my 'dressproject', out on the town, at the Attleboro Arts museum ...

I am pleased and honored to announce that I am 

all installation photos were taken by Abby Rovaldi

the 'artist-of-the-month' at the Attleboro Arts Month!!

For the month of April, photos from my 'dailydress ...' series will be on exhibit in their Community Gallery. The majority of the photos are printed on aluminum which allows the spirit and details of the photos to shine through,  as there is no glass in front of the image nor material surrounding the image to distract.

'eat your veggies ...' & 'don't slip ...'

“dressproject…” Series by Virginia Fitzgerald; Photography on aluminum 

Exhibition: April 3^rd – 30^th, 2019

The Museum is closed on Saturday, April 20^th

Gallery hours are Tues – Sat from 10am-5pm

My 'dailydress ...' exhibition is running concurrently with the Attleboro's
'Tempera: Nature & Narrative'
exhibition: April 6th – May 4th, 2019

Opening reception and festivities are happening this Saturday:
April 6th:
2pm – 3pm: Egg tempera demonstration by exhibiting artist Eileen Kennedy
3pm – 4:30pm: Opening reception

Free and open to all.

all installation photos were taken by Abby Rovaldi

And as with all exhibits, I needed to revamp my 'dressproject ...' artist's statement:

'ladies in waiting ...'
my photos waiting to be hung.

“With the dress, I discovered my voice, the dress became my soapbox from which I could initiate a dialogue, engage in political debate, question social protocol and excavate my authentic self.” — Virginia Fitzgerald 

Virginia Fitzgerald is a passionate artist for whom life and art merge, which is reflected in all of her work. The objective of her art is to inspire others, urging them to think about their everyday lives, examine their surroundings, and revisit their thoughts, beliefs, and expectations. Fitzgerald achieves this through a multitude of media and series of work, one of these series being her “dressproject …” 

Fitzgerald’s “dressproject …” began in 2006 in Wells Beach, ME and since then Fitzgerald has created, designed, and built over a thousand of “artdress’es.” Fitzgerald has reinterpreted the dress form in a myriad of media and materials, such as; vcr tape, rope, asphalt, ice, rubber gloves, etc. Her “dressproject …” includes sculptures, photographs, ephemeral dresses, installations, and performances.  The “dressproject …” has also prompted a “dailydress …” blog, Facebook group and products, such as “dresscard’s,”  featuring origami dresses with empowering quotes and messages.  The “dressproject …” has led to collaborative projects where Fitzgerald works with different organizations,  encouraging the participants to bring new ideas, experiences, and emotions to the project. 

Fitzgerald’s “dressproject …” is relevant to the current issues being debated today. Fitzgerald sees the dress form as a symbol for one’s essential being, their core.  The work speaks to the emotional or lack of emotional connection between people. This body of work touches many people regardless of gender, age, background and experiences, and Fitzgerald strives to create a safe place for them to reconsider their place in the world.

As an artist, Fitzgerald is dedicated to making art that is provocative, that makes the viewer stop and think, art that will prompt a reexamination of an idea or belief. She is a champion of passion, individuality, and inspiration. Fitzgerald works and lives outside Boston with her two daughters in a house full of love and creativity. She is constantly observing, questioning, and exploring her surroundings.  To learn more about Virginia Fitzgerald please visit:

www.virginiafitzgerald.com

www.dailydressproject.blogspot.com

all installation photos were taken by Abby Rovaldi

Community Gallery 

The Community Gallery is located in the lobby of the Attleboro Arts Museum’s Emory Street entrance.  For over a decade the Museum has been pleased to offer this prominent gallery space as an exhibition opportunity for both promising and professional artist members. By showcasing one or more member artist(s) per month, the Community Gallery maximizes the exposure of unique art and contact with Museum viewers. Artworks on display are new works that are currently being produced within the exhibiting artist’s portfolios.

Hope you can stop by!! I plan to be there on Saturday afternoon.  If you have any questions you can contact the Attleboro Arts Museum: 

Attleboro Arts Museum,

 86 Park St., Attleboro, MA 02703, 

508.222.2644

attleboroartsmuseum.org

thank you and peace ~ 

for your tuesday enjoyment, a myriad of 'dailydresses'

As I am prepping for a presentation for a possible exhibit opportunity I've realized

that i don't have a good collection of my 'dailydresses' online.  I need to add these to

my website, however until I do I am sharing them here.

These selection includes ephemeral dresses that I have made during the course of my every day, with random materials and detritus that have inspired me. 

I have also included images from my 'dailydress inspirations' which consists of an origami dress with an inspirational quote.

My 'dressproject' began with an ephemeral dress on Wells Beach in Maine on a family vacation.

My first dress, 'brenda's dress ...' was made out of beach stones.  

and the beach and rocks continue to inspire ...

I also have many ephemeral dresses made out of food.  

Besides my passion for eating and good food, I believe the plethora of food related dresses comes from me being a mom and having young girls when I started my 'dressproject'. 

Other inspiration comes from nature ...

 

and art supplies ...

The following images are from the series, 'decemberdress' (2013) in which I made a 'dailydress' most days in December as a kind of therapy.  You can see more and read more about this series in my post, 

'the dress to the rescue' . . . a tale of loss and redemption via the dress'

I tell people that I have made over one thousand dresses since I started my 'dressproject', 

and I see no end in sight. 

Thank you for your interest and peace, 

'for the love of ...' thank you Bobbi Gibb

Me and Christina Zwart who's piece, 'Fearless'
is a show stopper.  See photo below of Zwart
installing the piece. 

One of the biggest crowds to ever attend an opening reception at the museum, about 175-200, according to Director Mim Fawcett, did so Tuesday evening to check out Fawcett’s latest brainchild, “A Long Distance Relationship: The 26.2-Mile Journey. ”http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/runners-high-attleboro-arts-museum-features-marathon-themed-art/article_4f7ea9b0-6155-5137-9804-0bd2055e4ac8.html

 The opening for 'A Long-Distance Relationship' was a success as noted in the Sun Chronicle's article, and I will concur.  The high spirits and festive energy of the evening were appropriate for the exhibition celebrating the many aspects of the Boston Marathon.  At the bottom of this post you can find the links to the numerous articles and reviews, as well as an excerpt from the Artscope article in which J. Fatima Martins talks about the different pieces from the exhibit in thematic duets.


It was an honor to see my newest sculpture, 'for the love of ...' (created for this exhibition) greeting all museum visitors at the entrance of the exhibit.  It was even a greater thrill to witness museum visitors reading my statement about the piece.

After doing much research about the marathon and particularly women in the Boston Marathon, I was greatly moved by Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon is 1966.  Besides the fact that she was a trailblazer and ran the marathon even though her application had been denied because 'women cannot run the distance of a marathon', it was her love of running and her passion for life that really captured my interest.  Here is the longer version of my artist statement about 'for the love of ...'

‘for the love of …’ was inspired by the spirit and courage of Roberta ‘Bobbi' Gibb; lawyer, neuroscientist, artist, single mother and the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1966.  Not only has Bobbi Gibb been a trailblazer for women’s running and women’s rights but she has a love for life and a passion for life that needs to be celebrated. 
"I have always had a vision of a world where men and women can share all of life together in mutual respect, love and admiration; a world where we find health through exercise and through the appreciation of the spirit and beauty of the world and of each other; a world based on love and individual integrity, where we all have a chance to do what we most passionately love, to help others, and to become all we can become."http://runningpast.com/gibb_story.htm
Since Bobbi entered this world, in the elevator of the hospital, she has been on the move.  As a girl, she loved to move and to run, however, in the 1950's and 1960’s the expectations for women were to get married and start a family. As Bobbi approached adolescence, she saw her girlfriends stop running and playing:
“As soon as you became an adolescent, everything changed,” Gibb told Women in the World. “You started to become a woman and suddenly there were all these incredible constraints. I could see coming down the line that I was going to have to live in a box as a woman—literally, locked up in the house. We were expected to be housewives, and that’s all … We weren’t expected to have minds, and we weren’t expected to have bodies that ran.”“[Running] was sort of a spiritual thing, and I could get away from society and its rigid ideals,” she said. “It had nothing to do with sports. I knew nothing about the sporting world. I never stopped running when normal girls would stop running and settle down. I never became a normal girl.”https://womenintheworld.com/2015/04/20/the-incredible-story-of-bobbi-gibb-the-first-woman-to-run-the-boston-marathon/
In 1964 Bobbi’s father took her to see the Boston Marathon for the first time.  As a spectator, she felt a kinship with the runners.  She didn’t notice that it was only men running, what she saw were others who understood her love for running. Witnessing the marathon was a spiritual experience for Bobbi, one that she wanted to participate in. 
“I knew these people felt the same way I felt when I ran. I was reconnecting with some ancient potential almost lost in modern society, some deeply moving fundamental core of what it means to be human. And I felt that they were too--that we shared this bond.” Bobbi recalls.  Interview with Bobbi Gibb April 2011; http://www.billrodgersrunningcenter.com/inwibogi.html
After watching the marathon, Bobbi began to train and to test the distances that she could run.  One time she was running on the beach in Southern California and ended up running into Mexico.  She had no ID and her appearance caused some alarm among the border guards, they did not believe that this woman was just out for a run.  Fortunately, the confusion was soon resolved and Bobbi returned to North of the border.  Needless to say, Bobbi knew that she could run distances and at the beginning of 1966 she sent in her application for the Boston Marathon.  What she received in response to her application was a rejection, telling her that women were not physically capable of running marathon distances, that under the rules that governed amateur sports set out by the AAU, women were not allowed to run more than a mile and a half competitively. 
To Gibb, her rejection emphasized the ridiculousness of the situation,
"It was a catch 22; how can you prove you can do something if you’re not allowed to do it? If women could do this that was thought impossible, what else could women do? What else can people do that is thought impossible?” http://runningpast.com/gibb_story.htm
So even though her application was rejected, nevertheless, she persisted,  Bobbi decided to run the Boston Marathon. On marathon day, while waiting to run Bobbi hid in some forsythia bushes near the starting line because she was afraid of how people would respond if they discovered that she was a woman, fearful that she would be physically removed and/or arrested.  In 1966 many thought it was life-threatening for a woman to run anything longer than 1.5 miles, it was believed that a woman’s uterus would fall out harming a woman’s reproductive capabilities which were thought to be the main raison d'être for women, it was not proper for a woman to be seen exerting herself, it was not lady-like for women to sweat.  Bobbi knew that she would be threatening many societal norms for women.  But she felt like it was time to challenge these beliefs.  Also, Bobbi loved running and wanted everyone, men and women, to be able to experience the nirvana that she experiences when she runs, 
"It (running) came naturally to me. When I ran, all the stresses of the day disappeared. I felt like myself, like a bird flying, free and happy. I felt close to something spiritual, close to the mystery of being, you might say. I felt connected with the creative power of life. I feel most alive when I run. I feel the energy of the whole universe pouring through me and I feel grateful to be alive here on this planet in this world.” Interview with Bobbi Gibb April 2011; http://www.billrodgersrunningcenter.com/inwibogi.html
Bobbi ran and won the ‘unsanctioned’ women’s division of the Boston Marathon in 1966, 1967 and 1968.  After 1968 her energies and interest turned to her studies.  She applied to medical school and was denied because of her gender, but she wasn’t deterred she went to Law school.  Bobbi Gibb is a champion of women’s rights, her action on April 19, 1966, added fuel to the Women’s movement of the time which was challenging many of the restrictive beliefs that held women back from contributing to the world and discovering their authentic selves. Bobbi knew that she was making a political and social statement when she jumped into the marathon, and as much as she was happy to shatter many of the prejudices against women, she ran because she loved to run, she wanted to be part of this primitive fundamental experience of running en masse and she wanted to share this experience with women, half of the population.  
Thank you, Bobbi. 
from the official Boston Athletic Association’s website:    Pioneer Era of Women’s Participation 1. Roberta (Bobbi) Gibb (MA) 3:21:40http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/boston-marathon-history/race-summaries/1966-1970.aspx

THEMATIC DUETS: 

2. Abby Rovaldi’s “My 26.2 Miles,” composed of 20 etchings, and “Virginia Fitzgerald’s” rock tied ribbon dress installation, “Torqued and Tethered,” offer a conversation about struggle and endurance. To create the 20 dark etchings that depict her personal 26.2-mile marathon journey, Rovaldi attached a 5” x 9” zinc plate to the bottom of each of her shoes and walked 2.62 miles to create the aggressive lines necessary for printing. Fitzgerald’s beautiful cream colored ribbon dress in held to the floor with over two dozen found rocks of various sizes and weights arranged into a circle. This piece offers a puzzling shamanistic energy; it’s remarkably graceful and buoyant and yet contains a vexed tonality communicating a women’s struggle to break free from what’s holding her in place — she is twisting upward while fixed in place.
https://artscopemagazine.com/2018/04/thematic-duets-in-a-long-distance-relationship-the-26-2-mile-journey-at-attleboro-arts-museum/

In the News

NBC WJAR-TV previews the Attleboro Arts Museum’s “A “Long-Distance Relationship: The 26.2 Mile Journey”  – http://turnto10.com/news/local/attleboro-arts-museum-opens-boston-marathon-exhibit

The Sun Chronicle previews the exhibition in the “GO” section: http://www.thesunchronicle.com/features/stories/attleboro-arts-museum-goes-the-distance-with-exhibition-on-marathon/article_60056499-5dbf-547a-9924-fbf8ea62d254.html

MassLive Media: http://www.masslive.com/expo/erry-2018/04/4ec11ed2365466/see_artworks_from_attleboro_ar.html#incart_m-rpt-2

The Sun Chronicle coverage of exhibition opening reception: http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/runners-high-attleboro-arts-museum-features-marathon-themed-art/article_4f7ea9b0-6155-5137-9804-0bd2055e4ac8.html

Artscope Magazine review: https://artscopemagazine.com/2018/04/thematic-duets-in-a-long-distance-relationship-the-26-2-mile-journey-at-attleboro-arts-museum/

Boston.com: https://www.boston.com/news/boston-marathon/2018/04/13/boston-marathon-bombing-anniversary

Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/boston-strong-city-honors-victims-and-survivors-5th-anniversary-boston-885609

Providence Journal review: http://www.providencejournal.com/entertainmentlife/20180414/attleboro-arts-museum-exhibit-examines-art-of-marathon

'torqued & tethered . . . .' and a long distance relationship

'torqued & tethered . . . ' (2013) ribbons, chicken wire and rocks.

One of the pieces that I am exhibiting in Attleboro Arts Museum next exhibit, 'A long Distance  elationship' is 'torqued & tethered ...' and so I thought it was an appropriate time to share her story

I wanted to show this piece in this exhibit about the Boston Marathon because it reflects the story and experiences of women runners up until quite recently. In 1966 "for a grown woman to run in public was quite outside the social norm.” 1.

1.Interview with Bobbi Gibb April 2011; www.billrodgersrunningcenter.com/inwibogi.html
When Bobbi Gibb jumped out of the bushes to join the 500 men runners during the 1966 Boston Marathon, many thought it was life threatening for a woman to run anything longer than 1.5 miles. Bobbi hid in the bushes because she was afraid of how people would respond if they discovered that she was a woman, fearful that she would be physically removed and/or arrested.


'torqued & tethered ...' speaks to the limitations, expectations and restrictions placed on women which can stunt a woman's growth;  physically, mentally and spiritually, impeding them from reaching their full potential. This was true with women's running, especially long distance running, until trailblazers like Bobbi Gibbs, Sara Mae Berman, Kathrine Switzer and many more.



'torqued & tethered . . .' is the first of my dress sculpture where I played with the scale and shape of the dress. For this piece the bodice is stunted, emaciated, twisted and tortured. The sculpture hangs by only one of the shoulder straps, the other strap sags, defeated, exhausted. The way the bodice hangs the viewer can see in, under and through her; all is exposed. Being white, there is the suggestion of seeing bone.

'torqued & tethered . . . ' at "forever & after"
at the SSAC

The skirt of the dress is created by ribbons that hang from the bottom of the bodice. These ribbons strain against the rocks which have hold the ribbons to the floor; grounding her, repressing her, when all she really wants to do is to fly, to be free.

'torqued & tethered . . .' behind 'metamorphosis . . . '

This sculpture speaks to the omnipresent and destructive messages directed at young
girls/women, from the media (TV, movie, advertisements, ...), society, many religions and possibly family. The dress is white to implying the many cultural traditions where a girl or woman wears a white dress that represents purity, goodness, respectability and virtue. Usually a white dress is worn for baptisms, first communions, confirmations, debutante cotillions, some graduations and, and of course, a white dress is worn in a traditional wedding.

Lady Forrest 1876, Victorian style dress

'torqued and tethered . . . ', for me, represents an innocent young spirit/girl who has been pinned down by rules, expectations, dogma and traditions and who has twisted and tortured herself trying to free herself and just be who is authentically is; she just wants to soar!!!








Exhibition: April 10th – May 5th, 2018
Opening Reception: Tuesday, April 10th, 7-9pm. This event will include a recognition ceremony that honors each exhibiting artist and exhibition partners. Free and open to all.
Reservations are requested, but not required, by Friday, April 6th. 

Telephone: 508-222-2644 x10 or email office@attleboroartsmuseum.org 

thank you for your interest and peace,

va