The John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts presents THE FAN PROJECT A Benefit for Scholarships for Artists of All Ages Exhibit and Silent Auction Sunday, August 3, 2003, 5:00 - 7:30 p.m. Santa Barbara County Courthouse, First Floor Admission Free Information: 805-682-8184

The Fan Project, presented by The John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts, benefits artists of all ages with scholarships. The public is invited
admission-free to an exhibit and silent auction of beautiful and amazing
fans on Sunday, August 3 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse first floor as a part of Fiesta Finale 2003.

A fascinating variety of fans in a wide variety of media have been created by over 33 well-known Santa Barbara artists specifically for this first-time event. The following artists have created fan-themed works of art:

Susan Belloni Lisa Burns Elaine Campbell Danae Campbell Anna Campbell Patricia Carlson Mary Collier Barnaby Conrad Joyce Cooper Steve Cushman Joanne Dufau Paul Froemming Sarah Collier Heatwole Kerri Hedden Marilyn H. Hochhauser Charmaine Jacobs Paul Leasure

Louise Levine Anne Luther Soosan Marshall Obed Muringani Teri New Judy Nilsen Rosalind Nordli Hedy Price Paley Nadia Penoff Cathy Quiel Suzanne Rapley Eddie Reiter Mitch Robles Angie Toyama Thomas Van Stein Ron White Entera

August is Fiesta time in Santa Barbara and famed artist/writer Barnaby
Conrad has captured the essence of a Spanish tradition, and made a reference to his best selling novel, "The Matador," as part of the Fiesta Finale Fan Project. Each year the Fiesta Finale committee asks artists to donate their work to build the scholarship fund of the John E. Profant Foundation For The Arts. These donations and other events have made it possible to give $60,000 during the past two years, and to produce a showcase of professional music and dance as the final event of Santa Barbara's annual week long Fiesta in August that celebrates Santa Barbara's rich cultural heritage.

The Fan Project for Fiesta Finale 2003 is the brainchild of Anne Luther,
artist, Trustee of Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and recent President of
Santa Barbara Visual Arts Alliance. This project is making headlines by
challenging artists to create an original work in a theme wholly
appropriate for a Spanish event, the Fan. Saks Fifth Avenue continues their ongoing commitment to support the community, its local artists and non-profits, by featuring the fans in windows of this elegant store during the last two weeks of July. This year's Fiesta Finale takes place on Sunday, August 3, in the historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse, an architectural jewel considered to be the most beautiful government building in the United States.

"When I lived in New York I created a fundraising auction where artists and celebrities turned ordinary paper plates into works of art," says Anne Luther." Here in Santa Barbara we have a tradition in the non-profit
community of talented local artists transforming everyday objects--birdhouses, flip flops, hearts, cigar boxes or a mask--into original works of art. The Fan Project, for the John E. Profant Foundation For The Arts, was a natural fusion of these ideas, and selecting the fan, the symbol of an elegant Fiesta celebration, was an easy choice. The fan can be a great inspiration for the artists. There is something seductive about a fan. In
the past, women coyly hid knowing smiles behind them, and in both Spanish and Asian cultures the revered fan is a work of art or the subject of classical dance."

Talented Gena Davis has been selected as representative of the Fan Project. She states "Everyone needs a fan! As a flamenco dancer, I have come to understand the importance of art to our communities, and to our world. It is a universal language. I'm so excited to be a small part of such as wonderful idea--The Fan Project!"

Note to the media:
See the following web site for the 2003 collection of fans:   http://profant.org/gallery/FANS1.htm
Contact Mprofant@aol.com if you'd like one or more images sent on CD ROM to
your office.   Photographs of Gena Davis credited to Hilde Keldermans.