Day: September 13, 2012

Drawing Marathon & Ice Cream Bowls: Weekend in Review

Instructor Scott Hutchison and model Wayne, dressed in a Civil War costume, started the drawing marathon at 10:00 am. You can read more from Scott here.

This past weekend was a great one for The Art League, and the long-awaited Drawing Marathon and the return of the annual Ice Cream Bowl Fundraiser were both hugely successful! Thank you to everyone who participated!

The Drawing Marathon, from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm on Saturday, included models and visits from Art League instructors throughout the day. The event benefitted the “30-Something” Campaign to raise funds for the Madison Annex Project. You can read more about Saturday’s events in this great write-up by Drawing Marathon participant Kathleen Best Gillmann, pictured below working on one of the pieces she completed that day.

Kathleen and her pastel still life in progress.
Another participant’s work in progress.

The Ice Cream Bowl Fundraiser was our most successful ever — you picked up over 1,000 handmade bowls created by Art League ceramics artists! Lots of people came by Saturday and Sunday to enjoy ice cream from Artfully Chocolate and add to the community art project by instructor Steve Prince. There was great weather (except for the storm that interrupted Saturday) and a great turnout.

Steve Prince setting up for the art activity.
The boards soon filled up with contributions. Photo by Tom Roberts.

Thanks to everyone who supported us this weekend! Which activity was your favorite?

Events

Q&A with Award-Winner Miriam Keeler

Have you been to The Art League Gallery yet to see this month’s all-media show and the solo show “Microcosms”? We’ll be bringing you interviews with the award winners from the September group show, starting with Miriam Keeler. The juror awarded the Shayna Heisman Simkin Award for best in show to Buona Fortuna, Miriam’s narrative, non-linear oil painting. We asked Miriam to tell us more about the piece and her work in general.

“Buona Fortuna” by Miriam Keeler.

How would you describe Buona Fortuna?
Miriam: My goal was a narrative painting in a contemporary and non-linear format.

What was the inspiration or motive behind the painting? Are specific places, people, or events depicted?
The painting was inspired by an experience my husband and I had several years ago in Italy. We made a wrong turn trying to get to our hotel in Florence, ending up in the dumpster/garbage area of a large very low-income high rise area. A Gypsy couple was busy dumpster diving, loading finds into their vehicle. We got out of our car to ask directions. Following the woman’s instructions, we ended up at our Florence hotel, where my husband quickly discovered that he did not have his wallet. There was no place it could be but back with the Gypsies. By what could only be a miracle we found our way back to the dumpsters—the couple was still there, although the husband was now sitting in their vehicle. When I asked her if they had seen the wallet she said no. For some reason I dropped to the ground and started crawling through the grass in a dramatic act of looking for the wallet. Before long she joined me crawling around looking. Continue reading Q&A with Award-Winner Miriam Keeler

Artist Interviews