How old road signs are being converted into artwork that will be displayed at the entrance to the Audubon Nature Center will be discussed by the artist in a talk from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug, 13, at the center, 1600 Riverside Rd., one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown, NY and Warren, PA.
Amara Geffen, artist and Allegheny College professor, will present a lecture and workshop on “Community-based Art: From Sign Art to Public Art.”
She will describe her current work to create recycled sign art for the Nature Center’s entrance. The art will reflect the natural surroundings. Canada geese, river otters, families walking, wildflowers and more will all be represented.
Geffen will work with Emma Cook, Allegheny College graduate and local artist, to demonstrate how to design and construct the forms for the project.
The fee for this event is $12 for the public, $9 for Friends of the Nature Center and children ages 9-15, and free for children 2 and under.
Geffen will explain how she worked with students from Alleghany College to transform old road signs into a wall of outdoor artwork that draws tourists to Meadville, PA. Her most recent project is in Conneaut Lake, PA.
She is also a community organizer. Her studio practice encompasses community and/or environmentally focused public art, along with art works that utilize found and repurposed objects. She also directs the Art & Environment Initiative in Meadville, through which community partners and Allegheny College students engage in projects emphasizing reuse, repurposing, revitalization and placemaking.
Geffen studied art at California College of Arts & Crafts, received her BFA at the University of Cincinnati and her MFA from Indiana University, Bloomington. She lives in Meadville with her husband, Jed Miller, their son, Satchi, one chicken and three cats, and all the ducks, geese, sandhill cranes and herons who visit their pond.
This project was made possible by the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County and New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Regrant Program with support from Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature and administered by the Cattaraugus County Arts Council.
I’d love to see more of
Geffen’s work. The photo of the flowers looks so nice!
The artwork in Meadville is amazing. I make a point of stopping to check on its progress on my way to Pittsburgh and back. It’s just a few minutes off of I-79. Check out the art! You can read a story here: http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/pdNews.nsf/Newsletters/34C541F477B78927852577AB0056E803?opendocument
They are pretty nice.