IF YOU GOWhat: Faces UnMasked exhibition.When: Through Aug. 24 (gallery open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday).Where: Association for Visual Arts Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave.Admission: Free.Phone: 265-4282.Website: www.avarts.org.
Children with facial anomalies can feel as if they live behind a mask, according to officials with Faces, a locally based nonprofit organization serving children and adults throughout the United States with such anomalies.
With that in mind, the organization has created the inaugural UnMasked, an event featuring an expected 60 to 80 masks created by local artists and community members.
Beginning today, the finished masks will hang in the Association for Visual Arts Main Gallery. On Aug. 25, they will be transferred to The Car Barn for the organization's fundraiser, where they will be auctioned off.
"What we're excited about is the exhibition," Anne Wilson, executive director for AVA, said earlier this week. "There's a real heartfelt connection to the mission of the project. That's coming through with the [submitted] works. I can't wait to see what it looks like."
Each person started with a papier-mâché mask as a point of departure, she said. What happened after that was up to the artist. The masks may be decorated, she said, or become a part of a broader surface such as a canvas.
"I think there will be a wonderful array of how people respond to the situation," Wilson said. "I think it'll be very interesting."
Among the celebrities who will autograph masks for the auction are country singers Ty Herndon and Lee Roy Parnell and former NFL player Frank Murphy.