TIME IS TICKING FOR THE LEONARDO CHALLENGE APRIL 26

    

                SUSAN CLINARD'S INTERNAL CALENDAR
   

DELARI JOHNSTON AND KEITH MURRAY'S THE TIME WARP CREW

Alice in Wonderland’s friend the White Rabbit  was often heard muttering “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date.” In this case, the date in question is Thursday, April 26 and the time to arrive is 5:30 p.m.  The occasion is the 24th Annual Leonardo Challenge which this year is the intriguing query “Capturing Time.”

Time is an elusive quantity, but how would our world and our lives operate without it? We wear watches, we wake to alarm clocks, we measure moments and minutes practically 24/7, we refer to the sun and the moon to distinguish day from night.  We even manipulate sunlight and darkness twice a year with Daylight Saving Time.

The Eli Whitney Museum and Workshops, 915 Whitney Avenue, Hamden is encouraging one hundred artists from across the country to explore the fascinating dimensions of time in a myriad of creative ways by designing a piece of jewelry, a mobile, a toy, a painting, an article of clothing, a chair or table, all to honor that greatest of inventors Leonardo da Vinci and, at the same time, raise valuable funds for children’s scholarships and year round educational activities to hopefully produce the inventive and spirited minds of the future.

According to Sally Hill, the museum’s Associate Director and designer of each year’s invitation and exhibit displays,  "We realized early on, that artists almost always 'solved' the Challenge in their own 'language.'Painters painted, sculptors worked 3 dimensionally, photographers used their cameras...etc.This theme of time, it's tricky. It's just gigantic if you try to look at it in general. But if you  think of it in terms of how you personally experience time, we hoped it would be manageable. And people will come up with all kinds of things you'd might not consider –  perhaps ever – in your own experience.''

She has already received a few entries to this year’s program,  a sublime piece from Susn Clinard, Internal Calendar and four Dolls from the Rocky Horror Show, The Time Warp, a pure joyous piece contributed by Delari Johnston and Keith Murray.  According to Sally Hill, these two pieces accurately describe the whimsical nature of the evening.  Sally, herself always submits a lamp and another contribution to the event, one she usually collaborates with another artist to complete.

While single tickets are $75, categories exist for more generous supporters from Galileo at $250 to the Doctor at $5000, each with appropriate incentives to participate.  For more information, call the museum at 203-777-1833 or go online at www,eliwhitney,.org.

Culinary delights will be courtesy of Doug Coffin’s Kitchen and the Big Green Truck Pizza, the delicious cheeses from the fromagerie Caseas, the old world creations of Whole G’s artisan bakers, the organic fare of Small Kitchen, Big Taste, and the libations from Caseus’s Blackhog Brewery and Koffee and special Koffee cocktails.

These can all be enjoyed while you explore all the timeless creations by the artists that you can bid on and, hopefully, taken home.  All the entries will be on display for the public for two weeks after the fundraising party.

Tick Tock. Tick Tock.