For 2024, we will have a local artist painting during the festival, with her works being auctioned off.

Helena Chywski is a Brazilian/American artist who experiences various types of Synaesthesia — a rare neurological condition where her senses intertwine, allowing her to experience sound visually and tactilely. For example, music, everyday sounds, and voices appear as shapes, intricate patterns, and colors in her mind’s eye.

You can watch Helena work up near the stage, and then participate in a silent auction at her vendor booth for one or more of the approximately four painting she will create during the weekend.

The proceeds of the auction will go to Music & Arts Education Project, Inc. (MAEP) — a Maplewood (NJ), 501(c)(3) organization that advocates for the inclusion and broadening of a comprehensive arts and music curriculum in all schools, in all grades, and for all students.  Maplewoodstock is MAEP’s flagship annual event.