Posted by Rick Bryant on October 1, 2009 at 2:56pm
This comes from my friend Aileen Lampman, who I know because she exhibits at my show, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Aileen was contacted by the organizers of the G-20 Summit--just held in Pittsburgh, about including her work as a presentation gift for those attending the summit. Aileen says it better than I could, so here by the magic of cut and paste is the story from Aileen: In early September my good friend and liaison to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Susan Callahan, informed me that a few sample designs of my necklaces were being requested. These samples would be a gift for someone connected to the G-20 Summit that was coming to Pittsburgh at the end of September . I submitted a few different designs and my leaf and tendril design was selected and I initially was asked to make only 2 of these necklaces. A few days later I was asked to make a total of 18 leaf and tendril necklaces and they needed to be completed by Sept. 18th. On the Monday of the G-20 I was again asked to make an additional 5 necklaces. Whew...this all required a lot of rushing on my part! I had suggested adding matching earrings to the "gift" but was informed that earrings may not be accepted a suitable accessory for the variety of cultures and countries involved in the G-20. Every detail, down to the color of the boxes, was considered. They all had to be the same color as not to offend anyone who belongs to a "caste" society- different colors could carry different meanings and if one person got a pink box and the other a green box it could cause trouble! Okay, great point and something I never would have considered. Still I did not know who these were going to and I was asked to keep this all very, very quite - only told my mother, husband and a few close, trusted friends about it. On Wednesday, September 23rd I was asked to go to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts for an interview and a few photos. No big deal, I figured, just something for their archives. I arrive to find something that looked a lot like a press conference! Still scratching my head, but beginning to think this must be pretty big, I see the mayor of Pittsburgh and other city officials walking into the room, along with all of the Pittsburgh media. Okay, this is pretty big! During the press conference I am made aware that there are 3 levels of gift baskets being given, all filled with Pittsburgh artist's work as well as other "Pittsburgh" gifts. Level one baskets are for the heads of state, the next for their V.Ps, and the third level is for the sherpas (these are the personal assistants to the heads of state). My necklaces will be part of the gift boxes being given to the heads of state and their spouses- my necklace intended for the female spouses. Germany and Argentina have female heads of state so therefore these women will get the necklace as their gift. After the press conference I met Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and was interviewed by the Pittsburgh press. I'm still kind of in a state of shock. It is all tremendously flattering and I am speechless. Check out Aileen's work at: http://aijewelry.bigcartel.com
Comments
Any chance you can get the information on what other artists were included in this?