UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Presented by the HUB-Robeson Galleries at Penn State as part of the 20th anniversary celebration for the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, artist Rosemarie Fiore will perform her smoke painting on the HUB-Robeson Lawn starting at 2 p.m. on Sept. 9.
Fiore will be painting on the HUB Lawn with lit, colored smoke. All are welcomed to join the artist and the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity throughout the afternoon to take part in the celebration and festivities.
According to Fiore, she creates her own tools for "a one-of-a-kind expression of pride, making your own mark, and being you." Before or after the performance, audiences can experience her paintings, drawings and tools in HUB Gallery within the HUB-Robeson Center. The exhibition includes selected works from the past 10 years of Fiore's practice.
Fiore is known for converting popular technologies such as lawn mowers, cars, floor polishers, and amusement park rides into painting machines. Fiore not only crafts unique painting machines, but utilizes a technique known as "smoke painting" in which firework color smoke canisters release at differing intervals as she moves the machine across the canvas. The result is a breathtaking, artistic mark-making performance.
In a series of workshops, Fiore worked with Penn State School of Visual Arts students to develop the spirographic and pyrographic tools which she will use in this performance along with tools she has made. The murals will be on display in the HUB-Robeson Center for three years.
Fiore was selected by a jury of students, community members, faculty, and staff from throughout the University. This project is supported by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Penn State Strategic Seed Grant Initiative. Additional support from Penn State Student Affairs, the HUB-Robeson Center, and the Jeffrey A. Conrad Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity.
For more information on this and other exhibitions and events, contact HUB-Robeson Galleries at 814 865-2563, or visit the website at studentaffairs.psu.edu/hub/art-galleries. Keep up to date with HUB-Robeson Galleries by signing up for the Listserv or follow on Instagram.