[IMC] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SKY GALLERY 2013 WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

[Kelly White]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Kelly White, Executive Director
              40 North | 88 West - Champaign County Arts Council
              kwhite at 40north.org, 217.351.9841

SKY GALLERY 2013 WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

Six new Sky Gallery billboards to be unveiled on April 10th

Champaign - 40 North | 88 West - Champaign County's Arts Council - and Adams Outdoors Advertising are pleased to announce the 2013 winners of Sky Gallery:

Peggy Shaw: "Hover" (photography & mixed media) [US 45, 200ft north of Curtis Rd.]
"Hover is a series of deep portraits exploring both the physical and spiritual presence of a person in solitude, and the threshold between the observer and the observed. With the selective clarity of deep ice, these anonymous portraits are a membrane that absorbs the coming together of fact, imagination, and memory. Peggy Shaw is an Associate Professor in Photography/Video at Parkland College, Champaign, IL."

Vanessa & Doug Burgett: "The Intruder" (digital photograph) [304 W. University]
"Creating a billboard for the Sky Gallery was one of our 20 collaborations in 20 days for our recent CUDO PechaKucha presentation. With the goals of playing with both scale and humor, we chose to showcase one of our photos featuring our kitten after he had found the door into our dollhouse. Both Vanessa and Doug work as graphic designers at the University of Illinois."

Audra Ziegel: "Roadside Vista" (oil on canvas) [705 W. Marketview Dr.]
"Audra Ziegel is a self-taught oil painter.  Textured brushwork and bright colors characterizes her work which frequently reflects places she has lived or visited.  "Roadside Vista" is a depiction of one such location, though Audra's intent is that it represents someplace where viewers can imagine themselves to be."

Beth Darling: "Tea Party" (oil on canvas) [1102 N. Cunningham Ave.]
"I hope people driving by will be surprised and delighted by my table top tea party in the sky. For me, it's a love of the paint and the process of observation. It's my own form of performing magic as the scene takes on a life of its own. I studied drawing, painting, and printmaking at the Boston Museum School. I love going to my sunny studio on the top floor of the Lincoln Building in downtown Champaign. It's a world of my own where I can make art."

Melissa Mitchell: "Aloft" (digital photograph) [US 45 330ft south of College Park Ct.]
"Elevating the ordinary to the extraordinary is a recurring theme in my assemblage and collage work, and also in my photography. The digital image "Aloft" is no exception. A simple milkweed seed pod, plucked from a vine that meanders across my backyard hedge, assumes a mystical, otherworldly presence when singled out and floated against an opaque spring sky."

Holly Birch Smith: "American Wedding" (digital photograph) [304 W. University]
           (chosen by online public vote)
"Working a unique wedding in a private airport hangar, Holly Birch Smith's goal with this photo was to spotlight the bride and her father dancing together and show the scope of the beautiful reception.  Holly and her husband Aaron live in Urbana with their son Maximus.  Holly is the owner of Holly Birch Photography."

These 6 artists will have their image showcased on custom 10' x 30' billboards around C-U. The boards will be posted on April 10, 2013. Over 95 images were submitted and 5 of the winners were chosen by a panel of judges: Jeff Mellander, Owner-Operator at Mellander Holdings; Eszter Sapi, Director at indi go Artist Co-Op; and Joan Stolz, Associate Professor, Parkland College. One winner was chosen by online public vote.


PRESS CONFERENCE:
On April 10th at 2p.m. a press conference will be held to unveil the winning artworks. The gathering will be held at 808 S. Neil Street underneath Adams Outdoor Advertising's digital billboard directly across from El Toro. All media and C-U area residents are invited to attend the opening of the largest art gallery in town.

SKY GALLERY:
Champaign County is an incredibly creative community overflowing with talent. Adams Outdoor Advertising and 40 North | 88 West wanted to feed those creative flames by creating a different type of rotating gallery. Sky Gallery is not only a unique opportunity for an artist to share their creativity with the community on a whole new level but also a chance to display their work on possibly the largest canvas in town: billboards!

All billboard space donated by Adams Outdoor Advertising. Production cost provided by 40 North.

40 North | 88 West is committed to cultivating creativity in Champaign County. Through advocacy, information and collaboration, 40 North supports and promotes the important role that arts, culture and education hold in making the community a great place to live, work, learn and play. For more on this and other 40 North programs, visit www.40north.org


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Kelly White
Executive Director
40 North | 88 West - Champaign County Arts Council
106 South Neil Street
Champaign, IL 61820
phone 217.351.9841
fax 217.398.3037
kwhite at 40north.org<mailto:kwhite at 40north.org>




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