FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2009
Contact:
Tabatha C. Flores
tflores@mwproductions.org, 617-784-6421
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Award-Winning Medicine Wheel Public
Art Installation Commemorates A Day Without Art/World AIDS Day on December 1 at the Boston Center for the Arts, Cyclorama. Exhibition from November 23, 2009 - December
2, 2009
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Boston, MA- For the 18th consecutive year, artist and
educator Michael Dowling commemorates World AIDS Day by mounting the evocative
large-scale installation Medicine Wheel
at the Boston Center for the Arts, Cyclorama, in Boston MA. Medicine Wheel is the largest recurring site-specific public art
event in Boston, an annual 24-hour vigil of prayer, dance, song and ritual
attended by thousands of individuals and artists each December 1, World AIDS
Day/A Day Without Art. The
exhibition opens November 23 and lasts through December 2. Medicine Wheel, a circle with no
beginning or end, is a sacred ceremonial space honoring the connections of all
life while providing a safe place to gather and reflect on AIDS and other losses
in all our lives. Each year, Dowling involves thousands of people in creating Medicine
Wheel. Carole Anne Meehan, previous
Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, who has worked with
Dowling on past Medicine Wheel
installations, feels that "the quiet power of Medicine Wheel is how it transforms the art of remembrance. It rises up anew each year for those
who gather to mourn and pay witness, enfolding them in its archetypal yet
dynamic space that is energized with myriad approaches to healing and
sharing." In 2006 Medicine
Wheel was awardedBest Project in a Public Space by the Association
Int'l des Critiques d'Art New England Chapter.
The Medicine Wheel installation opens on November 23 with Luminaria, a 22ft tall physical lantern made out of portraits
of faces representing those that have been affected in the age of AIDS. Dowling comments, "I am often in the
dark about what goes on in the community and I look for people to enlighten me.
Luminaria is a collection of light
that exists in all of us." The portraits that will hang from a grid are made
from original wood-block engravings that are carved from images in photographs,
which are sent by the public. Two
thousand paper birds from the Paper Project will be suspended from the ceiling and will appear to
take flight into the Luminaria. The Paper Project is made up of thoughts and prayers and it was
produced with the help of thousands during last year's Medicine Wheel. The participatory
portion of Medicine Wheel will
begin with a procession that starts at 11:30pm on November 30 at Eliot Norton
Park, located at the corner of Tremont Street and Charles Street South, and
ends at the Cyclorama. Participants will carry 36
shrines and pedestals and process into the Cyclorama to begin the 24-hour
vigil, which runs from midnight to midnight on December 1 for World AIDS Day. During the vigil, visitors are invited to
leave offerings inside the shrines--personal objects, letters, pictures or
other mementos. Artwork and performance from local artists include
dance, song and poetry that will illuminate the wheel and mark every hour of
the vigil.
The AIDS Action Committee
of Massachusetts (AAC) will again this year collaborate with Medicine Wheel to support the installation. Rebecca Haag, President
and CEO of AAC, said: "World AIDS Day is an important time for awareness
and for people to reflect on our losses and struggles of the past but it also
gives us hope for a better future. Michael (Dowling) has once again looked at
the state of HIV/AIDS in our society and found a new and innovative way to shed
light on the pandemic as well as offer a renewed sense of hope and power for
those that experience this disease on a daily basis," Haag continued.
About Michael Dowling
Michael Dowling is founder
and Artistic Director of Medicine Wheel Productions. Dowling is a Boston based artist and educator best known for
his evocative large-scale art installations that include Medicine Wheel
(1992-current), a project that
commemorates World AIDS Day/A Day Without Art. Before focusing on public art installations, Dowling had a
successful career as a landscape painter.
The most direct expression of Dowling's mission with public art is to
involve community and respond to their environment at that particular moment in
time. Dowling was
educated at Boston University (BFA, 1977, MFA 1979 in Painting), where he studied
with Philip Guston and James Weeks.
In 2010 Dowling will be teaching a studio class "Art as Threshold" at
Brandeis University.
Past and current public art
installations include:
No Man's Land (1996-current) in South Boston; Freshwater (1998-99) at the Danfourth Museum of Art, Framingham; Tales
of Transformation (2000) at Church of
the Covenant, Boston; Conspire (2001)
a collaboration with Laura Baring-Gould at the Institute for Contemporary Art
in association with the National Historical Park; Sanctuary (2004) at the Fuller
Museum of Art, Brockton; Elements
(2005) at Pilgrim Church,
Sherborn.
Upcoming commissions
include:
The Brandeis University Project
scheduled for Spring 2010 and The Tonnes: A Meeting of the Waters, scheduled for 2013 on the border region between Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland.
About the Exhibition
Medicine Wheel is the largest recurring site-specific public art event in
Boston with an 18-year history and an annual 24-hour vigil of prayer, dance,
song and ritual attended by thousands of individuals and artists every December
1st for World AIDS Day.
The Medicine Wheel installation
is a Cyclorama Residency at the Boston Center for the Arts. Medicine Wheel is also a collaboration with the AIDS Action Committee of
Boston, MA.
Press Preview
Tuesday, November 24 4:30pm-6pm with reception and artist
talk immediately after from 6pm-8pm. Please RSVP to tflores@mwproductions.org
Hours
Monday, November 23 to Wednesday, December 2 9am-5pm
Wednesday, November 25
9am-noon
Thanksgiving Day Closed
Opening Night Reception and Artist Talk-- Tuesday November
24 6pm-8pm
Vigil-Doors open at
Cyclorama on Thursday, November 30 at 10pm anticipating the 24-hour vigil. Open
for the full 24 hours on December 1 for World AIDS Day from midnight to midnight. Vigil begins with a procession at Eliot Norton Park at
11:30pm on November 30 and continues into Cyclorama.
More information about Medicine Wheel is available at www.mwproductions.org
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About Medicine Wheel
Productions
Medicine Wheel Productions
(MWP) is an arts organization dedicated to the production of site-specific
public art installations, both intimate and large-scaled, that invite people to
use art as threshold, gaining awareness of self, community and the human
condition. All programs and projects overlap and reinforce one another,
emphasizing the transformative power of inclusive public art which gives voice
to communities and artists. MWP
operates a Studio School, a Gallery and a Retreat Program. The MWP Studio
School teaches adult and youth art classes in Painting, Figure Drawing,
Critique/Vision, and Site Specific Installation Art. The onsite MWP Gallery exhibits six shows a year that
include works from its Artist in Residence program. MWP also leads five weeks
of Artist Retreats annually to Italy, Ireland, Maine and Western Mass. MWP is located at 110 K St., Boston, MA
02127. 617-268-6700. www.mwproductions.org
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