Funeria (tm) :
a press release and invitation
Maureen Lomasney
Design Director
tel 707.829.1966
fax 707.829.1983
email: info@funeria.com
http://www.funeria.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FUNERIA ANNOUNCES CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR
ASHES TO ART—THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL
JURIED EXHIBITION OF URNS AND VESSELS FOR
FUNERARY ASHES
GRATON, CALIF (MAY 18, 2002) Artists working
in all media including clay, metal, glass, fiber, wood,
stone, mixed media and innovative materials are
invited to enter the second Ashes to Art—a
precedent-setting international, juried exhibition of
fine art and fine craft urns, vessels, reliquaries and
other sculptural artwork for keeping, transporting,
or dispersing funerary ashes. The exhibition and sale
opens with a preview reception on January 30 and
runs through February 2, 2003 at the Fort Mason
Center Conference Center in San Francisco, CA,
USA.
All work must be original and ultimately useful to
keep, transport, or disperse the ashes and shell-like
particles that remain after cremation. Artwork
created may be suitable for individuals, companions,
or pets. Cash and other awards include Best of
Show ($500), Purchase Award, plus others to be
determined by the jury. Deadline for entries is
October 4, 2002. Jurying is by 35mm slide entries
only. The entry fee of $25 US for 1-3 slides plus $5
for each additional slide (6 slides maximum) must
accompany the entry form and slides. All work must
be available for sale. Commission on sales is 40%.
The full Prospectus will be available to download
from the Funeria website (http://www.funeria.com)
on June 1, 2002. The Prospectus is also available by
sending a business-size SASE (self-addressed
stamped envelope) to Ashes to Art, P.O. Box 221,
Graton, CA, 95444-0221, USA.
The jury of three noted art professionals will be
announced with the Prospectus on June 1. Award
recipients will be announced at the preview
reception, January 30, 2003, in San Francisco.
(The balance of this press release is also available
online at http://www.funeria.com/news_press.html)
A 'MIND-BOGGLING' RANGE OF WORK
The launch of the first Ashes to Art exhibition
in 2001 featured a range of work that has been
described by Boston Globe art writer Christine
Temin, and other observers, as “mind-boggling,”
(Boston Globe, March 28, Ashes to Art, Life at
Home section). It included more than 100 works
representing nearly 80 artists from 28 states
and 7 foreign countries. Most of the artwork
can now be seen in the Gallery pages on the
Funeria website and many pieces are available
for sale.
Artwork being exhibited online includes Chris
Rizzo’s Jetsonesque machined aluminum and
steel rocketships, Jeffrey Jon Gluck’s rammed
earth reliquaries, Ranna McNeil’s delicate cast
glass vessels, and Susanna Stachura Sakolsky’s
23 kt. gold and pearl encrusted “Utamaro’s
Embrace.” Michael Creed’s 21” tall cigar urn
doubles as a humidor for cigar storage and is
among several pieces that sold at the first
show but can be special ordered.
LARGER EXHIBIT SPACE, EXPANDED PURPOSE
The second international Ashes to Art exhibition
is moving to the larger Conference Center in the
Landmark Building at Fort Mason Center that also
houses the SFMOMA Rental Gallery, the Museum of
Craft & Folk Art, and Greens—one of the Bay area’s
most popular restaurants. Fort Mason Center is
easily accessible by public and private transport. A
new feature being added to the mix of art and
function that the show reflects is the introduction
of a neighboring information and exhibit area. The
Resources area is planned to provide visitors with
information on quality of long-life issues ranging
from adaptive architecture and design solutions to
long term care subjects such as intentional
community options, insurance programs, and trust
and estate planning. Interested exhibitors, potential
sponsors and participants are invited to contact
Funeria for details.
CREMATION STATISTICS INSPIRED CONCEPT
The idea of creating a new public venue for fine art
funerary urns grew from a 1997 San Francisco
Chronicle article about the significant increase in
people choosing cremation over earth burial.
Maureen Lomasney, the artist who founded Funeria
and produced the first exhibition with the help of
friends and fellow artists, was intrigued by the
statistics she read and “wondered what people
were doing with the ashes and whether artists were
creating work that was specifically intended to keep
or scatter ashes,” adding that in researching the
subject she found many resources for purchasing
“manufactured urns that were generally devoid of
personality,” but that none of them looked like
anything she or her friends would want for
themselves or their loved ones.
Unlike the U.S., cremation has been the long-
standing primary choice of disposition in several
Eastern and Western cultures (70% on average
choose cremation in Britain, Sweden and Switzerland
with a nearly 99% rate in Japan). Meanwhile,
increasing concerns about land use, funeral costs,
and a population that may spend its youth in one
place and its older years much further away,
suggest that the rate of deaths resulting in
cremation will double in 25 years in the U.S.,
rising from about 26% in 2000 to nearly 50% of
the population in 2025, according to the
Cremation Association of North America
(http://www.cremationassociation.org).
Increasing safeguards for consumers and
oversight of cremation services providers by
governmental and other agencies will contribute
to its growing acceptance as well.
ARTISTS HOLD THE KEY
By providing visually appealing environments in which
death is the subject but honoring life through art is
the effect, Ashes to Art exhibitions are introducing
new standards for personal memorial art—bringing
contemporary fine art and fine craft qualities and
connoisseurship to an area characterized by
traditional manufactured products available through
the funeral industry. The result for artists is to
broaden their opportunities to innovate, create and
sell work they may never have considered before,
and to use materials and styles that are now being
regarded as valid forms of containers for ashes.
Among collectors and others who enjoy art in their
everyday surroundings, Ashes to Art exhibitions
create an inviting, non-funerial gallery environment
where they’ll see work that is not only beautiful on
its own but might also stand in for them, or
someone they love, when they can’t speak for
themselves. According to Lomasney, “our goal is to
advance a concept that while art honors life, it also
helps us heal. It’s a means of introspection, a focal
point for remembering someone we love, and
ultimately, we hope, helps us to consciously accept
the undeniable nature, logic, and beauty of our own
mortality.”
ABOUT FUNERIA™
“Ashes to Art” is presented by Funeria—an
exhibitions and online art venue and bridge between
those who create funerary art, specifically urns and
vessels, and those who seek art as a means to
honor a beautiful life. Funeria is an outgrowth of
Tannery Creek Press—a publishing company since
1992 whose primary focus has been to help
individuals find the words and means to honor their
own lives, or of those they love. Tannery Creek
Press is also noted for incorporating a uniquely
inviting style and fine handcraftwork in all design
details.Titles in print include “My Life—Truths,
Tales, Memories, and Dreams”–a way to write your
life story, and “From Here to There & Back Again”–
a travel writer’s tool kit.
Call 707.829.1966 for more information or visit
www.funeria.com
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