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OSSINING, N.Y. A sculpture show with about 16 to 20 large sculptures placed in the downtown and waterfront areas is planned for 2013, the bicentennial anniversary year for the village.
"It's a great thing for a town. It really brings people and the community together and it brings visitors," said Ann Jon, a sculptor based in Becket, Mass., who will be organizing the show.
Jon is the executive director of a non-profit organization called Sculpture Now that organizes a five-month sculpture show every year in different towns in the Berkshires area of Massachusetts. Ossining Village Manager Richard Leins is familiar with the Berkshires shows and asked Jon to do something similar for Ossining.
A resolution was passed by the village Board of Trustees on Tuesday evening for Leins to sign a contract with Jon to put on the sculpture show.
"The sculptures may be related to the 2013 bicentennial celebration, but not necessarily so," said village Mayor William Hanauer.
Sculptures will be selected in a competitive fashion, with artists both local and international submitting proposals or photographs of their work, Jon said. A jury consisting of Jon, Leins and other people to be selected will choose the pieces based on creativity, innovativeness, how well the art is constructed and how well it will hold up in an outdoor environment for five months.
"When you have art in the public arena and it's free and it's open all the time, it becomes somewhat of a live event," Jon said. "Some people say, 'Oh I hate that piece,' and other people say, 'Oh that's my favorite piece, I love it,' and people start thinking about art in daily life. It's great because if people have to go to a museum or a gallery, they often don't get there."
Sculptures selected for Jon's shows are generally contemporary pieces. Some are human or animal figures, while others are abstract, the artist said.
This year, Jon's sculpture show is being held in Great Barrington, Mass., from June until the beginning of November. The largest sculpture there is 12 feet tall, Jon said, and the largest sculpture that has ever been displayed in her shows was 18 feet tall.
Jon said she is not sure yet if there will be a theme for the Ossining sculpture show, but she will encourage artists to look into the history of the village to see if there is something they can connect with.
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