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GRATON, SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (March 17, 2009) CNN, one of the world’s leaders in broadcast and online news, featured FUNERIA and its founder, Maureen Lomasney, in a Small Business Success Breaking News report on its HLN (Headline News) channel, Monday, March 16. The profile can be seen again on HLN’s “Morning Express with Robin Meade” which airs on Wednesday and Thursday, 3/18-19. The one minute news item is also archived on CNN.com. The segment was filmed in FUNERIA’s Northern California art gallery, Art Honors Life®, located in the wine country hamlet of Graton. It showcased a wide variety of the original artist-made cremation urns, keepsakes and personal memorial objects that the arts agency has assembled and been selling since 2001 when it organized the first international Ashes to Art® competition and exhibition of original artist-made urns. FUNERIA’s large scale biennial exhibitions have been held in San Francisco and Philadelphia, with smaller shows at Onishi Gallery in New York’s Chelsea district and at the Sonoma County Museum. In November 2008, “Ashes to Art | scattered” opened at Art Honors Life to focus on urns and objects designed to help scatter cremated remains in a more helpful and meaningful way. Of those who are increasingly choosing cremation rather than traditional burial, more than 40% are asking that their ashes be scattered. The artwork in the gallery includes a number of creative ways to disperse ashes ranging from the elegant to whimsical. Among the distinctions that the arts agency and its gallery have earned include being featured in January 2007 in The New York Times as “the nation’s first art gallery dedicated to cremation urns and personal memorial art.” FUNERIA has also been identified in the funeral industry trade press for “leading the emerging funerary art movement” and “offering the best contemporary funerary art.” Articles written by Lomasney to promote the work of artists who are creating unique and beautiful urn designs for the increasing numbers of art- and design-conscious families who are seeking them have appeared in trade magazines, while images of particularly creative urns offered by FUNERIA have dominated the covers of glossy trade magazines as well as weekly and monthly general interest publications. Among FUNERIA’s clients are the largest purchasers of funeral urns in North America as well as individuals and families who are seeking the most beautiful and finely crafted urns being made by both distinguished and emerging artists today for themselves, their loved ones and their pets. For further information, call 707 829 1966 or 888 829 1966 (US Toll Free), or email arthonorslife@funeria.com. Art Honors Life | The Gallery at FUNERIA is open by chance and appointment unless otherwise noted. It is located at 2860 Bowen St. #1, Graton, CA 95444-0221. Awards Announced at 4th Biennial Opening Reception for New Funerary Art
The exhibition opened at Art Honors Life | The Gallery at FUNERIA, tucked in the Wine Country California town of Graton and cited as “the nation’s first art gallery dedicated to cremation urns and personal memorial art” in a January 2007 New York Times feature story by staff writer Patricia Leigh Brown. It is the first time the large exhibition is being presented in FUNERIA’s own gallery. Since 2001, the biennial event has opened at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco and at the ICE BOX at Crane Art in Philadelphia, PA, with portions touring to Vancouver, Chicago, Las Vegas and Paris, France. Other artists who attended the Friday opening on a clear, starry night, were also reveling in their selection for the exhibition, such as Mindy Andrews, who with her husband, George--a contemporary classical composer—traveled from Calgary, Alberta Canada to celebrate the jurors having chosen her inventive ceramic group “Not Forgotten.” They were joined by Southern California artists Ellen Jantzen, whose inspired “Metamorphosis” part bird/part fish biodegradable mixed-media piece greeted visitors on entering the exhibition, Nancy Arthur-McGeehee, who was cheered to have won the Excellence in Glass award for a cameo engraved glass “California Poppies and Doves” urn, Stephen Browning and Valentin Ruesga whose stained, incised and constructed “Blue Urn” demonstrated the possibilities when artists meet gourds, plus Bay Area artists Greer Upton, Greg Gilbertson and Coreen Abbott. Excellence award recipients in addition to Arthur-McGeehee included Washington State’s Brian Gilman, Excellence in Metal for “Oval Image”; Ohio woodworker James D. Remington, Excellence in Wood for “Free Hand Maple Burl Vessel”; and Seattle craftsman Darin Montgomery, Excellence in Mixed Media for “urn-a-matic vend”--made from a vintage gumball machine and ash-filled plastic capsules that came very close to winning the ultimate prize, as did “Their Last Love Shack” by another Pacific Northwest artist, Tony Knapp, whose salvaged painted driftwood piece contributed a companion-sized whimsical artwork to the mix. Adela Akers, FUNERIA’s Arts Counsel and one of three jurors for this biennial, joined fiber artist and educator Sylvia Seventy in selecting Norris’s “All Ears Dear” for the prestigious honor, as well as the Excellence in Media awards, in what has become a coveted showcase in the emerging genre of contemporary funerary art. According to Akers, “There were many more whimsical pieces in this year’s competition, and truly unique artworks that addressed the “scattering” theme of the show... but this piece encapsulated so many elements—exquisite craftsmanship, functionality, originality and charm—that we were won over.” She added, “Selecting Best of Show was, however, very difficult because there were so many strong pieces, including really wonderful work by past Best of Show recipients Shawn McDonald and Paul McCoy.” A special group of ingenious ash scattering concepts are also making their US debut at the exhibition thanks to FUNERIA’s invitation to the competition’s third juror, London-based product designer Nadine Jarvis <www.nadinejarvis.com>. Jarvis has already won awards and high praise throughout Europe for her thoughtful designs. The Times has placed her on top of the list of “artists who have what it takes to make it big.” As a Goldsmith’s graduate, her rosy prospects place her in league with fellow alums Lucian Freud, Mary Quant, Damien Hirst, Sam Taylor-Wood and many more art talents. She attracted FUNERIA’s attention when her “Post Mortem Research” graduate project won a 10,000 GBP prize from London’s Design Museum and Esmeé Fairbairn Foundation in 2006. Each of Jarvis’s unique concepts for scattering ashes are represented in the Northern California exhibition, including Bird Feeder, Rest In Pieces, Carbon Copies and Scatter in an installation created for her by former Ashes to Art juror and mixed media German-born sculptor, Christiane M. Vincent. In describing the “ash scattering” theme of this biennial’s exhibition and the global and cultural perspectives it seeks to reflect, FUNERIA’s founder, Maureen Lomasney said, “Cultures and religions that have practiced cremation for hundreds of years or millennia have created rituals around the event related to distributing, burying, or scattering cremated remains. This isn’t true for most of us in the US, however, and when the time comes to perform this task on behalf of our loved ones, we’re at a loss in how to do so in a meaningful, thoughtful way.” She added, “Scattering vessels and objects that can help people graciously disperse ashes—in forests, from a ship at sea, in their own gardens—has always been a category of artwork that we’ve asked artists to address, and this year, a number of artists explored this concept and created work at such an amazing level that I think we were all enthralled when the images for the jurying process first arrived.” Lomasney cited David Finn’s bronze-topped wood “Scattering Staffs” as “one of the most exceptional and beautifully executed” concepts in this genre she’d seen. “Ashes to Art | scattered” is open through November 30. A Closing Reception, from 3-5 PM on Sunday, November 30 includes naming the People’s Choice Award recipient, which carries a $500 prize. The winning work will be based on the most votes received by gallery visitors throughout the exhibition. The closing reception is open to the public by RSVP. For further information, email arthonorslife@funeria.com or call 888 829 1966 (US toll free) or 707 829 1966 (local). Gallery days and hours through November 30 are Wednesday-Saturday, Noon-5 PM, and by appointment. About Ashes to Art® | scattered presented by FUNERIA with the generous support of Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary Ashes to Art® is a biennial competition and exhibition presented by FUNERIA, an arts agency and exhibitions organizer that has been leading the contemporary funerary arts movement since April 2001 when it invited artists worldwide to consider the idea of creating innovative contemporary urns in all media. FUNERIA promotes and sells original contemporary urns, vessels and personal memorial artwork through retail and wholesale channels worldwide. This biennial edition of the event also enjoys the premier sponsorship of Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary <www.hillsidememorial.org>—the most prestigious funeral service provider to Jewish families throughout Southern California and noted as the cemetery for a host of Hollywood’s and the entertainment world’s brightest talents, including Al Jolson, Jack and Mary Benny, Dinah Shore, Nel Carter, Shelley Winters and many others. Ashes to Art | scattered is open through November at FUNERIA’s gallery, 2860 Bowen St. No. 1, Graton, CA 95444. Graton is 65 miles north of San Francisco, served by the Charles M. Schultz Sonoma County Airport.
4th International Funerary Art Exhibition Opens Sept 27-Nov 30 at Art Honors Life® | The Gallery at FUNERIA Ashes to Art® | scattered installations include award-winning work from a British designer, a short film of a Viking funeral by Sonoma County, California artist Rik Olson and 80 original artist-made urns, vessels and reliquaries in all media GRATON, Calif. (Sept 11, 2008) More than 80 original personal memorial artworks by 65 sculptors, potters, woodworkers, gold and metalsmiths, stone carvers, mosaic and glass artists and others working in media as diverse as cut paper and computer-generated 3D forms will be featured during the 4th biennial Ashes to Art | scattered exhibition at Art Honors Life | The Gallery at FUNERIA, September 27-November 30, 2008, 2860 Bowen St. #1, Graton, CA 95444. An artists opening and awards reception is being held September 26, 6-8 PM. Exhibition admission is free. Guests are asked to RSVP for the opening reception at www.funeria.com or by calling 707 829 1966. During the exhibition, the gallery will be open Wednesday through Saturday, Noon-5 PM and by appointment. The unique art objects featured in the exhibition are intended to contain all, or some portion, of an individual’s cremated remains—either permanently for keeping at home, placement in a columbarium niche, burial, or temporarily prior to scattering or other dispersal. Some artworks are designed to be shared by companions. Also featured are a greater number of urns created for pets than in previous exhibitions. It is the first time that this seminal exhibition is opening in Sonoma County since its 2001 debut at San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason Center. Ashes to Art exhibitions have also opened in Philadelphia, and portions have toured to Onishi Gallery in New York’s Chelsea arts district and Le Bourget in Paris. Two special installations at this exhibition include several designs by young British product designer Nadine Jarvis (www.nadinejarvis.com) in her American debut and one poignant short film by Sebastopol, California artist Rik Olson. Olson built a wooden boat for his father’s and brother’s ashes in order to enact a Viking funeral with his family as co-participants in July 2008. Both artists’ imaginative and beautifully executed concepts address the increasingly favored process of ash scattering. More than 40% of survey respondents who are considering cremation for themselves would like their ashes scattered, mostly in water. More than 60% of all California residents, and the populations of most western states, are choosing cremation for themselves and their loved ones. The choice of cremation throughout the US is expected to grow from 32% of all deceased currently, to more than 50% by 2025, and perhaps sooner. Ashes to Art is presented by Northern California-based FUNERIA, a unique arts agency and exhibition organizer that promotes and sells original artist-made urns and personal memorial artwork through wholesale and retail channels worldwide. The Graton installation of the show is also made possible through the generous support of Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary (www.hillsidememorial.org)—the most prestigious Jewish cemetery in Southern California with a rich tradition of serving all Jewish families and particularly those who are among the most well-known and beloved writers, producers and performers in the entertainment industry, as well as respected civil rights and arts advocates, political figures and philanthropists. On January 18, 2007, two weeks before its first Open House, FUNERIA, its artists and clients were featured in The New York Times in an article by Patricia Leigh Brown who cited Art Honors Life as “the nation’s first art gallery dedicated to cremation urns and personal memorial art.” Maureen Lomasney, FUNERIA’s founder and president who organized the first Ashes to Art competition with the help of two friends and many volunteers in 2001 moved to San Francisco from New York in 1987, has been a Sonoma County resident for 19 years, and is a writer, designer, fine arts photographer and the gallery’s director. For further information about the exhibition, opening reception or additional sponsorship opportunities, call 707 829 1966 or email arthonorslife@funeria.com. Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary Sponsors 4th Biennial International Exhibition of New Funerary Art Prestigious L.A. Cemetery Supports Funerary Arts Genre at FUNERIA’s Ashes to Art | Scattered Event LOS ANGELES/GRATON, Calif. (Sept. 2, 2008) – Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary, the most prestigious Jewish cemetery and mortuary in Southern California, announced its premier sponsorship of the Ashes to Art® | scattered 4th international exhibition of funerary art presented by FUNERIA®. The sponsorship underscores Hillside’s commitment to supporting art- and design-conscious families, as well as the funerary arts genre – a commitment which resonates with the mission of the Ashes to Art exhibition, scheduled to take place in Sonoma County Sept. 27 through Nov. 30. “Increasingly, we’re seeing individuals and families making end of life plans who want to be mindful of land use, the shrinking resources of our planet and their carbon footprint, and cremation is an option that not only makes sense for them but provides opportunity for personal expression,” said Mark A. Friedman, Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary’s CEO. “At Hillside, we think it’s increasingly important to support the artistic creation of cremation urns that embody meaningful expression and provide comfort to families – and FUNERIA’s Ashes to Art exhibition is the perfect venue for this.” Ashes to Art | scattered is a juried competition and exhibition that invites artists working in all sculptural media to create innovative functional funerary artworks, including biodegradable containers and vessels, that help family and friends fulfill loved ones’ requests to scatter ashes, and new rituals that expand on early and modern attitudes toward life and the afterlife. The artists work in the broadest range of materials, including clay, metal, glass, fiber, wood, stone and mixed media to create keepsakes and containers for both cremated remains and mementos of a well-lived life. Jurors select the most original and finely crafted artworks for cash awards and special recognition. “More so now than at any other time in history, people around the world are choosing cremation over traditional burial, even among those raised in a religious practice where cremation has not been the norm” explained Maureen Lomasney, president and founder of FUNERIA, LLC. “Ashes to Art exhibitions offer a remarkably diverse range of objects to contain the ashes of loved ones, thanks to artists who are redefining the role and aesthetics of what cremation urns can achieve in honoring a unique life. We’re delighted to have Hillside Memorial Park & Mortuary as the premier sponsor of the exhibition – a fitting partnership between a precedent-setting contemporary art exhibition and a mortuary that has long been known for providing thoughtful options for its community.” The Ashes to Art | scattered 4th international exhibition of funerary art presented by FUNERIA and sponsored by Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary will run Sept. 27 through Nov. 30 at Art Honors Life – The Gallery at FUNERIA in Graton, Sonoma County. In the Southern California area, FUNERIA’s exclusive portfolio of urns, vessels and reliquaries are available through Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary. To learn more, please visit www.HillsideMemorial.org and www.funeria.com. About Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary Founded in 1942, Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary has served as a place of memories for the Los Angeles Jewish community for more than 60 years, committed to providing families with caring and sensitivity. Surrounded by beautiful gardens and lawns, fountains, stunning architecture, artwork and more, its exquisite grounds provide a dramatic yet serene backdrop to memorials and tributes. Vast and serene and quietly famous, Hillside offers families pre-need planning for their loved ones, and expert assistance for all necessary arrangements, including ground spaces, garden estates, mausoleums, wall crypts, family rooms, cemetery services and floral, mortuary/funeral services. A community service of Temple Israel of Hollywood, Hillside is well-versed in Jewish mourning customs and traditions, and also offers community education in the form of activities and events. To learn more about Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary, visit www.HillsideMemorial.org or call 800-576-1994. About FUNERIA, LLC. FUNERIA is a unique arts agency and exhibitions organizer that promotes and sells original contemporary artist-made urns, vessels, reliquaries and personal memorial artworks through retail and wholesale channels worldwide. FUNERIA has been identified as leading the emerging funerary arts movement since presenting its first Ashes to Art exhibition at San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason Center in 2001. In 2007, FUNERIA opened “the nation’s first art gallery dedicated to cremation urns and personal memorial art” in the town of Graton, California (“In Life as in Death, a Personalized Space,” Patricia Leigh Brown, The New York Times, Jan. 2008). To learn more about FUNERIA, please visit www.funeria.com or call 707-829-1966. CONTACT: Record Breaking Response to 4th International Ashes to Art Exhibition Call for Entries Deadline for Artist Entries in Ashes to Art | scattered: August 1 Opening Reception: Friday, September 26, 6-8 p.m.
GRATON, Sonoma County, CA Art Honors Life, the nation’s first art gallery dedicated to original contemporary funerary urns and personal memorial art in all media, is preparing for what may be a deluge of artist entries for the 4th international juried Ashes to Art competition presented by FUNERIA. More than 6,000 Prospectuses were downloaded from the exhibition’s Call for Entries web page in the first weeks following its March announcement. More than 7,000 entry forms have been requested and distributed to date. FUNERIA is an arts agency and exhibitions organizer that opened the Northern California gallery in January 2007, just days after being featured by The New York Times in a Home and Design section article devoted to FUNERIA’s artists, clients, and the increasing numbers of people who are interested in finding an urn for their loved one’s ashes that reflects their own taste in fine craft, contemporary art and modern design. (“In Death as in Life, A Personalized Space”, Patricia Leigh Brown, The New York Times, 1/18/07). The debut of FUNERIA’s Ashes to Art exhibition, held at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center in 2001, has also been credited as a first of its kind to engage artists worldwide with an exclusive focus on funerary urns, vessels, reliquaries and personal memorial art. Funeral trade magazines in the US have identified the exhibitions as leading the emerging funerary art movement. Unique artist-made cremation vessels from more than 38 states and 10 other countries have been featured in three prior Ashes to Art exhibitions that were held at Fort Mason in 2001 and 2003 and at Philadelphia’s ICE BOX at Crane Arts in 2006. Among the hundreds of pieces that FUNERIA has showcased in the past seven years are works by both established and emerging artists, including ceramists Jeffrey Mongrain, Nicholas Kripal, Paul McCoy (Best of Show recipient in 2006), Carol Green, Tim Rowan, and Laura Bruzzese, glass artists William Morris, Ranna McNeil, Rick Strini, Sunny van Zijst, Dutch Schulze, Canadian woodworker Doug Haslam and Tennessee’s Scott DeWaard plus other artists working in all media. Urns have ranged from a dazzling natural pearl encrusted 24 Kt. gold, glass and polymer clay vessel, “Utamaro’s Embrace” from Miami, Florida artist Susanna Sakolsky Stachura, to a somber ceramic “Barque” wrapped in lead and shrouded in gessoed canvas from Jacqueline Trabuc’s studio in Paris, France. The deadline for artist entries for the 4th international exhibition, “Ashes to Art | scattered” is August 1. In addition to seeking urns and vessels in all media, the theme of this biennial asks artists to also consider biodegradable and other objects that will help families and friends assist in the process of scattering ashes in a meaningful, comfortable, and gracious manner, as well as process-oriented contemplative objects such as contemporary prayer wheels, butsudan and reliquaries that can be used to contain all, or a scant portion of cremated remains or other mementos of humans as well as pets and companion animals. While cremation is now chosen for more than 30% of all deceased on average in the US, the cremation rate for twelve states exceeds 50% and accounts for more than 60% of all deceased in Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington State. When a funeral industry survey asked respondents who favor cremation for themselves what they would like done with their remains, 40% said that they would like their ashes scattered—mostly over water. CONTACT: Maureen Lomasney FUNERIA LLC FUNERIA Announces 4th International Competition to Find the Best New Cremation Urns, Vessels and Personal Memorial Art Made by Artists “Ashes to Art | scattered” redefines contemporary funerary arts to include biodegradable containers, vessels to help family and friends fulfill loved ones’ requests to scatter ashes, and new rituals that expand on early and modern attitudes toward life and the afterlife GRATON, CALIF (March 11, 2008) Artists working in all sculptural media are invited to enter “Ashes to Art | scattered”—the fourth international juried competition presented by Northern California-based arts agency, FUNERIA. The exhibition opens with an artists’ and awards reception on September 26, 6-8 pm and runs through November 30, 2008 at Art Honors Life, FUNERIA’s gallery located in a hamlet surrounded by Sonoma County’s noted vineyards. Cash awards include Best of Show ($1000), People’s Choice Award ($500), and others to be determined by the jurors and sponsors. Deadline for entries is August 1, 2008. Jurying is by 35mm slide or digital files on CD/DVD. Jurying fee is $35 for 1-3 artworks plus $5 for each additional artwork. All artwork must be for sale, with 60% of proceeds going to the artist and 40% to FUNERIA. The Prospectus is available to download from www.funeria.com and by sending a business-size SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope, using US stamps only) to FUNERIA, P.O. Box 221, Graton, CA, 95444-0221, USA. Work in all media is eligible, including clay, metal, glass, fiber, wood, stone, mixed media and innovative materials. All work must be original and ultimately useful to keep or disperse the ashes and shell-like particles that remain after cremation for individuals, companions, or pets. Jurors, as in each of the three previous competitions, represent a range of disciplines in the arts, are respected arts professionals, educators, curators and arts advocates, and reflect international perspectives. Jurors in 2008 include Adela Akers, Nadine Jarvis and Sylvia Seventy. Jarvis’s 2006 “Post Mortem” product design work that earned her a 10,000 GBP award from London’s Design Museum and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and caused The Times (UK), to place her on the top of the list of the five artists “most likely to make it big”, will also be represented in the exhibition. For further information and to download the Prospectus visit www.funeria.com or email arthonorslife@funeria.com. About FUNERIA FUNERIA is a unique arts agency and exhibitions organizer that promotes and sells original contemporary artist-made urns, vessels, reliquaries and personal memorial artworks through retail and wholesale channels worldwide. FUNERIA has been identified as leading the emerging funerary arts movement since presenting its first Ashes to Art exhibition at San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason Center in 2001. In 2007, FUNERIA opened “the nation’s first art gallery dedicated to cremation urns and personal memorial art” in the town of Graton, California (“In Life as in Death, a Personalized Space”, Patricia Leigh Brown, The New York Times, 1/18/08). FUNERIA, Ashes to Art and Art Honors Life are registered trademarks of FUNERIA LLC, Graton, CA USA. CONTACT:
Art Honors Life in New Wine Country Gallery GRATON, CA (July 31, 2007) More than 80 original, finely handcrafted funerary urns and vessels by 30 artists will be featured at the opening of Art Honors Life®—the Northern California art gallery that The New York Times celebrated as “the nation’s first” in offering an exclusive collection of artist-made cremation urns and personal memorial artworks (In Death as in Life, A Personalized Space, Patricia Leigh Brown, 1/18/07). A reception for (Bee) Here Now at Art Honors Life is open to the public on Saturday, August 18, from 6-8 PM, 2860 Bowen St. in Graton, CA. The exhibition will be on-going through 2007. Call 707 829 1966, visit funeria.com, or email arthonorslife@funeria.com for information. A previously scheduled exhibition called Scattered, featuring installations of ephemeral work by two international award-winning artists and designers, was postponed until 2008 due to an unanticipated tour opportunity for FUNERIA’s artists as well as the longer lead time required for an ambitious international installation event. Many of the works being featured in the August 18 Sonoma County, California opening were included in Ashes to Art®: Modern Kuyo at Onishi Gallery, June 7-30 in Chelsea.
Ashes to Art®: Modern Kuyo Debuts in New York Gallery June 7-30 Onishi Gallery, Gallery Memoria and FUNERIA are pleased to present Ashes to Art®: Modern Kuyo—the New York debut of a select group of more than 40 original urns, vessels, and memento mori by 28 US and international artists whose work has been featured in FUNERIA’s juried Ashes to Art exhibitions at San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason Center in 2001 and 2003 and Philadelphia in 2006. The biennial international Ashes to Art competitions are recognized as showing the best new work in the emerging genre of contemporary funerary art. FUNERIA® artists and the arts agency’s new Northern California gallery, Art Honors Life, were the subject of a feature story by Patricia Leigh Brown in The New York Times in January and recognized as the nation’s first art gallery dedicated to this unique subject. Ashes to Art®: Modern Kuyo opens June 7–30 at Onishi Gallery, 521 W. 26th St., New York, NY. Opening reception is Thursday, June 7, 6-8 p.m. Urns, vessels and memorial objects selected by FUNERIA for the Chelsea show reflect great diversity in media as well as in their approach to honor life. Superbly crafted wood containers that are intended to hold all or a portion of cremated remains of people or our beloved animals range from stately to whimsical. Among the distinguished ceramists whose work is featured are memento mori by Nicholas Kripal and Jeffrey Mongrain, a masterfully salt-fired urn by Best of Show winning artist Paul McCoy, and People’s Choice winner Jack Thompson’s emblematic painted clay pieces. Other hand thrown and built clay vessels reflect characteristics more closely associated with fine painting, vibrant mineral formations, fissures in the earth’s crust or elegantly simple egg and ovoid shapes in numerous sizes and rich glazes that invite touch. Luster glazes in oily pools on a small footed box that references Byzantine style from an artist in Edinburgh and a cylinder sporting a cluster of silhouetted stainless steel roses from Sheffield convey very different personalities from an earthy hand built and incised clay “Spirit House” with aboriginal markings from New Zealand. Beautifully patinated cast bronzes with names like “Koa”, “Nautilus” and “Fern Keepsake” seem to express equanimity, while fine silver artifacts of cupped hands—intended for use as ash scattering cups—can be mistaken for seed pods or shells until noticing the fine finger and palm prints that define their interiors. Included as well are cire perdue, cast crystal, and blown glass from Washington State, Hawaii and The Netherlands. While the Ashes to Art exhibitions that FUNERIA organizes are redefining the role of cremation urns in western culture, Onishi Gallery and Gallery Memoria are similarly engaged in presenting original artwork and finely crafted objects that are modern interpretations of philosophies associated with honoring life’s transitory nature. In Japanese culture, the practice of remembrance and honoring ancestors is KUYO. The collaboration of all three participants for this exhibition is seen by each of them as a means to convey the universality of our experiences and the importance of honoring those who precede us, and our own lives as well, through the most thoughtful, evocative and beautiful means. For more information, contact Nana Onishi at 212.695.8035 in New York, Maureen Lomasney at 707 829 1966 at FUNERIA in Northern California or visit: www.onishigallery.com and www.funeria.com Onishi Gallery | Gallery Memoria FUNERIA
FUNERIA Opens New Gallery to Serve Growing Funerary Art Market GRATON, Calif., January 16 — FUNERIA LLC, a unique arts agency and organizer of the international juried Ashes to Art exhibitions featuring original artist-made urns, vessels and personal memorial artwork, is opening a retail gallery in the Sonoma County town of Graton. Art Honors Life, which is both FUNERIA’s tagline and the new gallery’s name, opens with a preview on Saturday, January 27, from 1-5 PM at the Atelier One building, 2860 Bowen Street, Graton. More than 50 original urns and vessels from last fall’s 3rd international Ashes to Art exhibition in Philadelphia will be featured. The Philadelphia show marked the east coast debut of the signature event that launched FUNERIA in 2001 with an exhibition of more than 100 original artist-made cremation vessels at San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason Center Firehouse. The 1800 sq. ft. office and Art Honors Life gallery is an hour and 15 minute drive north of San Francisco in west Sonoma County. The area encompasses the Green Valley, Sonoma Coast, Vine Hill and Russian River Valley appellations and is better known for its fine wineries, Zagat-rated restaurants, iconoclastic celebrity musicians and artists going about their daily business, and an occasional horse hitched to a nearby fence than for world class funerary artwork. “It’s ideal”, according to Maureen Lomasney, commenting on both the location of FUNERIA’s new gallery and timing of a business expansion that addresses the growing preference for cremation over traditional burial practices of both people and their pets. FUNERIA is also the subject of a feature story in the January 18 New York Times’ Home and Garden section in an article by Patricia Leigh Brown. Lomasney, who is President and CEO of FUNERIA LLC, introduced FUNERIA and the Art Honors Life concept with the help of friends and an international Call for Artist Entries in Spring 2001 as a first of its kind funerary urn and vessel competition and exhibition. A panel of arts professionals juried slide images submitted by artists from more than 28 states and 8 other countries. Artwork was selected on the strength of its meeting fine art and fine craft criteria but it was also required that urns, vessels and sculptural objects be designed to contain some portion of cremated remains—temporarily prior to scattering, or long term. Industry Surveys Point to an Unabated Increase in the Acceptance of Cremation A 2005 industry survey for CANA (Cremation Association of North America) by Wirthlin Worldwide found that 46% of Americans have said they plan to choose cremation. Of these, 56% said they would purchase an urn and 40% would like their ashes scattered. Another CANA survey, prepared in 2006 by Smith Bucklin, found that 80% of all urns purchased are being kept at home, at least for some period of time prior to scattering, burying in a family plot, or placement in a columbarium niche. While FUNERIA continues to organize Ashes to Art exhibitions, the unique funerary arts agency is also promoting and selling original artist-made urns, vessels and personal memorial artworks through retail and wholesale channels worldwide. Commenting on the choice of locale for the Art Honors Life gallery, Lomasney says “I’ve know the appeal of this corner of the world to visitors since falling in love with San Francisco and the Bay Area on a visit in my early 20s. I moved from New York to San Francisco in 1987 and then to Sonoma County in 1989. Something in the temperate climate, dramatic coastline, and rolling hills not only fills your senses with an appreciation for natural beauty, but frees it to see growth and change in all aspects of life as both logical and meaningful, including an acceptance of its poignancy and inevitable losses. The concept of engaging artists in the task of considering how the end of life cycle could be celebrated and enriched by art that holds special significance while serving a more functional purpose grew naturally here.” A grand opening exhibition for the gallery is planned for August 2007. Lomasney says, “The space still shows plenty of early 20th century character from its prior uses as an apple drying warehouse and for the past 15 years as a martial arts dojo,” adding “It will take awhile to transform it into a world class gallery that respects its bones, showcases a wide range of media and offers an even broader perspective of personal memorial art for visitors. But in the meantime, we’ll be open to everyone who’s looking for a particularly unique and beautiful means of honoring a life they’ve loved.” The “broader perspective” will be evident at the January 28th preview and even moreso at the August opening that will introduce emerging British artist Nadine Jarvis to US collectors. Jarvis’s work in unique ash scattering objects, including a set of 250 pencils made from cremated remains that remain in a specially constructed pencil box with built-in pencil sharpener, recently earned her an emerging artist grant of 10,000 GBP “for her poetic cremation urns and bird feeders” from London’s Design Museum. http://www.designmuseum.org/design/nadine-jarvis. For further information, contact arthonorslife@funeria.com or call 707 829 1966. ### CONTACT:
Sonoma County Museum Features New Funerary Art in Holiday Event and Sale on December 9 Fifty original funerary urns and artworks from 3rd international Ashes to Art® exhibition come to rest in Sonoma County following east coast debut GRATON, Calif., November 29 – In an interesting twist that acknowleges the role of those we love and are thinking of during the holidays, the Sonoma County Museum, 475 Seventh St., Santa Rosa, CA is showcasing a group of 50 original artist-made urns, vessels and personal memorial objects during their annual holiday event and sale. The unique artwork arrived directly from Philadelphia’s 5,000 sq. ft. ICE BOX gallery at Crane Arts. They were selected from among the 130 pieces from 26 states and 6 foreign countries that comprised the east coast debut of Ashes to Art®—an international exhibition that has been leading the emerging genre of unique, contemporary funerary artwork. The exhibition and holiday sale event is free and opens December 9, 11 to 5pm. Ashes to Art® is organized by FUNERIA—an arts agency based in Northern California’s Sonoma County town of Graton. FUNERIA is also in the process of transforming an 1800 sq. ft. space occupied for the past 15 years by a martial arts studio in the Atelier One building, into a fine craft and art gallery. Following the installation at the Sonoma County Museum, several pieces will remain in the museum’s gift shop while the balance will move to FUNERIA’s new gallery in Graton. arthonorslife@funeria, as the gallery will be called, is the first of its kind in focusing primarily on original contemporary funerary art, although the gallery’s concept will expand in future exhibitions to include work that reflects on the art honors life™ theme FUNERIA has been advancing since 2001 with its first exhibition at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center. arthonorslife@funeria is scheduled to open as early as the end of January 2007 at 2860 Bowen St., Graton, CA. For information about the Sonoma County Museum event, visit www.sonomacountymuseum.org. For information about FUNERIA and its Ashes to Art® exhibitions visit www.funeria.com or email arthonorslife@funeria.com
3rd International Ashes to Art Award Winners Paul McCoy’s large clay urn wins Best of Show PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania -- Working artists who are also long-time respected educators took top honors at the east coast debut of the preeminent exhibition of original, contemporary artist-made funerary urns, vessels and personal memorial objects presented by FUNERIA at Philadelphia’s ICE BOX gallery at Crane Arts, October 21-November 3. Best of Show in the 3rd international Ashes to Art® competition went to Baylor University Professor of Art and Ceramist-in-Residence Paul McCoy, for his large bell-shaped stoneware Creation Urn III. Excellence in Clay was awarded to Winthrop University’s Professor of Ceramics Jim Connell, for his Red Green carved and sandblasted lidded jar, while the People’s Choice award based on popular vote throughout the show was won by Jack Thompson, Professor of Fine Art 3D at Moore College of Art and Design. Thompson’s clay Anubis -- jackal headed guide to the underworld in ancient Egyptian lore -- figured prominently in all promotional materials for the exhibition. Of the two additional awards presented, the Jurors’ Award went to Sheffield, England’s Alison Counsell for her stainless steel Bed of Roses, and Excellence in Glass was awarded to Jan-Willem van Zijst and Angela van der Burght of Belgium’s Fenestra Ateliers for their small handblown glass WELTEI. Jurors for the 130 piece exhibition, organized by arts agency FUNERIA, included lead juror Michael W. Monroe, Director of the Bellevue Arts Museum and former chief curator of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, and artist jurors Carol Green and Christiane Michaela Vincent. In Philadelphia to select the award winning pieces prior to the October 21 opening reception were Green, Vincent, and FUNERIA’s arts counsel Adela Akers who also served as lead juror when Ashes to Art® debuted at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center in 2001. For images of the award-winning work, visit www.funeria.com. CONTACT: Linda Shelp | linda@funeria.com | 707 829 1966
Cremation Urns Come to Life in Philadelphia at FUNERIA’s 3rd International Ashes to Art® Exhibition October 21–November 3, 2006 East Coast debut is celebrated with a tailor-made soundtrack GRATON, Calif., September 25 -- One of the grandest new venues for the arts -- the 5,000 sq. ft. ICE BOX at Crane Arts, 1400 No. American Street in Philadelphia’s re-energized Kensington South neighborhood -- is hosting the East Coast debut of an international exhibition that raises an appropriately imposing question: What memorial object will stand in for you when you’re no longer here to speak for yourself? The 3rd international juried Ashes to Art® exhibition and sale of original contemporary artist-made funerary urns, vessels and personal memorial objects promises to offer a range of answers in all media, and in prices from $150 to $6,000. The exhibition opens with an artists and awards reception on Saturday, October 21 from 5-8pm. It closes with a People’s Choice award reception November 3, 5-8pm. Exhibition hours are 11am-6pm, Wednesday-Sunday, October 22-November 2. Admission is $10 for the opening. Other days are free. A color catalog will be available. The majority of 120 artworks selected by a panel of jurors led by distinguished curator, crafts advocate, and museum executive Michael W. Monroe, are intended to contain some portion of cremated remains temporarily or throughout time. Notable exceptions are memento mori by ceramists Jeffrey Mongrain and Nick Kripal from their group installations in Rome, Edinburgh, Cologne and New York City. Mongrain and Kripal were specifically invited to show their work. This is the 3rd international Ashes to Art® juried exhibition organized by FUNERIA®, a uniquely specialized Northern California-based arts agency. The first two were presented in 2001 and 2003 at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center. A soundtrack for an urn show without a single dirge in the mix To mark its first East Coast presentation, Ashes to Art® arrives in Philadelphia with its own soundtrack, mixed by former Rolling Stone writer, author and broadcast journalist Ben Fong-Torres. Fong-Torres is no stranger to memorializing key figures of an era. One of his first tasks at the seminal publication was writing the obituary for Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones in 1969. He’s become an authoritative resource for the task and has written numerous others on rock and music legends since. Due this November is a splashy volume, The Doors on The Doors, featuring interviews Fong-Torres conducted with Jim Morrison in 1971, the year he died, and with his bandmates and family members since. The special three-hour Ashes to Art® soundtrack, being played during the receptions, spans a range that recognizes life’s “ebbs and flows” as Fong-Torres notes, from Al Green’s Take Me to the River and DJ Earworm’s Stairway to Bootleg Heaven mashup of Dolly Parton and The Eurythemics, to Benny Goodman’s Memories of You. The soundtrack will be played during the exhibition under licensing agreements with the appropriate agencies. The playlist is published in the exhibition catalog. There’s a Commonwealth of Fine Craft in the Mid-Atlantic US Among artists representing a total of 26 states and 6 foreign countries are two Philadelphia ceramists, a Fleetwood woodworker and Wilmington bronze sculptor. Michael W. Monroe served as lead juror in selecting artwork without knowing the origin of the work—a “blind” process. Monroe, who is former curator in charge of the Smithsonian American Museum of Art’s Renwick Gallery and now executive director and chief curator of the Bellevue Arts Museum in Washington State, was joined in the task by Illinois potter and metalsmith Carol Green and German-born sculptor Christiane M. Vincent. All three of Philadelphia ceramist Karen Aumann’s “Hunebedden” clay entries were chosen, including a group of five intimately scaled porcelain pieces with celadon glaze that serve as a “family”. Aumann is associate professor of art at Community College of Philadelphia. Lana Heckendorn, an associate artist at The Clay Studio whose functional ceramics embody a sense of flow and movement, created reliquary vessels specifically designed to contain a portion of ashes in one chamber and personal mementoes in another. Fleetword artist Kim Blatt is one of six woodworkers in the exhibition. His masterfully turned and carved box elder burl, redwood burl and coconut palm full size urns, are trimmed with ebony, bloodwood, cocobolo, brass and salt cedar. Wilmington sculptor Sallie Ketcham’s speciality is bronze. She demonstrates an affinity for exquisite representation of the natural world in a “Wildflowers” bronze plaque mounted on stone that will join a patinated bronze “Nautilus” selected for the very first San Francisco Ashes to Art exhibition in 2001, as well as a tiny bronze Nautilus and a “Conch” vessel. Invited artists include Moore College of Art & Design faculty member Jack Thompson and also Nick Kripal, chair of the Crafts Department at Tyler School of Art/Temple University. Thompson’s surreal sculpted forms are inspired by ancient and aboriginal cultures. His carved and painted clay “Anubis” is also serving as an iconic image for the 2006 Ashes to Art® exhibition, appearing in advertising, on invitations and banners. A portion of Kripal’s site-related exhibition “Contemplations on the Spiritual” that has been installed internationally from Glasgow, Rome, and Cologne, to the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City, will appear in this show as well. Apart from his respected and award-winning career as an artist and educator at Tyler School of Art/Temple University, Kripal served as lead juror for the 2003 Ashes to Art competition. He is also one of three partners in Crane Arts, the newly renovated 1905 architectural gem that is providing light-filled studio space to fellow artists while offering welcome exhibition opportunities to others in the soaring ICE BOX exhibition space. Invited professionals in the funeral trade will enjoy early access During the week prior to the official opening, October 15–19, attendees of the nearby 125th convention of the National Funeral Directors Association will be invited to preview the exhibition. As an industry that has been shrouded in mystery and endured scandal among its members since cabinetmakers first added the task of undertaker to their trade, its most forward-thinking members are looking for new opportunities to serve families by becoming event planners of life celebrations more often than providing traditional funeral services. Shifting demographics and cremation rates have forced much of the change. Cremation now represents more than 30% of all dispositions in the US from less than 8% in 1976. In some states cremation is chosen for more than 60% of all deaths, and in some counties by more than 80% of its residents. Pennsylvania’s own history includes having been the site of the first documented “modern and scientific” cremation in North America when Baron De Palm was cremated at a private crematory on the estate of Dr. Francis Julius LeMoyne in Washington, PA. 1876 (from Purified by Fire, A History of Cremation in America by Stephen Prothero, 2001). For further information, visit www.funeria.com, email arthonorslife@funeria.com, call 888.829.1966 (Toll free in the US) or 707.829.1966 (outside the US). About FUNERIA® FUNERIA® is the leading resource of original contemporary and superbly crafted artist-made urns, vessels and personal memorial artworks through retail and wholesale channels worldwide. Contact: FUNERIA and Ashes to Art are registered servicemarks and Art Honors Life is a servicemark of FUNERIA LLC, Graton, CA USA
Haute
Funerary Urns From Artists Worldwide Will be a Hot Ticket in Philly
this Fall 3rd
International Ashes to Art® Competition Jurors Named GRATON, CA—July 14, 2006—One leading craft authority and two additionally qualified artist-jurors will begin reviewing hundreds of images submitted by artists worldwide soon after the August 19 deadline closes for the 3rd international Ashes to Art® competition and exhibition being presented by FUNERIA this fall in Philadelphia, PA. The unique competition and exhibition that has been heralded as offering the best in contemporary funerary art is being held for the first time on the east coast after being presented in 2001 and 2003 at San Francisco’s landmark Fort Mason Center. Selected artworks will be on view and available for sale to the general public beginning with the artists and awards reception on October 21, 2006 in the majestic 5,000 sq. ft. ICE BOX at Crane Arts, 1400 No. American St.—a restored 1905 architectural gem in the historic city’s Kensington South neighborhood. The exhibition runs through November 3. Distinguished curator Michael W. Monroe is selected to lead the jury Ashes to Art’s lead juror, Michael W. Monroe, is a nationally respected figure in craft who served as former curator-in-charge of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington DC from 1986 until 1995. He is currently the chief curator and executive director of the Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, WA. His leadership at that museum since 2004 has earned additional praise from arts professionals, artists and the public in the Pacific Northwest and nationally. Monroe joined the staff of the Renwick as associate curator in 1974. During his tenure, he was invited to organize a collection of American craft by President William Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton to commemorate the Year of American Craft (1993). Monroe was then president of the Peter Joseph Gallery in New York City where he organized exhibitions of leading American studio furniture artists. His next assignment was to serve as the executive director of the American Craft Council, a 30,000 member national organization whose mission is to promote an understanding and appreciation of American craft. He held that position until 1998. In 1995 he was inducted into the American Craft Council's College of Fellows as an Honorary Fellow. In 1996 he received the NICHE Lifetime Achievement Award for Craft and in 2000 the Collectors of Wood Art recognized him with their Lifetime Achievement Award. He has authored numerous books on a wide range of craft. Two artist-jurors join Monroe: German-born sculptor Christiane Michaela Vincent and Illinois-based potter and metalsmith Carol Green. Vincent, who was born in Düsseldorf and studied there, now works in Northern California. She specializes in abstract meditations in mixed media, combining metals with wood, pigments, plaster, resins, and natural elements such as tree branches. She possesses an expansive knowledge of contemporary and 20th century European and American art movements and artists, has studied contemporary classical music extensively which is a source of inspiration for her work, and has matured into an artist who brings a European sensibility and deep philosophical base to original, beautifully conceived and finely crafted work. Her work has been acquired for both corporate and private collections internationally, among them J Winery in Healdsburg, California. Her installed work has also been featured in the sculpture garden at Paradise Ridge Winery, also in Sonoma County. A small selection of recent work can now be seen online. Artist-juror Carol Green is very familiar with the standards and concept of the Ashes to Art competitions as her work was selected by jurors for the 2001 debut exhibition, organized and presented by FUNERIA. One of her signature mica-clay vessels won the Purchase Award during the 2003 event. As FUNERIA has grown into an international arts agency, Green has become one of FUNERIA’s most sought after artists. Her mastery of clay and metal is both widely respected and aligned with contemporary taste for elegant simplicity. Her style typically reflects an Asian aesthetic that offers timeless appeal, yet it is purely original. She received her arts education at the respected Art Institute of Chicago, her Master of Fine Arts/Metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art and also a Master of Fine Arts/Popular Culture from Bowling Green State University. Her work has been acquired for the collections of The Palace Hotel in Beijing, China, Ohio Craft Museum and is in numerous additional corporate and private collections. Among her most popular pieces, exclusive to FUNERIA, are her Zen Spaceship Vessels. In collaboration with sculptor and foundry owner Lynn Hayes, she has also created sublime cast bronze works that are redefining the aesthetic and quality standards associated with personal memorial artworks. Her work is among the more than 50 original designs that comprise the FUNERIA Portfolio, which is available to download @ FUNERIA_Portfolio.pdf. Ashes to Art is the only international art competition and exhibition of its kind. In redefining the style and materials that artists are using to create cremation urns, the exhibition showcases urns and vessels as legitimate art objects that stand on their beauty alone. It is organized by FUNERIA—the preeminent arts agency in an emerging funerary arts movement that promotes and sells original artist-made funerary work through retail and wholesale channels worldwide. For more information about the upcoming Ashes to Art exhibition in Philadelphia, visit FUNERIA’s website. The deadline for artist entries is August 19. Corporate, association and individual sponsorships of private receptions, the exhibition catalog, artist awards and more are also available and posted at http://www.funeria.com/events.html, or email arthonorslife@funeria.com for further information. ### CONTACT: FUNERIA FUNERIA and Ashes to Art are registered servicemarks and Art honors life is a servicemark of FUNERIA LLC, Graton, CA USA. All rights reserved.
3rd International Ashes to Art Call for Artist Entries for October opening in Philadelphia Offers $2,500 Best of Show Award FUNERIA LLC is pleased to announce that the Call for Entries Prospectus for the 3rd international Ashes to Art® competition and exhibition of original artist-made urns, vessels and personal memorial artworks that are intended to contain funerary ashes, either temporarily prior to scattering or permanently, is now available to download from funeria.com. Artwork selected for exhibition will be chosen by a distinguished panel of jurors comprised of artists and art and design professionals after the deadline closes on August 19, 2006. Finalists will be notified on September 1. Ashes to Art® opens to the general public with an Artists' Reception on Saturday, October 21 after a week of previews. It runs through November 3 at the ICE BOX at Crane Arts in Philadelphia PA's Kensington South--a neighborhood noted for renewed vibrancy thanks to an active neighborhood association and an influx of artists who are populating studios in architectural gems such as the handsome brick-faced, poured concrete Crane Arts building that was constructed in 1905. Crane Arts is just two miles from the Pennsylvania Convention Center where the largest US funeral industry association will be conducting its own 125th annual convention October 15-18, 2006. The prized contemporary handcrafted artwork that jurors will be selecting for the Ashes to Art® exhibition is expected to provide a welcome diversion to visitors who will be reminded that artists and guilds dating back to the ancient Egyptians, Etruscans, Celts and other early civilizations were the designated resources for funerary artifacts, vessels and memorial artworks. The first east coast presentation of this unique international art event will showcase the most innovative work being created by both established and emerging artists worldwide in a genre that FUNERIA has pioneered since announcing its first competition in April 2001 for an exhibition held at San Francisco's historic Fort Mason Center later that fall. Increased interest is reflected in higher cash awards Heightened interest in supporting artists who are creating inspired work that celebrates a unique life is also precipitating higher value cash awards. The Best of Show award will earn one artist or design team $2,500. Most awards will be announced at the October 21 reception, but a $1,000 People's Choice Award will be granted at the end of the three-week exhibition after votes submitted by visitors have been tallied. "With so many visitors to previous shows jotting down their opinions in the guest book, we thought it would be fun to give the art- and design-conscious visitors these events attract their own chance to jury work, and to reward artists for creating uniquely appealing work," said Maureen Lomasney who founded FUNERIA in 2000, organized the first Ashes to Art® exhibition with two friends, and now runs the leading international arts agency it has become as its president and CEO. "Having an opportunity to vote for their favorite also engages visitors in what is essentially a personality-rich art exhibition. People are surprised to see such delightful, beautiful and non-funereal artwork in a fine art gallery setting. It's more like seeing artwork that reflects great diversity in contemporary culture and the personality of individuals we know or love...whether those individuals are two-footed, four-legged, furry, finned or feathered." All artists over the age of 18 worldwide who are working in any sculptural media, including glass, clay, metal, fiber and wood, biodegradable, mixed media and new or innovative materials, are eligible to compete in this unique global competition. Entries for its two prior competitions have been received from 38 US states and 10 other countries. FUNERIA Receives First Place "Keeping It Personal" Award from ICFA FUNERIA LLC has been awarded a First Place in the International Cemetery and Funeral Association's 2005 KIP (Keeping It Personal) Awards, recognizing the best in personalization in the cemetery and funeral service profession. Created by the ICFA Personalization Committee, the KIP program honors recipients in four categories. FUNERIA submitted the winning entry in the Innovative Personalized Product Category for Offerings by Tamar Kern for FUNERIA®. Offerings had previously won Kern the Best of Show award in the first international Ashes to Art® competition in 2001. Working with Kern, FUNERIA expanded on the concept, developing distinctive high-end packaging, and is representing Offerings exclusively as personal memorial artwork. Offerings is an exquisite artifact crafted in a collaborative process between the artist and the recipient. All materials and easy instructions are provided in a kit with which one friend or family member can help another create a cast of their cupped hands. After completing the cast and returning it to the artist in the pre-paid shipping box provided, it is used in transforming every detail, including the finest lines and fingerprints, into a 24-gauge fine silver "cup." Offerings is accompanied by a custom-fitted, elegantly simple iron stand and is gift wrapped in a natural wood presentation box tied with ribbon. Typically, adult children are interested in casting their parent’s hands, as well as their own. Doing so gives them an opportunity to create a new family ritual, an heirloom that can be passed down through generations, and a means to comfortably scatter ashes. It can also be used on days of special remembrance for scattering bird seed or flower seeds. The ICFA's 2005 KIP Awards contest drew 39 entries from across North America and abroad. Four marketing and communications professionals from outside the cemetery and funeral service profession performed the judging. One judge commented, "Offerings is a touching and compassionate approach to end-of-life issues--artfully done with beautiful silver impressions of hands." Another judge added, "It is very unique and personal. Something for the family to keep and cherish forever." "The dedication that FUNERIA shows in creating these beautiful sculptures shows its commitment to personalization, to serving the community and to providing caring, meaningful services for families at a time of need," said Julie A. Burn, chair of the ICFA's Personalization Committee. "They are true leaders within our profession and deserving recipients of this prestigious award." The award was presented to Maureen Lomasney for FUNERIA LLC by Ray Frew, ICFA Board President, at the association's 2006 Convention on March 13-16 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The ICFA was founded in 1887 and is the only international trade association representing all segments of the cemetery, funeral and memorialization industry. Its membership is comprised of over 7,400 cemeteries, funeral homes, memorial designers, crematories and related businesses worldwide. Offerings at home (PDF). FUNERIA Arts Advisory Chair Receives Flintridge Foundation Award for Visual Artists In February, Flintridge Foundation announced the recipients of the 2005/2006 Awards for Visual Artists that included FUNERIA's Arts Advisory Chair, much-loved and admired artist and arts educator Adela Akers. Akers was among the five artists from California and five from Oregon/Washington who were each awarded an unrestricted grant of $25,000. The fifth biennial Awards honor California, Oregon and Washington artists working in fine arts and crafts media whose work demonstrates high artistic merit and a distinctive voice for 20 or more years. The Awards recognize artists who have a sustained career in the arts but are not currently nationally renowned. The Foundation presented its first Awards in 1997/1998 and, with this current cycle, has awarded a total of $1.4 million in grants to 56 individual artists. Adela Akers submission was among 863 reviewed by the selection committee. Two separate panels of artists and art professionals selected the recipients. "The Awards acknowledge the profound dignity and value of a life dedicated to creating a meaningful body of work. We are proud to recognize the achievements of these ten artists whose singular visions contribute to the strength and vibrancy of the visual arts on the West Coast," said Armando Gonzalez, Board President, Flintridge Foundation. "We are thrilled that Adela received this much-deserved award. She has inspired us from the earliest days in planning our first Ashes to Art® competition which launched FUNERIA internationally. I know of no other artist who works with greater commitment and professionalism on a daily, full time basis than Adela to create meaningful, contemplative, and utterly beautiful work. We're very proud to have her support, vast body of knowledge, and critical eye focused on our own efforts," said Maureen Lomasney for FUNERIA. Details about Akers' selection for the Flintridge Foundation Award can be seen on the flintridgefoundation.org website. FUNERIA advances the concept that art honors life™ by promoting and selling original, contemporary, and superbly crafted artist- and artisan-made funerary urns and personal memorial artworks in a broad range of styles, sizes, and materials through retail and wholesale channels worldwide. FUNERIA and Ashes to Art are registered servicemarks and Art Honors Life, FUNERIA Portfolio and FUNERIA Handmade are servicemarks and trademarks of FUNERIA LLC, Graton, CA USA |
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GRATON, Sonoma County, CA (September 29, 2008) Harbourne Norris, a California-based artist with Yankee ingenuity has won Best of Show at the 4th biennial “Ashes to Art” exhibition for creating a whimsical functional cremation urn out of turned and carved 3,000 year old Sequoia redwood that is intended to delight a like-minded soul now and through the afterlife. The award earned Norris $1,000 as well as the admiration of guests when he arrived at the festive Friday night, September 26 reception, held north of San Francisco. Additional awards for excellence in their respective media were also announced at the opening of “Ashes to Art® | scattered”—the 4th international juried exhibition of original contemporary funerary urns, vessels, reliquaries and personal memorial art. 