Portsmouth, NH - December 31, 2006 - Portsmouth artist Barbara Rita Jenny has been busy putting her public and private grant money to work to make public art for the masses. Jenny has teamed up with Portsmouth design and development firm, Lightfin Studios, to create an interactive Internet art project based on her SkinPrints.
Kaleidoskins Kiosks will be set up in the ground-floor Community Room of South Church during the New Year's Eve festivities. Like all First Night events, admission is open to all individuals with a First Night® button.
As of midnight Jan. 1, however, Kaleidoskins will be available 24/7, free of charge, to anyone who wants to interact with the artwork through Jenny's site, barbararitajenny.com.
This is a new direction for Jenny's work. Says the artist in a press release, "I want to continue to make challenging contemporary work, yet I want it to be accessible—for everyone—even gallery-shy folks." That said, you can view some of her "design object" SkinPrint work at Nahcotta, on Congress Street in Portsmouth.
Kaleidoskins has been funded in part by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation-Piscataqua Region, The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Sponsors for Kaleidoskins at First Night are Lightfin Studios and Stephen Smith of Seacoast Mac Shop, who will help oversee user activity and technical operations, and Brewster Academy, which will provide Apple computers for the event.
First Night Portsmouth is organized by Pro Portsmouth Inc., a 501c (3) organization serving the Seacoast area. Its mission is to promote the arts, culture, history and community of the region through such events as Children's Day, Market Square Day Festival & 10K Road Race, and Summer in the Street.
For more information on Lightfin Studios, or to view an online portfolio that showcases it's award-winning sites, please visit www.lightfin.com.
About Lightfin Studios
Lightfin Studios provides strategic end-to-end solutions for your creative and interactive needs. Founded in the spring of 2006, Lightfin is a group of experienced visual designers, usability experts, developers and professional service specialists. The founding partners are united by the philosophy that effective marketing communication is the single most critical asset to the success of any modern business, and it is the company's passion to provide that service. Lightfin's services provide a unique, reliable experience that differentiates its offerings from the competition. For Lightfin, it's all about you—everything you. Visit www.lightfin.com for more information.