home . 2008 festival artists
Annemarie Zwack . Festival Artist 2008 . zwackart.com
Current Exhibitions
Clinton House ArtSpace Gallery
116 N. Cayuga Street, Ithaca, NY.
Through June 2008.
Opening Reception: Friday, June 20, 2008, 6:00pm - 7:00 pm
Ithaca Festival Office Gallery
171 E. State Street, #230, Ithaca, NY.
Through June 2008.
Bringing forth all our creativity has always been a core mission of the Ithaca Festival. It is fitting, then, that the last fourteen years have seen a tradition of creative Executive Directors setting a theme and each year’s new Festival Artist stepping up to create art to herald that theme.
This year is no exception. The theme "I Am Ithaca" suggests a meditation on, and a statement of, being in harmony with our community and natural surroundings. Ithaca Festival Artist of the Year, Annemarie Zwack, truly embodies the very notion of being "complete" in her life and work.
Our choice of Annemarie as this year’s Festival Artist was easy. Her painting has encompassed portraiture while her quilt work has included a larger-than-life quilted rendering of the goddess "Ithaca." Not surprisingly, these works have been fashioned into this year’s Festival T-Shirt and button, respectively.
Reflecting on her intimate portraits depicting friends and fellow Ithacans as potential Buddha’s, Annemarie gives further detail:
" . . . I was taught about the potential of every human being to reach enlightenment. Each person is endowed with a spark of divine nature. Each person has the potential to be a Buddha. My meditation experience helped me see/have an awareness of not only my own higher self but that of others. I wanted to honor that quality in all people."
We can all take pleasure in her portrayal of "Ithaca" as a machine quilted, hand-painted, silk and cotton goddess hoisting the bold, life-giving sun, while embodying the fruit-bearing landscape and refreshing flow of water within her own feminine form.
Note that she has taken a stand on war in our world with her powerful visual imagery. In a series of three quilted maps of Iraq, dubbed "Where the Wheel Was Born", she contrasts places of the ancient world such as Ninevah, Babylon, and even Eden with images of current conflict. This work has traveled nationwide sparking serious dialogue.
Annemarie’s work is diverse and accomplished over several media. One visit to her rural studio and you are immediately aware of her deep connection to the earth, her family, and her creative and spiritual selves. She is an inspirational artist who will continue to be a positive influence on our cultural landscape for years to come.
Her lifestyle, dedication and achievement have been a true gift to the Ithaca community and it has been a pleasure to showcase her as the Ithaca Festival for 2008. We asked Annemarie how she felt about being Festival Artist and here's what she had to say:
" . . . I am truly honored to be chosen from among the many talented artists in the Ithaca area. 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."
The Festival is pleased to acknowledge the generosity of the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County which has provided stipend funding for the Festival Artist program and which will be hosting a show of Annemarie's artwork at the Clinton House ArtSpace, 116 N. Cayuga Street, Ithaca, NY, in June.
