Artpark Bridges Festival to Celebrate Community Connections
(Lewiston, New York)—Artpark has announced a new festival celebrating its connections to the Western New York community and visiting artists from around the world. Free and open to the public on August 19th, the Artpark Bridges Festival will highlight ongoing collaboration with community groups and organizations including People, Inc., Empower WNY, Buffalo Parkinsons, and Artisans Edge, along with new work created by the artists and groups in residence at Artpark this summer, including Jon Lehrer Dance Company, David Glass, Plasticiens Volants, and poets and writers.
As part of the Artpark Bridges Festival, Foundlings Press and Carrowduff Arts will present a special production of Julianne Neely’s “Deepfake Translation Poems,” an audiovisual installation inspired by Katie Holten’s “The Language of Trees” workshops at Artpark earlier this summer and designed for a one-day-only debut at Artpark’s Gallery building. “Deepfake Translation Poems” will run from 4:20-5:20pm.
“Artpark was founded on the principle that public art is a public good, and the belief that our natural surroundings in Western New York power experiences that could only happen here," said Artpark President Sonia Clark. "We’re proud to welcome everyone to experience and celebrate the Artpark Bridges program, which reaches out into the community and ensures that all have access to our extraordinary setting and the art created and performed here every day.”
Artpark’s Amphitheater above the Niagara River Gorge.
Residents Perform New Work
Many of the performances on August 19 will include work that resident artists and groups developed in partnership with Artpark Bridges and participating organizations.
Jon Lehrer Dance Company will present a new work developed in partnership with the local Parkinson’s community initiated through Artpark Bridges’ ongoing relationship with the Parkinson’s Foundation. Performed on the beautiful new outdoor Grove Stage, this performance will also include favorites from JLDC’s world-renowned repertory
David Glass, a UK-based theater artist, in collaboration with Sketchbook Theatre, will present work resulting from “Alchemy of the Extraordinary,” a devised theater and creative practice workshop for professional actors and open to public.
Poet and Literary Resident Robert Giannetti and Artpark Bridges Director Cynthia Pegado will present new work based on “Sensing Resonance,” a series of outdoor poetry and performance workshops that welcomed the general public and members of our WNY community writing from perspectives of sight impairment, progressive neurological disease, or mental health wellness challenges, in collaboration with local human service agencies.
Julianne Neely, a poet from Artpark’s inaugural literary residency, will debut an audiovisual installation, “Deepfake Translation Poems,” inspired by Katie Holten’s Language of Trees and Tree Workshop, created this summer to be performed at The Gallery at Artpark. This production is co-presented by Foundlings Press and Carrowduff Arts in collaboration with Artpark.
The artistic team of the French company Plasticiens Volants, a 47-year-old performance troupe based in Tolouse, France, in residence at Artpark during this week, will discuss their create process toward a new production conceived in partnership with the Seneca Art and Cultural Center of the Ganondagan, Artpark and Rochester Fringe Festival.
Katerina Seda, a conceptual and social artist from the Czech Republic presented at Artpark by Claire Schneider’s CS1 Cultural Projects will discuss her new work.
Artpark will announce the complete schedule of performances soon. Limited food and drink will be available from the concessions stand by the parking lot. For more information, visit:
Foundlings author and Artpark 2023 Resident Poet Julianne Neely
