefly the payment window will be shortened in increments at the discretion of the ticket committee. *Paying for Someone else's Ticket* If you'd like to pay for a ticket for another person, you will be able to do so (even if you didn't register for them). You will only be able to purchase another person's ticket during their window of availability. *Refunds* If you decide you cannot attend you can contact tickets(a)fireflyartscollective.org for a refund and your ticket will be assigned to a person at the top of the waitlist. Because your ticket is associated to your name and your birthdate, you cannot resell your ticket. This is to prevent any scalping of tickets and to keep them at a fair price for all. *What if I Missed the Initial Registration Period?* After the initial registration window, you will be able to fill out the registration form, but your name will be added to the bottom of the waitlist in the order it was received. We will inform you of your number. Keep an eye on the Blink and Announce lists for the number being served. *Discretionary Ticket Reserve* One of our major concerns is making sure that vital components of the event are managed properly and that mission-critical people, such as art grant recipients are able to attend the event. As a result, we are holding back a certain number of tickets to be sold via discretionary selection. You must still register even if you think you might qualify for one of these tickets. The number of reserve tickets and how exactly they are awarded has not been determined yet and will largely depend on the demand for tickets. We will do our best to make the process transparent and understandable. *Our Way Out* The ticketing process we have crafted is brand new for Firefly and attempts to avoid the pitfalls of similar processes. We really want to find an equitable, sane way to distribute tickets, and this is our first shot, so we do not know how it will work out. Therefore, if we are completely overwhelmed by the number of ticket registrations, or if the registration process is otherwise found untenable, we will revert back to exactly the way tickets were sold last year: Online sales through a third-party ticketing service. *Thank You!* The ticketing committee met with members of the community to hear ideas and concerns and the Board spent many enthusiastic hours discussing pros and cons of different ticketing options. This year's ticketing procedure is the most sensible result of the feedback and will hopefully be a big improvement. We are really excited about this ticketing process and think it has a real chance to smooth out the harsh edges surrounding ticket purchase for our event. *Recap* Event: Jul 4th - Jul 8th 2012. Name and birthdate on govt' ID must match information on ticket. Minors must enter with a registered legal guardian. Gate crew will enforce policies. Register: Enter legal name and birthdate via registration link between Mar 9 - 19. Groups: Groups and families can register as an all or nothing group of 2-10 people. Chances: Groups and individuals have same chance to be awarded tickets in initial drawing. Kids: Kids under 10 are free, but must be registered. Drawing: Random drawing after Mar 19th. Waitlist: Anyone not selected in random drawing is put on randomly ordered waiting list. Purchase: One week window to purchase. Receive email with instructions when eligible. Cost: $75 + ~$3 for PayPal fees. Resale/give to friends: Tickets are not transferable. Resale can be done only through official Firefly process. Gifting: Only possible if the giftee is registered and you pay for their ticket in the appropriate window. Returns: Send email to tickets(a)fireflyartscollective.org for refund info. ~ Firefly ~

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CALL FOR ART SUBMISSIONS
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 05 Mar '12

05 Mar '12

*Participation in FIREFLY GALLERY SHOW in BOSTON* Firefly s looking to be a presence in the community beyond our annual week in the woods. We feel strongly that there is more than enough creative energy in our community to sustain “the good stuff” year-round and to bring it home to share with others. **For the 2012 kickoff, we're holding a gallery-style art show in conjunction with SOS (Somerville Open Studios). This show will feature art created by the new Tin Grant recipients as well as previous Firefly art grant recipients in addition to our wonderful community of artists.** If you are a previous Firefly art grant recipient and/or otherwise interested in showcasing your art at the Firefly Gallery Show with SOS please email: sos (at) fireflyartscollective (dot) org. Somerville Open Studios takes place Saturday May 5 and Sunday May 6, from Noon to 6pm The Firefly Gallery Show will have indoor space with beams that can be utilized for hanging artwork as well as an adjacent outdoor space which provides ample height clearance. **Deadline for submissions is April 6th** Some considerations to keep in mind when submitting your proposed piece: INTERACTIVE and PARTICIPATORY In keeping with Firefly Arts Collective’s Mission Statement, we will only be considering projects that are interactive and participatory. SIZE Due to space limitations in the Gallery, we need to make sure there will be room for as many artists to show as possible. In order for us to do this, we ask you to please submit information about the size of your piece and specify if it can fit through a normal doorway when disassembled. EASY to ASSEMBLE/DISASSEMBLE and TRANSPORT Make sure it is easy to put together and take apart. Also think about how you will box up your project for safe transport. Transportation will be provided to and from the venues if you need it. DURABILITY Your installation will be set-up in a gallery that is open to the public. Make sure it is not too fragile or particularly dangerous. WEATHERPROOF Please make sure your installation is weatherproof or provide detail if it needs to be placed indoors during the show. NO FIRE We all know that we want it there, but sadly we cannot allow fire art to be part of this show. This is not our rule, but rather makes allowance for the venues that we must be compliant with. Again, we are sorry, and keep those wonderful art pieces for Firefly SAFETY CONCERNS Things with fast spinning objects with sharp edges that could inadvertently hurt a participant should generally be avoided. DAY and NIGHT VISIBILITY At Firefly, some art is made only to be viewed during the day and some only at night. Art for the Firefly Gallery Show MUST be effective and engaging during the light of day. Nighttime elements and visibility are encouraged as well. POWER NEEDS Power can and will be provided if you need it so please provide details per power needs. **Deadline for submissions is April 6th** Please email sos (at )fireflyartscollective (dot )org with any questions! We’re looking forward to the submissions :) <3 Firefly

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Firefly 2012 Ticket Information
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 02 Mar '12

02 Mar '12

Friendly Fireflies, In the next few days Firefly Arts Collective will announce the 2012 ticketing process and how to participate in it. The ticket committee and the board have worked very hard to create a process that will address issues from previous years, allow us to gauge overall interest in the event, and respond to the feedback you've provided about the current ticketing environment. To that end, the first step in the ticketing process will be to create a list of all of the Fireflies who want tickets. For tightly-knit family units or theme camps, there will be an opportunity to provide information as a group to help you get tickets together. If you have a group of people that must all go together, start talking with them now. This process will happen in mid-March and Fireflies will have about ten days to enter their information - this eliminates the fifteen minute window for ticket buying. The take-home message: - *To be eligible to purchase a ticket for this year's July 4th event, you will need to fill out a form indicating your interest* - You will have a ten day window in early/mid-March to enter your data - You can indicate interest as an individual or as a group - If you must get tickets as a group, re-awaken them from their off-season slumber because some coordination will be required *Much more very detailed information about the process is forthcoming... stay tuned!* Cheers, -- Firefly Arts Collective

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Firefly at Somerville Open Studios, call for art
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 22 Feb '12

22 Feb '12

* *Participation in FIREFLY GALLERY SHOW in BOSTON* Firefly s looking to be a presence in the community beyond our annual week in the woods. We feel strongly that there is more than enough creative energy in our community to sustain “the good stuff” year-round and to bring it home to share with others. **For the 2012 kickoff, we're holding a gallery-style art show in conjunction with SOS (Somerville Open Studios). This show will feature art created by the new Tin Grant recipients as well as previous Firefly art grant recipients in addition to our wonderful community of artists.** If you are a previous Firefly art grant recipient and/or otherwise interested in showcasing your art at the Firefly Gallery Show with SOS please email: sos(a)fireflyartscollective.org. Somerville Open Studios takes place Saturday May 5 and Sunday May 6, from Noon to 6pm The Firefly Gallery Show will have indoor space with beams that can be utilized for hanging artwork as well as an adjacent outdoor space which provides ample height clearance. **Deadline for submissions is April 6th** Some considerations to keep in mind when submitting your proposed piece: INTERACTIVE and PARTICIPATORY In keeping with Firefly Arts Collective’s Mission Statement<http://www.fireflyartscollective.org/>, we will only be considering projects that are interactive and participatory. SIZE Due to space limitations in the Gallery, we need to make sure there will be room for as many artists to show as possible. In order for us to do this, we ask you to please submit information about the size of your piece and specify if it can fit through a normal doorway when disassembled. EASY to ASSEMBLE/DISASSEMBLE and TRANSPORT Make sure it is easy to put together and take apart. Also think about how you will box up your project for safe transport. Transportation will be provided to and from the venues if you need it. DURABILITY Your installation will be set-up in a gallery that is open to the public. Make sure it is not too fragile or particularly dangerous. WEATHERPROOF Please make sure your installation is weatherproof or provide detail if it needs to be placed indoors during the show. NO FIRE We all know that we want it there, but sadly we cannot allow fire art to be part of this show. This is not our rule, but rather makes allowance for the venues that we must be compliant with. Again, we are sorry, and keep those wonderful art pieces for Firefly SAFETY CONCERNS Things with fast spinning objects with sharp edges that could inadvertently hurt a participant should generally be avoided. DAY and NIGHT VISIBILITY At Firefly, some art is made only to be viewed during the day and some only at night. Art for the Firefly Gallery Show MUST be effective and engaging during the light of day. Nighttime elements and visibility are encouraged as well. POWER NEEDS Power can and will be provided if you need it so please provide details per power needs. **Deadline for submissions is April 6th** Please email sos(a)fireflyartscollective.org with any questions! We’re looking forward to the submissions :) <3,* * * *Firefly *

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Final Call for Art Grants
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 10 Feb '12

10 Feb '12

Fireflies, A quick note before your busy, fulfilled weekend to remind you that this Sunday is the deadline for FAC's Tin Grant applications. We hope you've heard about it already and are completing the final touches on your application, but if you haven't yet heard, check it out: http://www.fireflyartscollective.org/tiki-index.php?page=2012+Tin+Grant Once again, the Tin Grants are IN ADDITION to Firefly's annual "creativity" grants. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for info on those. Looking forward to your creations! Steve

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Firefly Art Grant Reminder
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 08 Feb '12

08 Feb '12

Hello Fireflies, The deadline for FAC's (Firefly Arts Collective) TIN GRANTS fast approaches (Feb 12th). Hope this is not the first you're hearing about this! Have you started working on your application yet? For those who have not heard, FAC is offering three art grants (each up to $1000). The three recipients will display their pieces first at FAC's first ever "gallery style show" as part of SOS (Somerville Open Studios) second at FIGMENT and third at Firefly. Check out ALL the details: http://www.fireflyartscollective.org/tiki-index.php?page=2012+Tin+Grant These grants are in addition to the creativity grants that are offered every year for Firefly (in the woods). get to it! Steve

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