FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2007

CONTACT: Katie McElwain/ Marketing Coordinator

(802) 447-1571 FAX (802) 442-8305

info@benningtonmsuem.org

June Arts Opening at the Bennington Museum

Bennington’s fourth June Arts festival will open at the Bennington Museum on West Main Street on Friday June 1, from 5-7 PM, and features an exhibition by photographer and software designer Jan Lourie of Arlington. At 6 PM Lourie will speak on her work with computers and photography. The exhibition of her photographs developed from software she has written herself, Fusion Prints: Evolution Revolution, will remain on view at the museum throughout the month.

Lourie, who divides her time between Arlington and New York, has a background in weaving and classical music. Following a long career at IBM, she developed a unique set of software with which she combines architectural images into new artistic compositions. Among the prints she has made are multiple views of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Guggenheim Museum, the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station in combination with other New York structures, as well as images of Daniel Liebeskind’s model for the Ground Zero site combined with the extant World Financial Center.

Lourie is currently working with prints of 3 x 4 feet and larger in size, specially printed in Manchester. Exhibitions of her work have been held at Cooper Union and the Hall of Science in New York, and at Tufts University in Boston. Her fusion prints have been acquired by collectors and museums throughout the country.

Fusion Prints and Lourie's talk are co-sponsored by the Bennington Cultural and Arts Council and the Bennington Museum. Other June Arts events include a reading by two accomplished local writers Friday June 8 at the Stark Hose Gallery on Pleasant Street, and a harpsichord concert at the museum on Sunday, June 10, played on a locally made instrument. On Saturday June 16 Burlington's popular Starline Rhythm Boys return for their third consecutive year to Madison's on Main Street. The group's animated bassist Billy Bratcher is a legend of Bennington's own music scene. A number of other events are currently being planned. The festival will end with a closing party on the last day of the month.

The Bennington Museum is located at 75 Main St. (Route 9) one mile west of the intersection of Routes 7 and 9 in downtown Bennington, Vermont. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. closed Wednesdays. For more information, visit the website at www.benningtonmuseum.org.