Summer 2010 Art from Detritus press release

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#CC9922" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="043d2962dakdei.png"> <div> <B><U>Art From Detritus Summer 2010</U></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Vernita</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >     |    </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vernita"> home</A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="History of AFD shows">History of AFD shows</A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2003 press release">2003 press release</A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Recycling Art Povera">Recycling Art Povera</A>   |   <A HREF="review_in_gallery__studio_ju.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Review in Gallery Studio, JuneJuly, 200">Review in Gallery & Studio, June-July, 2007</A>   |   <B> Summer 2010 Art from Detritus press release</B></div> <div>  Summer 2010 Art from Detritus press release</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B>Art From Detritus 2010 closing reception Saturday, July 17th, 5-7 for the Art of Detritus Show in Turners Falls, MA in conjunction with a show of photographs by Vern McClish at the Hallmark Gallery</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>16</B></I><I><B>th</B></I><I><B> Anniversary of "Art from Detritus: Recycling with Imagination"</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>May 21 through July, 2010, opening reception Friday May 21, 6-9PM</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Purelight Gallery, 37 Third St. Turner's Falls, Massachusetts</B></I><I><B> </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Curated by Vernita Nemec with artists:</B></I><I><B> </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Luca Battaglia * Heather Bentz * Marcia Bernstein * Annaliese Bischoff * Merill Comeau * </B></I></div> <div> <I><B> May DeViney * Emily DeKelly</B></I><I><B> </B></I><I><B>* Matthew Farnsworth * Monique Given * Gordon Graff * Travis Graves * Jamie Greene * Rebecca Greene * </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Mikhail Gubin * Sandra Guze * David Hamlow * Mary Frances Judge * Richard Kurtz * Kate Marion Lapierre * Katie Mansfield * Rebecca Muller * Zuzana Muranicova * Susan Newmark * Anne Patsch * Zepher Potrafka * Jeffrey Allen Price * Carol Quint *</B></I><I><B> </B></I><I><B>Ruby Re-Usable aka Diane Kurzyna * Pam Roberts * Nina Rossi * </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Katherine E Smith * Helaine Soller * Stephen Soreff * Catherine Tirr * Courtney Lee Weida * Philip Zuchman </B></I></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>2010 marks the 16</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>th</B></FONT><B> Anniversary of "Art from Detritus: Recycling with Imagination" an exhibit filled with the most impressive, innovative and inspiring art made from trash.  Unlike many exhibitions about recycling, the art in this exhibit is actually made from fragments of discarded and found materials that have been creatively transformed.  </B></div> <div>      The "Art from Detritus” curator Vernita Nemec says, "This show instills in viewer's minds the value of recycled materials and presents ways to use trash creatively rather than discarding and polluting our planet.  Making art with what would have otherwise become trash is the ultimate level of recycling and reuse, for people rarely throw away ART. And transforming trash into art, makes the valueless priceless,” says the New York City based artist/curator. </div> <div> This exhibit, like the first in Portland Oregon, is particularly special for its exhibition site. Vern McClish, Director of PureLight Gallery states "Purelight Gallery is located in a recycled building in a recycled town. Turners Falls, was once supported by the logging and paper industries, and then in the 60's hosted a hippy culture that included the Renaissance Commune and music venues. After a time, all that faded and fell to pieces. Now, today the town is re-emerging as an artist community on the timeless Connecticut River.”</div> <div> Purelight Gallery's space was once a grocery store, a plumbing supply and a junk shop. The current owners, Vern & Jan McClish bought the building caved in and uninhabitable. They have restored and recycled the building into apartment/studios and a gallery.</div> <div> The Detritus (another word for leftovers) show was initially inspired in 1993 when N'Cognita attended her first National Recycling Coalition Conference. Since, she has curated `Detritus' exhibits in Portland, Oregon; Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and New York City featuring the art of hundreds of artists, receiving funding and sponsorship from the Kauffman Foundation, Westinghouse, AIA, National Recycling Coalition (NRC), the Synagogue for the Arts in NYC, the Puffin Foundation and others. Catalogs from past exhibits provide a rich documentation of artists' statements and images and document why recycling is an integral part of their creative oeuvre.  </div> <div>      Since the beginning of time, artists have been creating art from the "detritus of life" because of the inherent beauty and accessibility of old and discarded artifacts, their spiritual significance or simply because trash was all that was available to them.  Contemporary artists too are attracted to trash as an art medium-- for political, financial or purely aesthetic reasons. By rejecting traditional artists' materials & using society's wastes to create their art, not only do they give new meaning & value to the trash they have transformed, but they are also helping to save the environment and our planet.  Not only do these artists recycle, but they are also upcycling (a process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value) by using trash as their medium of choice for their artmaking.</div> <div> Clifford Case, Founder of the National Recycling Coalition in D.C., in reference to past Detritus Exhibitions says, "The power of art is that it changes our perceptions of reality, making us see things with new eyes …because we as recyclers need this transforming power of art." Dr. Jan Beyea, former Chief Scientist at the National Audubon Society in NYC and deeply involved with recycling says, "This exhibition is an important merging of artists and environmentalists, stimulating new ways to communicate the message of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."</div> <div> Many artists from all over the U.S. as well as many local artists submitted their art to this juried exhibition. </div> <bR> <div> <B>For further information and images</B>, please contact the curator, Vernita Nemec in NYC at 212 925 4419 or email her at <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="mailto:ncognita@earthfire.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:ncognita@earthfire.org"><U>ncognita@earthfire.org</U></A></FONT>. <B>Schools and other community organizations are invited to schedule group visits.</B> Contact Jan McClish at 774-641-1201. <B>"Art from Detritus" exhibits are available for travel to other cities.</B> Catalogs and artwork are for sale and images of past shows can be viewed at <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.artfromdetritus.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.artfromdetritus.com"><U>www.artfromdetritus.com</U></A></FONT></div> </td> </tr></table></body>