STEPS TO HOPE: a visual art project
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Austria - United States
A collaboration between artists Isabel Czerwenka-Wenkstetten and Leslie Fry
Enjoy an evening of Art, Hope, and Cultural Exchange!
Reception, Exhibition, and Event: Tuesday, May 5, at 6:00 PM
There will be art on the walls, art on the floor, guest speakers, Austrian and American food and drink, videos, dance -- even a raffle and social networking. The evening at Studio 620 will not only be an art-exhibition but also an occasion to connect and meet people from different backgrounds, as Austrian food will be served and interactive games can be played. We can look forward to an enriching and easy going evening.
The festivities will begin with introductory comments from:
Andreas Stadler, Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Wallace Wilson, Professor and Director of the School of Art and Art History at University of South Florida, Tampa
Erika Greenberg Schneider, Master Printer and Owner of Bleu Acier Inc., Print Publisher and Fine Art Atelier, Tampa
Hope Makes Art and Art Gives Hope.
Foreign Affairs: Vienna, Austria - St. Petersburg, USA Artists Collaboration
The USA is attractive and inspiring. Especially right now. So Isabel Czerwenka-Wenkstetten, visiting visual artist from Vienna, Austria recently decided to spend time in the US. She is instigating a collaborative project with St. Petersburg, Florida artist Leslie Fry, whose lively and energetic work engaged her interest through the internet. With no preconceived plan, the two worked together intensively for ten days starting March 2, 2009. The resulting artwork will be exhibited at an event in St. Petersburg at studio@620 on May 5, and at Windspiel Galerie in Vienna this October, 2009.
Ms. Czerwenka-Wenkstetten has taken her project, Foreign Affairs, to Nigeria, Thailand, and Mexico. In each country she has arranged collaborations with other artists. Because they have no common language or culture, communication takes place through the process of creating art. This European artist wanted to come to the U.S. at this particular time to focus on themes of Hope, Change and Communication. She began her U.S. visit in Washington D.C. during the inauguration.
Ms. Czerwenka-Wenkstetten started her career with studies and work in tropical agriculture, and went on with innovation, visual art and design. Her degrees took her to The Slade, University College of London, the Academy of Visual Arts and the University of Applied Arts/ Vienna. Besides her artwork of 2-dimensional and mixed-media objects, she curates other art projects and is an active networker. She has lived and worked in Nigeria, India, UK, Germany and Austria.
Leslie Fry’s sculptures, prints, and drawings have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad, and she has earned numerous awards and public commissions. She taught studio art at the University of Vermont and New College of Florida. She received her M.F.A. from The Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College. Fry was born in Montreal, and divides her time between studios in Winooski, Vermont, and St. Petersburg, Florida.
