Welcome to our blog, from an insider’s point of view. Be sure to check in often. We’ll keep you up-to-date.
Tim Vacca Ella Levy
Since the beginning of the summer, Tim and I have been working on the exhilarating new project,
Ice+Snow, dreamt up by our notoriously creative ‘master-in-chief’, Lonnie Hanzon. We work for the
Museum of Outdoor Arts which commissioned Lonnie to create this amazing public-art project, the likes of which we never could have thought possible. I guess it would be best if you had a little background information to more fully understand what it is we do here.
About Lonnie Hanzon:
“Artist, inventor, philosopher and showman, Lonnie Hanzon has gained international acclaim for his over-the-top, incredibly detailed works of art. Comfortable with any material, from sugar to steel to sequins, Hanzon is a design daredevil in the true DaVinci spirit: multi-disciplined, cross-trained, and absolutely fearless.”
“I am certainly opposed to minimalism, which I suppose makes me a maximalist.”
“With an astute sense of visual dramatics and a clear understanding of the classic rules of storytelling, Hanzon has amazed crowds around the globe with his highly original works. In addition to several national television specials on HGTV and Food Network, he has worked in Hong Kong, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Denver and Dallas.” For several years, he also has been commissioned by Neiman Marcus to design and build spectacular reinterpretations of the traditional Christmas tree for their flagship store’s Palladium Window in Dallas, Texas. He’s working on one now! Check out his website for more info.
About Ice+Snow:
The Museum of Outdoor Arts, always striving to make art a part of everyday life, sought to reach beyond the walls of the museum to the global community in a fresh way. So, Cynthia Madden Leitner, MOA president, developed the museum’s inaugural Professional Design & Build public art installation program. She then commissioned Lonnie Hanzon to design a site-specific, public art piece: ICE + SNOW.
All we can say is that you will NEVER have a holiday light experience like this.
ICE + SNOW has evolved into a destination-based, multi-layered holiday experience perfect for any age, belief system, or skeptical eye. Without a doubt in our minds, this installation will be a truly revolutionary aesthetic experience. The project also promises to be progressive in terms of our generation’s technological trends and artistic outlets utilizing such alternative media as: podcasts, films, and suggested music lists which will all be available online.
The twelve-acre public art installation will take place in Samson Park and Fiddler’s Green Circle (you’ve seen sweet concerts at Coors Amphitheatre right?) in Greenwood Village from December 3, 2006 through December 31, 2007.
More than the usual ‘walk-through’ guide, the podcast will include Hanzon’s suggested music listening list (!) to accompany the artwork as well as an in-depth commentary by the artist himself about the making, meaning, and mystery behind each element in the Samson Park installation.
Greenwood Plaza will be transformed by original elements, both sculptural and light-based, of Hanzon’s imaginative design. With a grand opening performance on December 3rd enhanced by costumed characters created by the artist, as well as the magic of an old time European Village and Carriage Rides through the Alice in Wonderland Sculpture series, ICE + SNOW promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime environmental art experience.
Sculptures by Harry Marinsky in the Alice
in Wonderland Walking Tour (Greenwood Plaza)
And finally…about us:
- Tim Vacca (Lead Artist Assistant):
I am from Littleton, Colorado. I never thought seriously about art until I was a sophomore in high school. It was then that I enrolled in my first photography class. It was love at first class. I continued with photography all through high school.
My first sight of MOA came when I submitted my photography portfolio for the 2001 Scholastic Art Awards exhibition. To my surprise, my portfolio was selected to be sent to nationals. It was because of this exhibit that I was finally starting to think that perhaps I should pursue the arts. After high school I went into college still skeptical about making a career out of art and enrolled with an open option major at the University of Colorado at Boulder. After my first semester I had finally decided that if I was going to be at the school for 4 years I might as well major in something that I like. It was then that I decided to declare Fine Arts-Studio Arts my major. My emphasis was photography and digital art. I was also fortunate enough to participate in a certificate program known as Technology, Arts and Media (TAM). This program taught me a more technological side to the arts. Working in retail at the time, I was ready to start learning about the working art world. It was then that the opportunity to become an artist assistant at MOA’s summer art camp was presented to me. I took the job and loved it! The following summer I started with the assistant job again and was then invited to stay as a part time administrative assistant through my last year of school. Graduation came and I was taken under the wing of MOA as a full time staff member. I am extremely fortunate to be able to say I have one of the greatest jobs in the art world!
I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas but am proud to call Colorado my home now. I adore painting, music, river-trips, and anything that gets me back to nature.
Art has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father, an architect who creates artwork in three-dimensional forms and structures, infused my life with a keen aesthetic appreciation from an early age. My experience in art progressed from finger painting at 3 to multiple juried art competitions in high school and was honored with a Scholastic Art Scholarship upon graduation.
I fell in love with the mountains about 8 years ago when I did a mountaineering trip, and just couldn’t stay away. I decided to go to the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2001, majoring in Fine Arts-Studio Arts with an emphasis in drawing and painting. I’ve been in a couple small exhibitions, but hope to shoot higher in the next couple years! Last summer, I was privileged to receive an internship with Design & Build, MOA’s outstanding opportunity for college students to create a public art performance of their own. Now I’ve graduated from CU (as of May 2006), taken an intensive Advertising Certificate Course through CU’s J-school and won’t lie, am more than a little scared about what to do with my life. The ICE + SNOW internship couldn’t have been offered to me at a better time: a soft place to fall, engaging myself in a creative activity with creative people, and expanding my knowledge of new media.
Interesting tidbit: Tim and I go way back. We met freshman year in the dorms at CU Boulder!
