Press Release for Saori Bridges of Elm Park Community Art Installation

Wednesday, August 25th-Sunday, August 29th, 2010

The Saori Bridges of Elm Park is a Community Peace Installation in Elm Park, Worcester, MA, USA. Nothing like this has ever been done in Worcester before. The installation will consist of 66 banners, hand-woven by Saori freestyle weavers who live locally, across the 50 states, and around the world (namely Japan and Canada). The banners will be draped over these two iconic bridges of Worcester by Saori artist Mihoko Wakabayashi. The event marks the 25th anniversary of the bridges’ restoration. The banners will go up the morning of August 25th and stay on display until the evening of August 29th.  Park visitors can view and even touch the work from dawn to dusk daily, enjoying it from a distance or by walking on the bridges. The reflection of the banners in Elm Park Pond will be an integral part of the total effect.

After the installation, Saori Worcester plans to secure homes for all Banners by giving them to any individual, group, business, and organizational Sponsors who make a tax-deductible gift to the SAORI Scholarship Fund, to be managed by Arts Worcester. These scholarships will provide tuition for Saori Freestyle hand-weaving training to low-income children and their families who are mostly within walking distance of Saori Worcester’s inner-city studio. Saori Worcester will donate materials for all scholarship students.

The labor, materials, and cost of shipping of the banners to Worcester are all being donated by Saori weavers. Volunteers will also provide round-the-clock monitoring of the installation to prevent mischief or vandalism. Erb Photography ( http://erbphoto.com) is the official photographer for this installation. The installation aims to draw further attention to the August-October Art in the Park sculpture installation throughout Elm Park.
For more information, visit http://saoriworcester.com/elmparkbridges.htm

To Volunteer for a Team Shift monitoring the installation, visit http://saoriworcester.com/contact.htm
To Sponsor a Banner, call 508-757-4646 or email mihoko@saoriworcester.com

Presented by Saori Worcester Freestyle Weaving Studio, 18 Winslow St., Worcester, MA 01609