On Friday the 8th of March at The Gallery in Altos de Chavón, the final component of Art Chavón 2013, a fundraising event for the Altos de Chavón School of Art and Design, was a talk by Mark Lineweaver on Scuplture – and it was awesome!
Following 2 excellent evening’s of art celebrations for Art Chavón 2013; the Gala night and Auction, and the Talk on Contemporary Art with Raul Miyar, it was hard to believe that this great event could get even better – and yet Mark’s humor, rapport with his audience and a few glasses of red wine turned out to be the perfect blend for an excellent evening!
Patti Rambesek, Stephen Kaplan and Bryn Cohen
Beginning with an introduction to sculpture, it wasn’t long before Mark plucked a volunteer from the audience; Rosario Bonarelli and began to actually re-create her entire head right before our eyes. Treating us like his pupils, Mark explained about the contour of the chin, nose, lips – and even this odd bump that we all have on our head – all distinct parts that have to be carefully modelled to create a realistic bust.
Mark Lineweaver at The Gallery in Altos de Chavón
Whilst he worked, Mark amused us all with various stories of his life as an artist. One story was about a lady in New York, who, so thrilled with the bust Mark created for her, promptly whipped off her clothes and requested a nude version! Mark obviously obliged, but pondered a while on the small dilema of her breasts – should he represent them accurately or add “lift”? In the end he decided to go for accuracy, yet slightly “lifted” – which resulted in such a happy client not only did she declare “perfect, I shall take it to my surgeon to recreate“, but she also hosted a private party in which she staged a grand unveiling of her piece!
And you know what? By the end of the evening, even though Rosario’s bust was certainly not yet finished – it actually did look rather a lot like her – don’t you think? In fact the “show” was so impresive that many ladies in the audience, actually strolled out into the night remarking that they too would like Mark to do a bust for them!
A magnificent evening! Congratulations to Mark!
The following selection of photos were taken on Friday March the 8th during the talk by Mark Lineweaver at The Gallery in Altos de Chavón: Did you know? Art Chavón 2013 continues!!
The Art Chavón 2013 raises much-needed funds for the Altos de Chavón Cultural Center Foundation hosted at The Gallery in Altos de Chavón – and a major part of the fundraising effort comes through the sale of student work – more than US$30,000 was sold during the opening cocktail – and the exhibition will remain open until Sunday the 31st of March, so don’t miss your opportunity to add a new piece to your art collection and contribute to this great cause!
I think all the students, graduates and friends can agree that to describe Raúl Miyar -Director of the Fine Arts Department at The Altos de Chavón School of Art and Design – with words is just not enough to explain the lessons, passion and love that we have received from him everyday for the past 13 years since he arrived in the Dominican Republic.
