PRESS RELEASE
May 12, 2008
Ithaca, NY— Artist Annemarie Zwack is the chosen Ithaca Festival ‘artist of the year’ for 2008. Zwack has lived in the Ithaca area for 11 years. In that time she has painted murals for businesses and homes, taught art classes to kids at CSMA, GIAC, South Side Community Center and area schools, painted sets for three local theaters, and shown her work all over town.
It was at one of her exhibits, at Just a Taste restaurant, that Ed Marion, president of the Ithaca Festival board of directors, spotted her series titled Potential Buddhas. It is a collection of portraits in which the sitter was asked to choose a color to represent them. Painting from life, Zwack used the color to describe them. When this year’s festival theme was decided: “I am Ithaca”, Marion thought of the portraits Zwack had painted and imagined them on the Ithaca Festival t-shirts.
With the theme “I am Ithaca” Zwack suggested the I-Fest organizers look at another piece of her work too. A painted silk quilt called “Ithaca” shows a woman holding the sun and her body becomes the earth and the waterfall her dress. With the Festival’s change of date this year to Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, this Ithaca sun goddess was a perfect visual statement of the theme. Thus a design for the Ithaca Festival button, that supports the cost of the event, was born.
This year the Ithaca Festival also has a new director, Jake Roberts, who has a green vision for the Festival. The Festival aims to have a zero carbon emissions footprint. Composting, solar powered music stages, and 100% organic cotton Tees are just some of the ways in which you will notice a shift in consciousness. Sales of Color Me Earth, a children’s books written by local author Peter Fortunato, illustrated by Zwack, and printed locally using soy-based inks, help support the Festival. Color Me Earth is written from the perspective of the Earth and is illustrated using recycled fabric collage.
Reflecting on the nomination Zwack says “I am truly honored to be chosen from among the many talented artists in the Ithaca area to have my work represent the Festival this year. I am particularly happy to be on board this year as the Ithaca Festival takes on the mission of setting a gloriously Green example. It is real forward thinking. It is just what Ithaca is all about.”
OTHER PRESS RELEASES
"Witness" and "Carbomb" at the Puffin Room in Manhattan
