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ANSWERING VIOLENCE WITH ART
“Art Not Hate” visits the Florida Holocaust Museum
ST. PETERSBURG, FL., February 1, 2010 – “Art Not Hate”, a multimedia exhibition by artist Bob Barancik exploring creative conflict resolution, opens at the Florida Holocaust Museum (FHM) on March 6, 2010.
The exhibit, co-presented by the museum and the CreativeLedge Exhibitions Group, celebrates the power of art, education and collaboration to transcend violence and promote understanding. It features approximately 20 of Barancik’s highly textured and layered mixed-media compositions, digital prints, award-winning videos and handmade books, and includes one of the artist's seminal works, the 10-foot long "Shoah Scroll". Actually ten separate 12” x 18” drawings bound together in a scroll, the Shoah Scroll is Barancik's meditation on injustice and lamentations for family members lost during the Holocaust.
“Art Not Hate” is a continuation of Barancik’s work in the “Witness and Legacy” show that visited FHM almost ten years ago. The exhibit is one component of a group of complementary projects that include workshops for students and youth care workers teaching creative conflict resolution and communication.
“Like millions of others, especially Baby Boomers, my life has been defined and changed by conflict. Events have challenged our notions of progress and the innate goodness of human beings,” says Barancik. “I believe that pictures and words give purpose to apparently meaningless and hurtful discord. Art can help to transform ugly experiences into something beautiful, although it can be a harsh and painful beauty.”
A free public reception (reservations required), with live music performances, will take place on March 14, from 4 - 6 pm. The show runs through March 30 and will be seen by at least 2,000 Florida school children during the month of March.
About the Artist
Bob Barancik is an award-winning graphic artist, video producer and Holocaust educator who received an MA in Art Education from Stanford University and BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has done extensive graduate studies in creative art therapies at MCP Hahnemann University (now Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA) and postgraduate work in organizational development at the William Alanson White Institute in New York City.
Bob’s graphic art has won over 30 national and regional awards. His prints and mixed media collages have been exhibited at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Rare Book and Print Room of the New York Public Library, the Van Pelt Library of the University of Pennsylvania and the New Jersey State Museum. His work is also in the permanent collection of the Florida Holocaust Museum.
Bob’s videos have been screened at many prominent venues including the JVC Tokyo Video Festival, Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Festival International du Film Independant/Bruxelles, Brooklyn Arts Council International Film Festival, and Washington DC Independent Film Festival, among many others.
For more information, visit www.creativeledge.com and www.creativeledgestudio.com.
About the Florida Holocaust Museum
The Florida Holocaust Museum honors the memory of millions of innocent men, women and children who suffered or died in the Holocaust. The Museum is dedicated to teaching the members of all races and cultures the inherent worth and dignity of human life in order to prevent future genocides. The museum is located at 55 Fifth Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Hours are Monday - Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm (last admission at 3:30 pm daily). Call 727-820-0100 or visit www.flholocaustmuseum.org for more information.
“Art Not Hate” Exhibition Details
Dates: March 6 - March 31, 2010; Public reception: March 14, 2010, 4 - 6 pm
Admissions: Adults: $14; Seniors (65+): $12; College students: $10; Students under 18: $8; Student groups: $7; Adult groups: $9
Free Admission: Military, FHM members, USF students with ID, children 6 and under; AAA members receive $1 off General Adult Admission
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