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PRESS RELEASE

January 19, 2006


43 Year Venice resident,  Artist/Activist Emily Winters

Celebrates her 70th birthday with a  50 Year Retrospective (1956 -2006) at 

Social Public Art Resource Center (SPARC)

Saturday, February 4th Opening 6pm - 9pm – Exhibit Open thru March 4th in Venice

The 50 year retrospective is composed of Emily Winters student years at the Chicago Art Institute, her move to Venice, images of her life and experiences, such as eye surgeries and camping at Joshua Tree National Monument with the Free Venice Astronomy Club, graphics for the Free Venice Beachhead community paper, murals and a broad spectrum of drawings and paintings of figures, friends, landscapes from 1956 to current work in 2006. This exhibition kicks off the Social, Public Art Resource Center ’s “SPARC’s” 30th anniversary celebration. SPARC is located at 685 North Venice Boulevard , Venice , California . SPARC gallery hours are Monday thru Thursday, 10 am to 4 pm , Friday 10 am - 8 pm , and Saturday 1pm - 5 pm. Phone SPARC at (310) 822-9560 x15 or visit their website at www.sparcmurals.org.

            Emily Winters, a graduate of the Chicago Art Institute majoring in figure drawing and painting, moved to Venice in 1963. She raised two daughters while working in commercial art as a billboard painter for record companies and then outdoor advertising.  Winters was the first woman painter hired by Foster and Kleiser. She was a union activist in Local 831, elected to the executive board and served as shop steward, television graphic art and animation, and later taught at Rustic Canyon and Santa Monica College Art and Entertainment Technology School .  

Winters has also designed and painted several murals, two in Venice, the “Jaya” mural near the Venice Canals, on the corner of Dell Street and South Venice Boulevard, and along the Venice Beach Boardwalk, “Endangered Species” at 801 Ocean Front Walk and Park Avenue. These murals were part of the Neighborhood Pride Program through “SPARC” Social Public Art Resource Center and the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. 

Winters founded and chairs the Venice Arts Council. Some of her work can be seen on line at: www.veniceartscouncil.org. She served on the Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council as 5th District representative, planning committee for the annual Jazz at Palms Court fund raiser for the Venice Community Housing Corporation, the panel to select muralists for the Neighborhood Pride Mural Project, an avid international folk dancer who serves as the publicity chair for the Westwood Co-operative Folk Dancers.                       
 
Photos available upon request.   

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