I have been working for Art Works Downtown since August 2011 as their Communications Coordinator. My job consists of graphic design for print and web, and the occassional press release with a bit of fun writing about art, where I get to play "art critic". Here is my second press release written for AWD. Enjoy! -C.Proppé
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ART WORKS DOWNTOWN
Press Release
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12pm PST, February 23, 2012
ART WORKS DOWNTOWN PRESENTS:
“THE ELEMENTS” JURIED BY MARIA MEDUA,
DIRECTOR OF SFMOMA ARTISTS GALLERY
Art Works Downtown announces “The Elements”, a new exhibit in the main gallery at 1337 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA, March 9 through April 27, Opening Reception on Friday, March 9 coinciding with 2nd Fridays Art Walk. A 2nd reception will coincide with April 13, 2nd Fridays Art Walk. This exhibit has been curated by Maria Medua of the SFMOMA Artists Gallery (www.sfmoma.org/artistsgallery). The exhibit features 32 Bay Area artists working in a variety of medias and styles. Selected from a pool of over 400 submissions, selected works have kept to the theme suggesting fire, water, air or earth.
Artist, Pattie Grey of San Anselmo, has created “a chorus-line” of
mosaic sculptures, one for each element: Water, Air, Earth and Fire.
Each piece is a torso with legs in the air; the torso extending from a
base of Earth, waves, a cloud, or fire, respectively. Grey’s legs
exposed to each element have an immediate appeal and force us to think
about humanity in the natural world. 
Carol A. Levy of San Rafael, has taken a more abstract look at the theme, with her acrylic on canvas painting, “Spacious Flow”. The background colors suggest a field of air or water, while swirling, mesh-like objects, suggest forces of nature, especially one red and orange tangle that evokes a ball of fire. This piece has the sense that an intricate weave of ideas is melding together, much like the web of life.
Deborah Hayner of San Francisco, has created a piece “Cyclone
Wildebeest”, that recalls Rube Goldberg contraptions, the
whimsical meta-mechanics of Swiss artist, Jean Tiguely and the world
of sci-fi fantasy. This mixed media, watercolor, goache and ink work
shows a robotic girl, seemingly running on the power of raindrops from
an open window, fire in her belly, and a hen floating in this
mechanical confusion. A sign reads, “What good is a hen without color?” A contemplative crow with a detective’s hat looks on to the
scene, observing the mysterious contraption and pondering survival in
this bizarre new world. Even Hayner’s use of the wildebeest in her
title recalls the current battle of man against nature, as wildebeest
migrations are threatened by competing human demands on the landscape.
Hayner expresses the complex and bizarre realities we are forced to
deal with as our demands on the earth’s elements threaten the world
towards sci-fi drama proportions.
Other artists exhibiting include:
from San Francisco: stoneware artist, Natasha Dikareva;
from Sausalito: painter, Bret Arenson;
from Corte Madera: painter, Gail Weissman
from San Rafael: Photographer, Jack Androvich; painter, Georgia Annwell; mixed-media artist, Carol Durham; gourd artist, Amï Diallo; painter, Ellen Litwiller; clay artist, Kathy Pallie; watercolorist, Kay Russell; mixed-media artist, Phyllis Thelen, and painter, June Yokell.
from San Anselmo: mixed-media artist, Elise Cheval; photographer, Samuel Henderson; printmakers, Katya McCulloch and Katherine Warinner. from Fairfax: mixed-media artist, Marguerite Elliot; wood artist, R. Dean Nyberg;
from West Marin Ceramist, Barbara Andino-Stevenson; Inverness artist, Zea Morvitz;
from the North Bay: Healdsburg mixed-media artist, M.C.Carolyn; Sebastopol: photographer, Rebecca Guarda; Napa: mixed-media artist, Maash Pascal; Petaluma painter, Kathryn St. Clair; Vallejo painter, Susan Strong;
Other artists exhibiting include:
from San Francisco: stoneware artist, Natasha Dikareva;
from Sausalito: painter, Bret Arenson;
from Corte Madera: painter, Gail Weissman
from San Rafael: Photographer, Jack Androvich; painter, Georgia Annwell; mixed-media artist, Carol Durham; gourd artist, Amï Diallo; painter, Ellen Litwiller; clay artist, Kathy Pallie; watercolorist, Kay Russell; mixed-media artist, Phyllis Thelen, and painter, June Yokell.
from San Anselmo: mixed-media artist, Elise Cheval; photographer, Samuel Henderson; printmakers, Katya McCulloch and Katherine Warinner. from Fairfax: mixed-media artist, Marguerite Elliot; wood artist, R. Dean Nyberg;
from West Marin Ceramist, Barbara Andino-Stevenson; Inverness artist, Zea Morvitz;
from the North Bay: Healdsburg mixed-media artist, M.C.Carolyn; Sebastopol: photographer, Rebecca Guarda; Napa: mixed-media artist, Maash Pascal; Petaluma painter, Kathryn St. Clair; Vallejo painter, Susan Strong;
from Mill Valley: clay artist, Nini Lion;
from Berkeley: encaustic artist, Mari Marks; photographer, Elizabeth Saucier;
from Fairfield: stoneware artist, Lisa Jetonne;
Also featured at Art Works Downtown on March 9 are two events on our lower level, including Dominican University’s “Guest Artist Fellowship Awardee 2012” in the Underground Gallery. This is a new collaborative program between Dominican University and Art Works Downtown. In the AWD Founders Lounge a new printmaking exhibit, curated by Stephanie Jucker, features the works of Barbara Poole, Lisa Long, Jason Sheldrick, Anne Wolfe and additional studio artists from Art Works Downtown. The printmaking exhibit runs through March 31, 2012.
For more information, please contact:
Art Works Downtown, 1337 Fourth St., San Rafael, CA
Phone: 415-451-8119 Website: ArtWorksDowntown.org
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Additional PR samples:
• Press Release written for "Day of the Dead" 2011 exhibit
from Berkeley: encaustic artist, Mari Marks; photographer, Elizabeth Saucier;
from Fairfield: stoneware artist, Lisa Jetonne;
Also featured at Art Works Downtown on March 9 are two events on our lower level, including Dominican University’s “Guest Artist Fellowship Awardee 2012” in the Underground Gallery. This is a new collaborative program between Dominican University and Art Works Downtown. In the AWD Founders Lounge a new printmaking exhibit, curated by Stephanie Jucker, features the works of Barbara Poole, Lisa Long, Jason Sheldrick, Anne Wolfe and additional studio artists from Art Works Downtown. The printmaking exhibit runs through March 31, 2012.
For more information, please contact:
Art Works Downtown, 1337 Fourth St., San Rafael, CA
Phone: 415-451-8119 Website: ArtWorksDowntown.org
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Additional PR samples:
• Press Release written for "Day of the Dead" 2011 exhibit
