mi Chelle Vara

LUCY 13
13th annual North Bennington Art Park
Reception July 17th 4 to 8 PM.

Show runs untill October 10, 2010
Located on rt67 in N. Bennington VT at the
Post Office and Train Station Gallery.

Nancy O’Brien Nancy O’Brien – nobrien@poststar.com miChelle Vara works to install her sculpture, “Life,” in City Park in Glens Falls on July 1.

GLENS FALLS – A small group of people gathered at the corner of Maple and Ridge streets on Thursday for a public unveiling of the first piece of sculpture in City Park, but instead of a traditional curtain or sheet to unveil, they watched as artist miChelle Vara and Chad Willson slid the 1,000 pound metal sculpture off a trailer and onto the ground, and then onto two round concrete circles in the park.
“When I read in the paper that the sculpture would be unveiled at 2 o’clock, I expected a curtain or a sheet, but this is much more fun,” said Chris Scoville, of Scoville Jewelers, who walked to the park to see the new piece.
Vara owns Ballard Road Art Studio Gallery in Wilton, and she approached the city about creating the sculpture about a year ago.
“I did the formal application to the council, and my idea was to begin a dialog with the city to have new sculptures in the park,” Vara said. “I’d like to see rotating artists and rotating pieces in the park, but the first step is to expose Glens Falls to its first piece of public art.”
Vara considers Glens Falls her hometown, even though she doesn’t live here.
“I eat here. I shop here. All my friends are here,” she said. “Glens Falls has no public art – art you can see anytime, with no fee – art that is accessible to everyone.” She said studies have shown that communities with public art feel ‘culture elevated.’
“Public art increases revenues. It improves attitudes and increases visitors’ interest,” she said.
The sculpture is rusted metal, sort of like a girder that has been bent and twisted into a unique shape. Vara calls it “Life.”
“All pieces of art should be interpreted by the viewer, but my own personal point of view is that life intertwines. There are patterns to life – ups and downs,” she said. “I wanted to put this piece in the park first because it is the most easily accepted; people don’t find it abrasive or obnoxious, and I didn’t want to start with anything with a negative connotation.”
“It’s interesting, to say the least,” said Glens Falls Mayor John “Jack” Diamond. “It complements the park nicely, and we’re going to do more, but in a controlled manner.” The city is forming a committee to organize a call to artists for new pieces of sculpture to be placed in the park, perhaps for a year at a time. Vara’s “Life” will be in City Park through October.

The Post Star Local / Regional on Thursday July 1st
Glens Falls City Park is getting some new Life today, in the form of its first metal sculpture appropriately titled, “Life.”
Artist miChelle M. Vara, who runs an art studio in Wilton, has created a ten foot tall sculpture out of I- beams. It will be unveiled Thursday at 2 pm near the corner of Ridge and Maple streets in City Park Glens Falls. Vara says the rusted metal sculpture took her a total of four months to create, although she said she spent a lot of time bending it and re-bending it until she got “a good flow.” It wasn’t saying what she wanted it to say.” She said of all the modifications.
Artist Likes Placement of Piece
Vara said the piece is intended to “reveal the ins and outs of the life that we live.”
She said she selected Glens Falls as the location for the sculpture because she sees the city as the hub of the North Country and a place open to the growth of the arts and culture. She said she’d like the placement of this piece of art in City Park to lead to a more interactive cultural base in Glens Falls.
-Mark Mahoney

The city officials unanimously decided to allow sculpture to be displayed at the City Park in Glens Falls NY. miChelle M. Vara of 6 Ballard Road Art Studio Wilton, will be installing the first metal sculpture called “Life” to ever be displayed by the city on July 1st at 2 pm on Ridge St. Throughout the application process miChelle met many residents that fully supported the cultural project and plan to attend the Home Town excitement.

miChelle is in hopes that this introduction to public sculpture will allow everyone in the community and visitors to interact with art on a personal level. miChelle’s intentions are to create a draft and following for a yearly sculpture show of Glens Falls, supported by the city and community.
We are glad to invite everyone to this new metalsome experience!

[/caption
Henry Hudson - 114"h x 72"d x 60"w

Henry Hudson’s stolen Ship was re-built.
Over one year ago the Half Moon was stolen off Henry Hudsons Map in Kingston NY-
Henry Hudson and the Half Moon sculpture, was on display for the Arts Society of Kingston when the sculpture was robbed of the integral 18” Half Moon ship displayed on the map.
The sculpture is made of re-claimed metal, depicting references to the historical story of Henry Hudson and his adventure.
2 years ago I hade been intrigued by the explorer called Henry Hudson.
His findings, his perseverance, the times and how he made things happen even through harsh adversity and successes. With this in mind I became driven to capture the man and the history thru sculpture. Henry Hudson is made from a years labor and hand picked re-claimed metal articles, welded together in a painted finish. The parts were chosen for their past life's function tying the story together with connotations of things left behind and new beginnings. The existing shapes were also a strong consideration for the subliminal story told. Such as Bicycles as his breast lapels - Henry Hudson was driven by simple travel.
His eyes made of ships rings. The hats brim the nuts and bolts of his operation his mind. The Map Stand is a crate portraying the merchandise he was to deliver. And so on.

Now Artist miChelle M. Vara has re-made the ship and will be installing the sculpture on Thursday 17th at 1pm, to be displayed at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, 50 Rondout Landing - Kingston, NY.
][caption id="attachment_1174" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Henry Hudson catalog"]

Artist miChelle has made 2 ships reminiscent of the Half Moon sculpture that was stolen, Now available for purchase.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=13640&id=1556950262&l=388ab

Opening Reception 6/17/2010 -Third Thursday at Round hole square peg gallery at Declare services in Glens Falls NY.
Please attend this fun event with town wide participation.

miChelle with 5 other artist open this weekend 6/12/10, In conjunction with Saratoga Arts Festival/ Saratoga Springs NY, and Larac Arts Festival in Glens Falls NY. Family Events will be numerous.
Please visit the out door sculpture shows at -
Saratoga Train Station 26 Station Lane Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Will be open for viewing for one full year. The Piece “Home Town” showing was inspired by the dialog with Glens Falls NY and just completed.

Saratoga Polo Grounds corner of Bloomfield Road Saratoga NY12866.
Will be open to the public during operating hours. miChelle is showing sculpture piece called, Pot’ ente – (Means Strong) The orange horse is found metals, galvanized and then finished in hand made paint.

miChelle Just completed, for a wonderful customer, now friend John, a screaming evil skull giving the subliminal finger. John said he wanted something that stood out from the normal. miChelle found out quickly John loves color and movement in paint, so miChelle ignited the project in a neon extreme way, using House Of Color product which fired the project up fine!

The job although long hours was much less than work but all artistic fun!




The background color was shot by Don at Beebe’s Autobody in Hudson Falls NY. They were awesome to work with and shot some test sheets for miChelle to mix a pallet of recipes off of. The recipe and test sheets took a week. The color was difficult as every direction you looked; it changes like a prism, of blues greens and a hint of Gold!
The photos don’t really do justice, in the real it has outstanding dimension and color to blow you away.
John will be racing July 4th at Lebanon Valley Speedway.
Good Luck John and Thanks Again!

MANHATTAN — Influential artist Louise Bourgeois, famous for her abstract works that influenced a younger generations of female artists, died in Manhattan on Monday at the age of 98.

The French-born, New York City-based sculptor, who earned recognition for her evocative and sexually explicit pieces, reportedly died of a heart attack in Manhattan.
Bourgeois’ popularity grew later in her career following a highly successful retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in 1982, the New York Times reported.
She then represented the United States at the 1993 Venice Biennale at a time when female artists were considered less than their male counterparts, the paper said.
He work drew on multiple themes — from birth and death to female sexuality — including Bourgeois’ own traumatic childhood experiences, the Associated Press reported.
One of her more visible works, “Maman,” featured a 30-foot-tall spider that was exhibited at the Rockefeller Center plaza for nearly three months in 2001.
“Tell your own story, and you will be interesting,” said Bourgeois, when asked what advice she would give young artists just starting out, in a 2008 interview with the AP.
“Don’t get the green disease of envy. Don’t be fooled by success and money. Don’t let anything come between you and your work,” she told the AP.
A private funeral service had reportedly been planned for family members.
Read more: http://dnainfo.com/20100531/manhattan/louise-bourgeois-abstract-sculptor-who-influenced-generations-of-women-dead-at-98#ixzz0pcWxrbzL