ROCKLAND—Every year, I think The Collective might not be able to top their own event from last year—and so far, every year I’ve been wrong.

This is the third year The Farnsworth Art Museum has drawn on its highly creative young artists’ committee, The Collective, to envision a theme blowout bash, and this year’s theme, appropriately enough was “From Kansas To Oz.”

They keep switching up locations for each annual party and this year, The Collective took over Winter Street in Rockland. The crowning center piece was The Dorothy House, a 20-foot slammed-together crooked house made entirely from reclaimed materials. (Stay tuned for more on this house later this week!)

Once you got past the wonder of this crazy house, two galleries opposite each other on Winter Street were transformed into dystopian alternative realities of Oz. From hay bales in tiny stalls with cut outs of flying monkeys to The Poppy Room (poppies, poppies poppies!) to the large warehouse room showing the original 35 mm The Wizard of Oz film on the wall, the atmosphere was kickin’—made even better by the imaginations of the partygoers. They had to come up with their own interpretation of where they were on their journey from Kansas to Oz and the following gallery will show you where their minds were.

All photos by Kay Stephens. She can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com