INC NEWS - Georges Rousse art project - downtown 9/4 - 9/26

[Caleb Southern]

Please pass this on to your neighborhood listservs.

George Rousse art project
Downtown Durham
Sept 4-26

For more info, visit:
www.rousseprojectdurham.com

***

Durham aglow over mystery art project
Ellen Sung, Staff Writer: News & Observer

DURHAM - French artist Georges Rousse arrives today to begin work on a
monthlong art project in the Bull City's revitalizing downtown.

Organizers have only the faintest hint of what Rousse is planning for four
historic buildings in Durham. But he's known for installations that fool the
eye, making it appear from a specific vantage point as if a giant red circle
has materialized in the room, for example, or that text is hovering in the
space.

"This is all an unbelievable work in progress. We still haven't gotten any
sketches," said Frank Konhaus, a photography collector who helped lure
Rousse to Durham. "We're trying to organize people around a complete act of
faith."

The mystery hasn't kept a flood of people from supporting the project, which
uses no tax money or grants. In recent weeks, Konhaus and his wife, Ellen
Cassilly, a Durham architect, reached their fundraising goal of $25,000 for
the main art project.

To top it off, Alliance Architecture of downtown Durham announced it would
give $10,000 to allow local filmmakers to create a documentary about the
project. The firm's principals, John Warasila and Vandana Dake, had already
written checks and offered Rousse and his wife a downtown apartment during
the project.

Meanwhile, the list of volunteers -- originally planned to be 100 -- has
topped 200. Local students will paint after school.

Konhaus said he knows just two things about Rousse's plans.

First, Rousse asked for drywall for the Liberty Warehouse, near the Durham
Bulls Athletic Park.

Second, at the Chesterfield building, Rousse plans to paint a whole room
black and have geometric forms inside it. But the building owners have
concerns about protecting their historic glazed brick, Konhaus said. Maybe
"team Rousse" will move the idea to a different building, or put plastic
over the brick, or find some other way to turn the room black without
painting directly on the walls.

Staff writer Ellen Sung can be reached at 829-4565 or
esung at newsobserver.com.

***

$10K donated for film project 
By Susan Broili : The Herald-Sun
sbroili at heraldsun.com
Sep 2, 2006 : 9:00 pm ET 

DURHAM -- Durham filmmakers Kenny Dalsheimer and Penelope Maunsell's
documentary film project on French artist Georges Rousse just got a $10,000
boost. 

The donation was from Alliance Architecture and Rigsbee Partners principals
John Warasila, Vandana Dake and Peter Warasila. 

The money will go toward the production of the documentary that will follow
Rousse's construction this month of installations in four downtown buildings
slated for renovation. They are the Baldwin Building, Liberty Tobacco
Warehouse, Bargain Furniture and Chesterfield Building in the Liggett Myers
Tobacco complex. 

Rousse arrives Sunday to begin his three-week residency in Durham. 

"We are, of course, ecstatic," Dalsheimer said of the funding. "It just
opens up possibilities to do a better job." 

The filmmakers had planned to do whatever they could with any funding they
could scrape together because they believe so much in the project, they
said. 

"We feel like we have to tell this story," Dalsheimer said. 

Part of the story is the grassroots effort to make the community art project
happen through volunteers as well as contributions. 

"This is a project that has taken on an energy of its own without any
institutional or arts organization sponsorship or funding from foundations,
grants or local government," Dalsheimer said. 

The filmmakers also wanted a record of Rousse's art because his
installations are temporary. 

"We'll be able to leave a legacy of something marvelous that happened in
Durham," Maunsell said. 

Fundraising is currently under way to cover post-production costs of the
documentary. The filmmakers hope to complete the project in time to submit
the film to the Durham-based Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in April
2007, they said.