The Mendocino Art Center has been the anchor of the local art scene since the 1960s, and this new calendar is a fundraiser for them. The party on Sunday will feature Larry Wagner and the artists who posed for the calendar. You can also meet the new Executive Director of the Art Center, Karen Ely. Check it out — we’ll be there!
The Mendocino Art Center is publishing a new calendar, designed by photographer Larry Wagner.
MAC’s Exotic Calendar Unveiling Party, August 23
Mendocino, CA – Unique, exotic, sexy, funny, riveting, creative, tasteful and, above all, high quality. These are just some of the adjectives that could be used to describe local photographer Larry R. Wagner’s latest artistic project. The photographer and editor of the popular books “Artists of the Mendocino Coast Volumes 1 and 2” recently directed his creative vision to pictorially reveal an exciting selection of the top coastal artists and community members as you’ve never seen them before in a stunningly photographed and designed 20-month calendar, featuring full color and classic black and white images.
Mendocino Art Center’s Exotic Twenty-Month Calendar, which begins in January 2010 and runs through August 2011, is a fundraiser for the Mendocino Art Center’s 50th anniversary.
Calendar Unveiling Party
The Mendocino Art Center will host the “Exotic Calendar Unveiling Party,” the official release of this artistically rendered collector’s item, Sunday, August 23, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. This will be the first opportunity to purchase the hot-off-the-press calendar, and the only chance to meet the pictured models in one setting and have them autograph copies. Finger food and wine will be available.
Larry collaborated with each of the models, both men and women, brainstorming ideas for each of the months, resulting in an eclectic array of images spanning from mermaids to wood nymphs to impeccable re-creations of famous works of art, including Dale Moyer’s tribute to Norman Rockwell’s “Art Critic,” Don Paglia and Elyse Wyman’s homage to Jean-Leon Gérôme’s “Pygmalion and Galatea,” and Richard Yaski’s ode to Leonard Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man.” Many images portray a personal statement from the model, whether to convey a love of travel or reflect a life transition. Larry even got out from behind the camera and posed, as Adam, with his wife Marilyn, as Eve, for “Botanical Garden of Eden.”
“The calendar project has been the most challenging and thrilling adventure of my life,” said Larry. “My collaborators were so generous, open and courageous that it has blown me away. Four of the models are breast cancer survivors. Their spirit and bravery has taken my breath away. Once the artists got into the shoots and saw what we were doing, the enthusiasm was amazing.”
Calendars will be available at the Mendocino Art Center, local retail outlets and online at www.MendocinoArtCenter.org/calendar.html.
The “Exotic Calendar Unveiling Party” is a free event. For more information please call 707-937-5818, ext. 10 or visit www.MendocinoArtCenter.org. The Mendocino Art Center is located at 45200 Little Lake Street (at Kasten Street) in Mendocino.
