Melody McConaughy, member of Arts Prescott Gallery is participating in the Landfill Art Project. Her recycled art piece, shown here, was one of the pieces selected.

Landfillart is an international effort encompassing one-thousand-forty-one (1,041) artists to claim a piece of rusted metal garbage and create fine art.

The 1,041 pieces of rusted metal are actually old automobile hub caps from the 1930’s through the 1970’s.  Each hub cap, after being cleaned and primed, is affectionately called a “metal canvas.”  Although most “metal canvases” have been transformed by the artist using oil or acrylic paint, some have been weaved on, glued or screwed or welded to, or made into fine sculpture.

I have found that the fine artists I have worked with on this project do not even flinch when looking at this white round disc of metal canvas.  And why should they.  Artists from the beginning of time have used cave walls (Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain,) walls of pyramids (Egyptians,) animal skins (American Indians,) etc… as their canvas.  In addition, as a gallery owner for over thirty years, I maintain that artists, generally speaking, are more ecologically in touch and environmentally aware.  Perhaps that is the reason forty-one artists readily accepted the challenge and embraced the project.

Although the project is in its infancy (I hope to have it completed by 2012,) it will evolve from a simple idea of taking forty-one old rusted hub caps and creating forty-one pieces of great art.  The second phase has already started with the acquisition of one thousand additional (1000) rusted hub caps which will be turned into cleaned and primed “metal canvases.  The project will continue with finding one thousand (1000) talented artists who believe in this project.

The third phase will involve publishing a book on the project showcasing all one thousand forty one (1,041) completed “metal canvases.”

The fourth and final phase will involve choosing 200 metal canvases that adequately represent the project and create a traveling show. The book and traveling show will publically portray the global art community's effort to positively impact the environment through repurposing previous metal waste into great landfillart.

To find out more go to:

http://www.landfillart.org/index-3.html

EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHER JODY MILLER TO BE ‘UP FRONT’

AT ARTS PRESCOTT GALLERY DURING FRONTIER DAYS®

June 18, 2010, Prescott, AZ – Western photographer, Jody Miller of MillersReflections, will be the featured artist on display in the Arts Prescott Gallery window from June 25 through July 8, just in time for the annual fanfare associated with the 123rd World’s Oldest Rodeo®, Prescott Frontier Days®. Arts Prescott Gallery, located at 134 S. Montezuma Street on historic Whiskey Row in downtown Prescott, Arizona, hosts 24 artists, with Jody Miller as the one professional Western Photographer.

“Somehow it seems so appropriate that with all the events associated with the World’s Oldest Rodeo®, my photography featuring horses and cowboys will be front and center in the gallery’s window,” stated Miller. “I’m so excited and happy about the timing in being selected from among the other gallery artists to appear up front. I’m sure that many visitors and residents who have not seen my work will be downtown enjoying the festivities and may now get a chance to do just that.” she added.

“Bring Em Home USA” and “Boots ‘N Beer,” are two of Miller’s pieces scheduled to be on display in the large front gallery window. In addition to the photography that will be on display, Jody Miller will also have available matted, gallery wrapped and mounted photography, and in a variety of sizes, from 8”x 10” to 36” x 48.” Custom sizing, mounting and framing arrangements for certain images can be made as well. Prices range from $40 to $1,200. Other collectible pieces of Jody Miller’s horse photography also includes note cards and small photo collection books.

Like so many Arizona photographers, Jody came here to leave the rat race behind, to encounter the visual thrill of long views, and to capture her subject in the incomparable desert light. Alongside her day job, she set herself up as a commercial portraitist and art photographer, doing business as MillersReflections. Her images have been published in Horse and Rider, Western Horseman, The Horse Connection, the 2004 Ruger Sportswear Catalog, and Today's Horse.

ABOUT JODY MILLER

Miller has won awards from the Prescott Fine Arts Association and the Phippen Museum, where her work appeared in the Emerging Photographic Talent of the West exhibit. Jody supports the community with ongoing donations of services and artwork to Horses with H.E.A.R.T., the Soroptimists, Habitat for Humanity, and Future for KIDS.

Before becoming an Arizonan, Jody's love of horses led her to spend a number of years on a working horse ranch in the California desert. She says, "I have loved horses ever since I was a teenager. They are majestic, powerful, glorious animals that love to perform and show off their beauty. I enjoy the challenge of capturing that special connection people have with their animals."

Visit http://www.millersreflections.com to see more of Ms. Miller’s work.

For more information: Jody Miller

Telephone: 928-533-1951

Email: jody@millersreflections.com

www.millersreflections.com

Michelle Johnson
www.laughingcloudstudio.com

Nature by Design: New Directions in Fiber and Jewelry
A National Juried Biennial Exhibition
April 9th - May 5th, 2010
Larson Gallery, YVCC
Corner of 16th Ave. and Nob Hill Blvd.
Yakima, WA
www.larsongallery.org
Piece juried into show - "Summer Goddess Ensemble"

Tempe Festival of the Arts
March 26-28th
www.tempefestivalofthearts.com

St. George Art Festival
St. George, Utah
April 2nd and 3rd
www.sgcity.org/artfestival