Arts Encounters at the Beninis: Next Event

FEATURED ARTISTS for MARCH 2006:

Saturday and Sunday | March 25th & 26th, 2006 | Ten to Six Saturday, One to Six Sunday

Presentations begin promptly at 1:30 pm & 3:30 pm

Leonardo Maniscalchi,
Photographer
Italy

Leonardo Maniscalchi is an artist of visual communication, with a diverse cultural experience, whose professional photography career began in 1980 and who has had since much fame world-wide.

He has collaborated intensely and well with advertising agencies and magazines. He has become recognised as one of the top fashion photographers, giving editorial services and front covers for very prestigious publications such as Amica, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Moda Viva, Photo, Zoom, Playboy photoG and for Conde Nast’s Group, which includes Lei, PerLui, Vanity, Vogue Italia and Vogue Pelle. Particular work has been made with weekly publications of Panorama and L’Espresso. Etc..

Leonardo Maniscalchi is part of the new Renaissance, where creativity and energy create harmony together as a richness of human values and cultures. He has written several books and poetry concerning different techniques in photography. His last work was the interpretation of Michelangelo’s Sistina Chapel, where bodies and figures belonging to the Renaissance and modern period together were able to represent a fusion of the language of universal beauty.

www.LeonardoManiscalchi.com

Katy Nail
Painter
Austin, Texas

My mother is a storyteller extraordinaire and a very fine painter. I was speechless during the early years, leaving her thinking I might be short on wits and talent.... . In fact, our entire clan was telling stories, rolling around laughing and eating endlessly. Looking back now, it occurs to me that I was hopelessly agog and merely staring. It was a good start.

My father told me when I was nineteen that no one in the United States would ever understand me or my work and that I should consider living in Mexico. I did consider it but stayed on, never dreaming he could have known anything.

As it turns out, being understood in the art world hasn't mattered enormously.

What he failed to predict was that some of my paintings would genuinely frighten my clients. Occasionally one will shudder and in a tremulous voice ask, "Is my painting going to look like your work?", and I reassure them that it certainly will not.

And so, the painting version of storytelling as told with these hands and renegade eyes is my abiding passion and can't be forestalled. As my mother so often says when referring to me, "Well, there's just nothing to do about it."

www.KatyNailArt.com

Jim Swift
Television personality, On the Porch
Austin, Texas

Jim Swift is a journalist specializing in feature stories for KXAN-TV News. His "On The Porch" segments air on the station's 10 p.m. newscast.

Swift's work has claimed a number of important awards including two Barbara Jordan Medallions, awarded by the Governor's Committee on People with disabilities. The honor goes to journalists who are sensitive, in their reporting, to the needs of people with disabilities. Over the years, he has captured numerous first place awards in the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters competition. He has also been selected for "Best TV Reporter" and "Best TV Feature Reporter" honors in the critic's and people's choice divisions of the "Austin Chronicle Best of Austin" awards. In addition, he was inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame in 2004 for "outstanding contributions to the arts."

Swift was born in Atlanta, Georgia and moved to Lexington, Kentucky at the age of one and then to Dallas, Texas when he was five. He grew up in Dallas, moving with his family to Georgetown just in time for his senior year in high school.

Kim Miller
Sculptures in Song
Texas

Kim is a 3-D songwriter; her songs are like word sculptures, carved in lush cords and chiseled by her west Texas roots. They are further engraved by years of professional scuba diving around the world, her reverence for nature and regard for her own vulnerability. She also draws inspiration from literature, citing authors as diverse as Gustave Flaubert and Tom Robbins.

Twice chosen "Regional New Folk" winner for the Kerrville Folk Festival, Kim has a reputation for well-honed lyrics, provocative vocals and a passionate performance. More than just poetry and melody, she makes a personal offering. One song and you're on for the ride - front seat, windows down, careening through the panorama of her music for a trip that transports and delivers.

As a teenager, Kim taught herself to play "by ear" on a guitar that her grandfather gave to her. The result, years later, is a style uniquely her own. From delicate open tunings to rhythmic bounce and swing, Kim's delivery ranges from haunting to fiery.

Kim is currently recording her second CD with producer, Cam King. This project follows "Child of the Big Sky," her enduring debut recording, produced by Mitch Watkins.

www.KimMiller.com

Lee Cohen - Saturday Only
Texas

In celebration of the Lee Cohen exhibition opening at the Kirchman Gallery (www.KirchmanGallery.com) Lee Cohen will present slides of her career in advance of her opening reception following Arts Encounters on Saturday night.

In 1986, my husband and I returned to the United States (from Isreal).. It was my good fortune to be accepted as a full time student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, America’s oldest Art Academy. The Academy’s four-year program was excellently designed and managed, and the faculty was made up of well known practicing artists. In the last two years of the curriculum, students worked in their respective areas of interest. They received weekly critiques from teachers such as Will Barnett, Sidney Goodman, Liz Osborne, Peter Paone and Jimmy Luders, and monthly critiques from visiting artists such as Edna Andrade, William Bailey, Yvonne Jacquette, Jane Freilicher, Janet Fish, Irving Petlin and Jack Beal.

Since graduating in May 1990, I have been working daily, first on the landscapes that surrounded me in beautiful Chester County, and now in the big sky country of Texas, where we relocated in November 2000. I am constantly exploring new ways of presenting these magnificent natural views.

My paintings have been exhibited in more than 200-juried shows throughout the country as well as in Canada and Mexico. My work is to be found in numerous private and corporate collections, and in the permanent collections of the George Bush Presidential Library, Arts Council of Brazos Valley of Texas, the Blaffer Gallery of University of Houston, Stark Gallery, Texas A & M University, Woodmere Museum, Berman Museum, and the State Museum of Pennsylvania.

Additional speakers and information will be available throughout the day.
For further information, visit www.Benini.com or call 830-868-5244.
The events are free of charge and open to all.

FEATURED SPEAKERS ARCHIVES PRESS AND MEDIA PHOTO GALLERY VISITING LINKS COMMENTS	FEATURED ARTISTS for MARCH 2006: Saturday and Sunday \| March 25th & 26th, 2006 \| Ten to Six Saturday, One to Six Sunday Presentations begin promptly at 1:30 pm & 3:30 pm

	Leonardo Maniscalchi, Photographer Italy Leonardo Maniscalchi is an artist of visual communication, with a diverse cultural experience, whose professional photography career began in 1980 and who has had since much fame world-wide. He has collaborated intensely and well with advertising agencies and magazines. He has become recognised as one of the top fashion photographers, giving editorial services and front covers for very prestigious publications such as Amica, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Moda Viva, Photo, Zoom, Playboy photoG and for Conde Nast’s Group, which includes Lei, PerLui, Vanity, Vogue Italia and Vogue Pelle. Particular work has been made with weekly publications of Panorama and L’Espresso. Etc.. Leonardo Maniscalchi is part of the new Renaissance, where creativity and energy create harmony together as a richness of human values and cultures. He has written several books and poetry concerning different techniques in photography. His last work was the interpretation of Michelangelo’s Sistina Chapel, where bodies and figures belonging to the Renaissance and modern period together were able to represent a fusion of the language of universal beauty. www.LeonardoManiscalchi.com

	Katy Nail Painter Austin, Texas My mother is a storyteller extraordinaire and a very fine painter. I was speechless during the early years, leaving her thinking I might be short on wits and talent.... . In fact, our entire clan was telling stories, rolling around laughing and eating endlessly. Looking back now, it occurs to me that I was hopelessly agog and merely staring. It was a good start. My father told me when I was nineteen that no one in the United States would ever understand me or my work and that I should consider living in Mexico. I did consider it but stayed on, never dreaming he could have known anything. As it turns out, being understood in the art world hasn't mattered enormously. What he failed to predict was that some of my paintings would genuinely frighten my clients. Occasionally one will shudder and in a tremulous voice ask, "Is my painting going to look like your work?", and I reassure them that it certainly will not. And so, the painting version of storytelling as told with these hands and renegade eyes is my abiding passion and can't be forestalled. As my mother so often says when referring to me, "Well, there's just nothing to do about it." www.KatyNailArt.com

	Jim Swift Television personality, On the Porch Austin, Texas Jim Swift is a journalist specializing in feature stories for KXAN-TV News. His "On The Porch" segments air on the station's 10 p.m. newscast. Swift's work has claimed a number of important awards including two Barbara Jordan Medallions, awarded by the Governor's Committee on People with disabilities. The honor goes to journalists who are sensitive, in their reporting, to the needs of people with disabilities. Over the years, he has captured numerous first place awards in the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters competition. He has also been selected for "Best TV Reporter" and "Best TV Feature Reporter" honors in the critic's and people's choice divisions of the "Austin Chronicle Best of Austin" awards. In addition, he was inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame in 2004 for "outstanding contributions to the arts." Swift was born in Atlanta, Georgia and moved to Lexington, Kentucky at the age of one and then to Dallas, Texas when he was five. He grew up in Dallas, moving with his family to Georgetown just in time for his senior year in high school.

	Kim Miller Sculptures in Song Texas Kim is a 3-D songwriter; her songs are like word sculptures, carved in lush cords and chiseled by her west Texas roots. They are further engraved by years of professional scuba diving around the world, her reverence for nature and regard for her own vulnerability. She also draws inspiration from literature, citing authors as diverse as Gustave Flaubert and Tom Robbins. Twice chosen "Regional New Folk" winner for the Kerrville Folk Festival, Kim has a reputation for well-honed lyrics, provocative vocals and a passionate performance. More than just poetry and melody, she makes a personal offering. One song and you're on for the ride - front seat, windows down, careening through the panorama of her music for a trip that transports and delivers. As a teenager, Kim taught herself to play "by ear" on a guitar that her grandfather gave to her. The result, years later, is a style uniquely her own. From delicate open tunings to rhythmic bounce and swing, Kim's delivery ranges from haunting to fiery. Kim is currently recording her second CD with producer, Cam King. This project follows "Child of the Big Sky," her enduring debut recording, produced by Mitch Watkins. www.KimMiller.com
	Lee Cohen - Saturday Only Texas In celebration of the Lee Cohen exhibition opening at the Kirchman Gallery (www.KirchmanGallery.com) Lee Cohen will present slides of her career in advance of her opening reception following Arts Encounters on Saturday night. In 1986, my husband and I returned to the United States (from Isreal).. It was my good fortune to be accepted as a full time student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, America’s oldest Art Academy. The Academy’s four-year program was excellently designed and managed, and the faculty was made up of well known practicing artists. In the last two years of the curriculum, students worked in their respective areas of interest. They received weekly critiques from teachers such as Will Barnett, Sidney Goodman, Liz Osborne, Peter Paone and Jimmy Luders, and monthly critiques from visiting artists such as Edna Andrade, William Bailey, Yvonne Jacquette, Jane Freilicher, Janet Fish, Irving Petlin and Jack Beal. Since graduating in May 1990, I have been working daily, first on the landscapes that surrounded me in beautiful Chester County, and now in the big sky country of Texas, where we relocated in November 2000. I am constantly exploring new ways of presenting these magnificent natural views. My paintings have been exhibited in more than 200-juried shows throughout the country as well as in Canada and Mexico. My work is to be found in numerous private and corporate collections, and in the permanent collections of the George Bush Presidential Library, Arts Council of Brazos Valley of Texas, the Blaffer Gallery of University of Houston, Stark Gallery, Texas A & M University, Woodmere Museum, Berman Museum, and the State Museum of Pennsylvania.
Additional speakers and information will be available throughout the day. For further information, visit www.Benini.com or call 830-868-5244. The events are free of charge and open to all.