This just in from Juliana Francis, new mom and awesome artist:

Patron Saint Dolls

PATRON SAINT

An experiment with dolls made out of napkins and junk

Opening: Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Closing: Sunday, June 28, 2009

Performances take place at chashama’s 266 West 37th Street Window
Performance Space (between 7th and 8th Avenues)
Noon – 2 PM, weekdays through June 27th. On Sunday, June 28th, the
final performance will run from Noon – 5 PM.

DIRECTIONS
A/C/E/1/2/3 Trains to 34th Street
N/R/Q/W/7 to Times Square
M16, M34 Bus to 8th Avenue – M10/M20 Bus to 36th Street

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

DO YOU NEED A PATRON SAINT? I will make you one!

I am a doll maker and a performer. From June 16th – June 28th, I will install myself in the chashama gallery window at 266 West 37th Street weekdays noon – 2 PM, and I will build the first 50 SAINTS people tell me they need.

For the purposes of this exhibit, a Saint can be a preexisting Saint of any denomination, or it can be a Saint that does not yet exist, but perhaps should exist, i.e. “the Patron Saint of a New Job,” “The Patron Saint of Painless Dentistry” or “My Really Great Next Door Neighbor.”

To date, I have received 30 Saint requests from fliers and online bulletin boards. The requests run the gamut, from Saint Joan of Arc and Saint Francis of Assisi to “The Patron Saint of a Broken Heart” and “The Patron Saint of Shut the F**k Up and Be Where You’re Supposed to Be.”

All Saints will be made out of Marcal paper napkins and bits of candy wrappers, salvaged embroidery thread, etcetera – i.e.: stuff that isn’t worth much at all, if anything.

On the closing day of the exhibit, SUNDAY JUNE 28th, between Street, between NOON and 5 PM, anyone who requested a Saint is invited to stop by the gallery at 266 West 37th Street to pick up their Saint, free of charge. And if I get it together, there will also be cookies and juice that day. (I’m a new Mom though, so I might not get that together!)

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Juliana Francis-Kelly is an OBIE Award winning theater artist and doll maker whose work has been produced and published in the US, Europe and Asia. She has been making dolls out of cloth, paper, and found objects since she was seven-years-old. Her dolls have turned up in theater, film, animations, on several wedding cakes, and one lives in the American Museum of Natural History’s educational wing.

PATRON SAINT is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Made possible in part by chashama.