Listakonan Michelle Bird flytur nú úr Borgarnesi þar sem hún hefur dvalið síðustu 10 ár. Michelle gaf það út í gær að hún myndi setja hús sitt á sölu í vikunni því leið hennar liggur á suðurlandið. Segist hún með flutningunum vera að reyna að fylgja sínum draumum um að vera með enn þá stærri og aðgengilegri listastofu til að geta staðið fyrir stærri og fleiri sýningum. Borgarnes og umhverfið þar í kring hefur verið henni mikill innblástur til sköpunar síðustu árin og hefur hún unnið mörg menningartengd verkefni þar.

Kveðju Michelle Bird í heild sinni má lesa hér:

After a decade of living in this place so dear to me, i have decided to move to fulfill my dreams of creating a state of the art studio, to host even larger workshops and dreams . I will most likely settle somewhere in the south of Iceland.

My time in Borgarnes has been enriching and soul nurturing. It’s where I met my tribe and had unforgettable exchanges. Ideas flourished in the hot tub with friends, from which the Borgarnes Film Freaks manifested and drew hundreds of film addicts from all corners of Borgarbyggð. Makers from abroad reached out from as far as Spain to collaborate on the documentary Porquois Pas Borgarnes, and from Singapore to collaborate of the publication Shapeshifter (for which we received permission from Leifur Eiriksson Publishing). Many of our initiatives that brought community together with the arts received developmental & innovation grants from SSV Uppbyggingarsjóður Vesturlands–I am grateful for the many grants I received that helped realize these ideas.

Denizens embraced educational experiences and exhibitions that spawned from my collaboration with Creatrix. Together, we established SUFA–Stand Up For Art–a culturally funded exhibition and credit course at the Menntaskóli Borgarfjarðar College. As part of the Gleðileikur Happy Games in Borgarnes, dozens of youth had the chance to connect with their wild creativity through blindfolded action painting workshops. Years later, I taught digital art at the Menntaskóli Borgarfjarðar Junior College where the students were both trained in life drawing and connected with artists from Switzerland and Berlin, who would mentor those students who reached out. For two consecutive years, I hosted the youth at my art studio for Smiðjudagar. For six consecutive years, I taught art for the association Ungmennasamband Borgarfjarðar and Frístundir where we could make a creative mess like real artists.

For the past decade, this rich earth, the fertile ground of Borgarnes, has made it possible for me to receive and share profound creative experiences with thousands of students, travelers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, guests, neighbors, and friends from all over Iceland and abroad.

As this town is built on sagas and myth, and as we mortals have desires to grow through means of mythology. From the penned words of my dear friend, “What Egil's character tells us is something simple, yet absolutely necessary: Out of life, make art. Write poetry. Speak verse.”.

Borgarnes has been a treasure for me in countless ways. I thank you all for sharing this grand adventure together.