Painted Rocks finished!

Mayor Ann Thane

August 24, 2011

Sculptor Alice Manzi

August 24, 2011

Hello to all from the site of NY State's newest tourist attraction!

We completed color and sealing on Wed August 24.

Mayor Thane was on hand and Cong. Paul Tonko had been painting a figure just the day before!

We had a dream team of creative people who made it happen in the time we were allotted.

GRAND OPENING AND UNVEILING WILL TAKE PLACE OCT 1 FROM 4 - 8 pm.

I hope everyone who has followed us and ALL who were involved will attend and be recognized.

Designing and creating the Painted Rocks has been a long awaited dream come true for me and I am very thankful for all the help that came from every direction.

People came on foot, by car, by boat and by bicycle to see what was happening.  Please do see the YouTube video at pedestrian bridge Amsterdam to get an idea of the overall plans for the full project.

I will post again soon with stories and pictures.  

..WMHT TV will do some pieces on us, possibly a full half hour if we are lucky.

.. A local bike tour company will make the Painted Rocks its destination for all Mohawk Valley bike tours.

..Tee shirt production is underway.

..I have been invited to speak at a local historical society about the project.

..I have been invited to do an arts in education workshop at a local school.

More very soon!

Sincerely,

Alice

Record Time!

Dear Friends,
     Thursday we completed work on the Painted Rocks of Amsterdam. !!!!!
Now on to color and finish.  Please do stop down to the Park before we are gone from there.  We so appreciate the help of Shotcrete of Amsterdam, Adirondack Studios artists, Hon. Paul Tonko- who worked on the project, and Mayor Ann Thane, who has supported us in everything.  Watch for the WMHT piece in the Fall.  More to come- unveiling,etc.

More soon,

Alice

Rocks nearing completion

Hi to all,

     It is hard to believe what we have done from last tuesday until this.  Here are two pictures (or three).

Please keep the faith!  We will finish soon.  Come and visit!  Call first  260-7484.

Alice

Onsite with Painted Rocks Day 1

Hello All,
     We are finally in Riverlink Park beginning to do the onsite work necessary to complete the piece.  I have photos from yesterday, Aug. 8. CFI, the General Contractor on the job has done great work to get the location ready.  It can be seen from the bridge as you go over as well.  There is a foundation pad as well as a retaining wall, ready to take our 36 running feet of cages, set to be delivered today. Tuesday.

     From now on, weather permitting, our Adirondack Studios team will be onsite at work.  Please call first if you are thinking of coming.  Times may vary with the weather and cement deliveries. I believe cement work can be completed this week and possibly paint and finish next week.  We have an all star team assembled for both. I am sorry we cannot determine when unveiling ceremony will be.  Some relies on final landscaping, lighting, sidewalks, etc.

It is getting exciting down there!! GOOD LUCK TO US!
Call my cell at 260-7484
We have still and video cameras ready!!

Thanks,

Alice

Painted Rocks Cages Finished!

Hello All-

     On Friday July 1 we completed work on the steel mesh covering the structure that has been built for the Painted Rocks re-creation.  Joel Lilley and myself were at work for two grueling weeks and our hands are all cut up from the wire mesh (lath).  Notice our torn apart gloves in the video.

     I heard today from the architect, Saratoga Associates, that the foundation and retaining wall are ready for our installation.  They are doing final grading at Riverlink Park right now.

     If anyone can send a picture or two of the park this week, I will post it to the blog right away so people can see it.  Our blog is being followed by people from as far away as Atlanta.

More soon!
Alice

Rock Cages being moved, forklift stuck in mud!

Rufus Grider Painted Rocks-copyright Manzi 1996

WELL, it seemed we needed a little humor yesterday and so we asked to have the two

sections of cage which have not been covered moved into place near our work station

outside of Adirondack Studios in Argyle, where all preparatory work has been done on

the project.  The three minute video shows what fun we had when the forklift got stuck in

the mud.  Actually I have to apologize because I was so shaken by the attempt to rock the forklift with cage suspended out of the rut, I turned off the camera for awhile. Stars of yesterday's video are Max and Kevin, movers extraordinaire, with Max at the wheel and Tyler Needham lending a hand.  Included is a little footage of me cutting and shaping the metal lath that will hold the concrete.  Joel is on camera.  We have discovered that Joel has a real feeling for this sort of thing! In his spare time he is working side by side with me applying the lath.

Sorry, ...it seems there is a problem uploading my video.  You can go to 

http://gallery.me.com/manzi/100049

This is my mobile me account.

I will continue to try to upload.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Alice

I DO HOPE that those of you who are following the project can see the relationship of the cages to the original rock and model.  I will soon have time to post more info, and I hope to be more clear about where we are going.  

PS VERY INTERESTING;  I went to the Rufus Grider exhibit at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie Sunday and was able to see one of the five (known) existing watercolors the artist did of the Painted Rocks of Amsterdam.  This version is huge in comparison to the one in his notebooks which I am using for the images- possibly 20 by 30 inches.  It is very vibrant and shows some of the Native people carrying bows and arrows. I think you would all enjoy seeing some of Grider's work- all on the subject of the Mohawk Valley.

So....do visit the Arkell Museum, just off the Thruway at Exit 29.  Also check out the website of Adirondack Studios at www.adkstudios.com.  Some very out of the box stuff which has been installed all over the world.

  

Painted Rocks site being prepared!!

Here is a short video showing my drive by at Riverlink Park yesterday, June 26.