A multimedia exhibit about the “Tempered by Memory” sculpture that’s being created from twisted steel salvaged from the World Trade Center, is one of the main visual art events at the fifth annual SaratogaArtsFest in Saratoga Springs.
“Tempered by Memory: For the Community, From the Community,” which opens today at Spring Street Gallery, uses sculpture, film and photography to tell visitors about the community project and the public sculpture by John Van Alstine and Noah Savett. “Tempered by Memory” will be installed in front of the Saratoga Springs City Center and unveiled on Sept. 11, the 10th anniversary of the national tragedy.
The exhibit will feature maquettes of the 9/11 sculpture, images of the artists’ process by photographer Lawrence White and a screening of the trailer for a documentary being made by Amanda Lin Costa about 9/11 memorials in Saratoga Springs; Beaver Creek, Ohio; and Westchester County, N.Y.
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“We’re one of the few places where contemporary art is being fashioned from it,” said Kathleen Lucey, coordinator of visual arts programming for SaratogaArtsFest.
Saratoga Arts, formerly known as Saratoga County Arts Council, commissioned the artwork, and the steel was transported last month from New York City to Savett’s ironworks in Gansevoort.
At the reception, scheduled from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Friday, Van Alstine and Savett will talk about the project.
They will also join David E. Bender, Gyula Varosy and Michele Vara in “Metal Works,” an exhibit of contemporary art in mixed metals, at House of Creative Soul. A reception for that exhibit is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday so that ArtsFest participants can go to Spring Street Gallery and then walk or drive to the gallery on Van Dam Street.
The House of Creative Soul’s reception will be a fundraiser for “Tempered by Memory,” with a suggested $10 donation. “Metal Works” opened Tuesday and runs through July 2.
35 venues
While SaratogaArtsFest celebrates all the arts, visual art in the form of paintings, sculpture, photography, mixed-media works and installations has been a mainstay of the event since its inception.
This year, artwork will be exhibited at more than 35 venues in Saratoga Springs, including shops, restaurants and public buildings. Twenty of those venues are galleries and museums.
Admission to all visual arts exhibits is free and does not require an ArtsPass, with the exception of two events listed below. Regular admission is required at The Hyde Collection. With an ArtsPass, there are admission discounts to the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, the Saratoga Springs History Museum and the Saratoga Automobile Museum.
Festival happenings
Other visual arts events and information:
— Fifteen artists will be painting and sculpting outdoors along Broadway and in Congress Park during “Paint Out,” a popular event that returns for a fifth year. Artists will be at their easels from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The reception will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday in a tent in the parking lot at House of Creative Soul.
— Studio Walk, a behind-the-scenes look at artists’ work spaces, returns for a second year. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, the following six artists will open their home studios: Mixed-media artist Caroline Blake, painter Anne Diggory, sculptor Beverley Mastrianni, sculptor John McQueen, painter Catherine Wagner Minnery and glass artist Gary Zack. From 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Studio Walk is scheduled in the Beekman Street Art District at Beekman Street Artist Co-op, Feneex Boutique & Gallery, Frittelli & Lockwood, LaFayette Jewelry Designs, Mimosa and Rena’s Fine Flowers. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Studio Walk happens again at the homes of the six Saratoga Springs artists.
— The Saratoga Schools Student Art Exhibition, which debuted at the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College in 2010, moves to Universal Preservation Hall this year.
— The Tang will show two films. “Wasteland,” about how artist Victor Muniz photographed people who pick through a garbage dump in his native Brazil, will be screened at 3 p.m. Saturday. “Fold Crumple Crush: The Art of El Anatsui,” about a prominent African artist whose works are currently at the Tang, will be shown at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. (An ArtsPass or single event ticket is required for the films.)
— Teal is the color of this year’s ArtsPass, a small ceramic tile that can be worn as a necklace during ArtsFest. The collectible squares are made by L’esperance Tile Works in Rock City Falls.
— The ArtsFest’s headquarters is at 516 Broadway, a space formerly occupied by the Saratoga Mystique music store. Ralph Caparulo, Sandra Capecci and Takeyce Walter are the featured artists in a gallery at the back of the store.
For more information, go to www.SaratogaArtsFest.org or phone 580-8010.
Categories: Life and Arts
