Artists sought for Mannequin Project
Warwick The Warwick Summer Arts Festival is inviting area artists to participate in the Mannequin Project, an arts project inspired by Warwick painter and visual artist Charlie DeCesare, to be displayed at the summer festival in July. The Arts Festival has always included at least two key elements: to build community through the arts, and to heighten awareness of the environment of Orange County, both its rural beauty, and the need for attention to issues of land use, and the protection of water and air. The Mannequin Project will offer artists an opportunity to use the full-scale human form to explore issues related to nature and the environment. Thirty contemporary molded mannequins in various poses have been donated by Dressbarn, a woman’s apparel company in Suffern. Artists, individually or in pairs, will get to choose a mannequin and work with it in a way that reflects an environmental theme in our region. “It’s exciting to see what will happen,” said festival director Elizabeth Reese. “I can see mannequins ... in store windows, even on rooftops looking down.” During the festival, the mannequins will be placed around Warwick, and then be displayed at other venues in the region. Warwick in Bloom, the town beautification project, has already requested a mannequin to include in their summer projects, and teachers at area schools are discussing ways to use the project during the next school year. Susie Graf is coordinating the initial stage of the Mannequin Project with DeCesare, vice president and creative director of marketing and visual merchandising at Dressbarn. DeCesare, will offer two orientation workshops for artists: from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, May 5, and from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 6. Interested artists should review materials at www.warwickinfo.net/mannequinproject. Preference will be given to artists working in pairs. Applications are due by Friday, April 28. Decisions will be made within a week and the mannequins will be distributed at the workshops on May 5 and 6. All mannequins must be finished and delivered by June 15. Mannequins are also available to area schools, local businesses, and community groups concerned about environmental issues, in exchange for helping to sponsor the project. For more information, call 987-9836 or visit www.warwickarts.org. The seventh annual Warwick Summer Arts Festival will take place from July 8 through July 16. The ten-day celebration of the arts will include music, theater, dance, film, and the visual arts. This year’s theme is “People and the Environment: The Impact, The Connection, The Art.” Performance sites will include Stanley Deming Park, Greenwood Lake, Scheuermann Farm and Greenhouses, and Warwick Town Park. The festival is a project of Community 2000, supported with funds from New York State Council on the Arts, Town of Warwick, Warwick Savings Foundation, Village of Warwick, Orange and Rockland Utilities, and individual contributors.