Archive: Arts & Entertainment

(Ithaca, NY) Downtown Ithaca’s 9th annual Art in the Heart of the City program is expanding in several ways this year, including the addition of the arts to the city’s already vast array of  sustainability initiatives.

The 2008 Art in the Heart of the City program is sponsored by the Community Arts Partnership.  “Green and Sustainable Art” is this year’s theme. Every sculpture being displayed this year is made of all natural or recycled materials. Art in the Heart of the City has previously featured works made from recycled materials, but what’s new and different this year is the way the program will change and in some ways expand. 

The expansions are designed to encourage more community participation in the program A new, online gallery featuring the sculptures will be created and the Dowtown Ithaca Alliance and Community Arts Partnership will collaborate with area arts, sustainability and education groups for public programs that call on Arts at the Heart of the City as a framework for exploring what becoming a sustainable community can mean.

This year’s featured artists are Kathleen Griffen of Ithaca, Kathy Bruce of New York City and Yolanda Daliz of Bloomfield, NY.

A public reception for the artists will be held at 5:00 p.m., Thursday July 3rd at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Ithaca Commons. Members of the community can meet the artists, enjoy light refreshments and music. They can also take tours of the sculptures and hear first-hand from the artists about what inspried their works and the messages they convey. The reception will be immediately followed by a concert by local favorites The Burns Sisters, as part of the Downtown Ithaca Summer Concert Series.

Here’s a preview of the artists and their works:

• Kathleen Griffen, Butterlies of Memory A vivid-color 15’ by 15’ display of fiberglass butterflies that will be hung from the ceiling of the Green Street Garage walkway near Home Dairy Alley.

• Yolanda Daliz, Frida’s Dog, Matisse’s Fish and Green Bird Laminated and reclaimed wood designed and sclupted into abstract totems with a height of 4 to 8 feet and a width of 3to 5 feet. The base of Green Bird will be a usable bike rack, available for the public to use. Located on and arround the Commons.

• Kathy Bruce, The Three Graces Three 12’-15’ by 5’ female figures made of bamboo, raffia,  straw, soil. Morning Glories will also be used and will eventually “grow” into vines that create an impression of the women being dressed in blue gowns.

Downtown Ithaca Alliance Executive Director Gary Ferguson says along with the “green” theme, the goal of this year’s Art in the Heart of the City program is to showcase eclectic sculpture. “Sculpture is a very diverse form of art and this show will demonstrate that. Sculpture enlivens and enhances public places such as our downtown and makes it engaging. Each of these artists and their displays are perfect for downtown’s Art in the Heart of the City because the program is temporary, which gives us the flexibility to showcase artwork the community might not otherwise see.”

All of the sculptures in the 2008 Art in the Heart of the City program will be on display through November 28th.

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