Mona Lisa Tribute

Art lovers who yearn to visit the Louvre in Paris to view the Mona Lisa need go no further than The Shoe Factory Art Co-op for their upcoming show.  The gallery will feature the exhibit “I Want My Mona Lisa: Tribute to a Renaissance Icon” for the month of October. 

On display will be 46 versions of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece created mostly by local artists.  12 of these clever reproductions of the Mona Lisa were submitted by regional artists in a variety of mediums.  An artist from Minneapolis contributed her image in the form of mosaic.  High school students attending Rochester’s School of the Arts and School Without Walls created the other 33 mixed-media show pieces as a project directed by their art teacher Elisa Bond.  Using their talents and imagination, the artists have reinterpreted the world’s most famous portrait into their own works of art. 

Participating artists include Chloe Bennett-Larson, Phil Bliss, Beth Brown, Marian Cameron, Zach Collins, Starr Fazzina, Susan Jenkins, Scott Lamont, John Midla, Mary Reynolds, Jonathan Schnapp, Colleen Virdi, and Mollie Wolf. 

Participating art students from School of the Arts are Mia Archer, Zach Bellucci, Margaret Blaszczak, Richard Bombard, Samantha Diltz, Yaundrell Dixon, Mawia Elawad, Tom Enders, Carlos Feliciano, Teeandra Felton, Shannon Koch, Leah Garlock, Erin Gresko, Jordan Heffer, Melissa Jensen-Stewart, Michelle Johnson, Kendal Lewis, Leon Lin, Thalia Maldonado, Kandice McGee, Claudia Moellering, Eysa Mohamed, Mia Nesmith, Gracie Parker, Elycia Plaza, Jaymes Reynolds, Nah’Tivah Ross, Isaac Santore, Aaron Scott, Brianna Twyman, and Charlotte Wiltse.         

Participating art students from School Without Walls are Husain Rashid and Ariana Wynn.

The public is invited to an artists’ reception for “I Want My Mona Lisa: Tribute to a Renaissance Icon” on First Friday, October 5th from 6-10pm.  Many of the Mona Lisa artworks will be available for purchase.  Free admission.

The Shoe Factory Art Co-op's gallery is located at 250 N. Goodman St., Studio 212 (second floor), Rochester, NY 14607. 

Exhibit hours: First Friday, October 5th from 6-10pm, Second Saturday October 13th from 12-4pm, and every Wednesday 12-5pm thru October 24th.

The Shoe Factory Art Co-op has frequent calls for artists to submit work to monthly juried exhibits.  The deadline for the next call for entries is October 20th for their November exhibit “Tone It Down a Notch: Minimal Art”. 

The Shoe Factory also hosts rotating exhibits at Starry Nites Café at 696 University Ave.  “Let Them Eat Cake! Portraits of Pastries” will be the next show at the coffee shop with a deadline for art entries by November 10^th.  For more information visit the “Call for Artists” page on the Shoe Factory’s website at www.shoefactoryarts.com.