Premier Olympian Artists Named as Instructors for Olympic Region Student Art-in-Sports Program
Premier Olympian Artists Named as Instructors for Olympic Region Student Art-in-Sports Program
Lake Placid, NY (October 18, 2024) – An international cast of famous Olympian and Paralympian Artists will be serving as guest instructors to more than 450 North Country student artists participating this January in a winter art-in-sports program.
The program, titled “Olympism – A New Century of Winter Art-in-Sports,” is hosted by the Al Oerter Foundation/Art of the Olympians (AOF/AOTO) in collaboration with the Olympic Regional Development Authority, the Lake Placid Center for the Arts and with the assistance and guidance from leadership of the New York State Region 5 Art Teachers Association.
Educational activities for participating school classes from Clinton, Essex, and Franklin Counties begin in early January and conclude with an awards ceremony and celebration on March 8 at the Lake Placid Olympic Conference Center. Instructional student class sessions have been designed to encourage creative student expression and delivering a lasting impression about the spirit of Olympism by focusing on sport with art and the rich history of winter sports in the Adirondacks.
Leading the AOTO member Olympian/Paralympian artists contingent is AOF’s Roald Bradstock, a two- time Olympian whose affinity for impressionist art has given him the international moniker as the Olympian Picasso. Joining him as instructors are internationally known artists and former Judo athlete, Neil Eckersley and Annabel Eyres. Eyres, a former sculler, was chosen by the International Olympic Committee to serve as one of six Olympian artists for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
Other members of the AOTO instructor contingent are Paralympian artist and Olympic cross-country skier Beth Livingston of Bozeman, Montana, former Guatemalan swim Olympian Valerie Gruest of Evanston, Illinois, and Durango three-time Olympian biathlete, now artist, Lanny Watkins. “Each instructor,” relates Bradstock, “brings an extensive sport and art background that is essential to delivering a thoughtful and inspiring life’s message to participating students.”
AOF President Cathy Oerter praised and thanked area New York State Assemblyman Billy Jones for his support and encouragement to bring the foundation’s educational program to the region’s schools. “He has been the driving force for the program’s three-county creation that provides youth of the North Country an opportunity to learn the essence of Olympism while engaging in an art-in-sport program highlighting this region’s winter sports history.”
Art students from school classes, elementary to senior level, will be participating in educational and art contest activities. Gold, silver, and bronze medals will be awarded to the best in show student artists in elementary, middle, and high school level competition. Competition winners will be announced at the March 8 Lake Placid program-ending celebration.
Olympic Regional Development Authority Media Contact: Lisa Carter, lcarter@orda.org
Al Oerter Foundation/Art of the Olympians Media Contact: Cathy Oerter, info@aloerter.org.
Lake Placid, NY (October 18, 2024) – An international cast of famous Olympian and Paralympian Artists will be serving as guest instructors to more than 450 North Country student artists participating this January in a winter art-in-sports program.
The program, titled “Olympism – A New Century of Winter Art-in-Sports,” is hosted by the Al Oerter Foundation/Art of the Olympians (AOF/AOTO) in collaboration with the Olympic Regional Development Authority, the Lake Placid Center for the Arts and with the assistance and guidance from leadership of the New York State Region 5 Art Teachers Association.
Educational activities for participating school classes from Clinton, Essex, and Franklin Counties begin in early January and conclude with an awards ceremony and celebration on March 8 at the Lake Placid Olympic Conference Center. Instructional student class sessions have been designed to encourage creative student expression and delivering a lasting impression about the spirit of Olympism by focusing on sport with art and the rich history of winter sports in the Adirondacks.
Leading the AOTO member Olympian/Paralympian artists contingent is AOF’s Roald Bradstock, a two- time Olympian whose affinity for impressionist art has given him the international moniker as the Olympian Picasso. Joining him as instructors are internationally known artists and former Judo athlete, Neil Eckersley and Annabel Eyres. Eyres, a former sculler, was chosen by the International Olympic Committee to serve as one of six Olympian artists for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
Other members of the AOTO instructor contingent are Paralympian artist and Olympic cross-country skier Beth Livingston of Bozeman, Montana, former Guatemalan swim Olympian Valerie Gruest of Evanston, Illinois, and Durango three-time Olympian biathlete, now artist, Lanny Watkins. “Each instructor,” relates Bradstock, “brings an extensive sport and art background that is essential to delivering a thoughtful and inspiring life’s message to participating students.”
AOF President Cathy Oerter praised and thanked area New York State Assemblyman Billy Jones for his support and encouragement to bring the foundation’s educational program to the region’s schools. “He has been the driving force for the program’s three-county creation that provides youth of the North Country an opportunity to learn the essence of Olympism while engaging in an art-in-sport program highlighting this region’s winter sports history.”
Art students from school classes, elementary to senior level, will be participating in educational and art contest activities. Gold, silver, and bronze medals will be awarded to the best in show student artists in elementary, middle, and high school level competition. Competition winners will be announced at the March 8 Lake Placid program-ending celebration.
Olympic Regional Development Authority Media Contact: Lisa Carter, lcarter@orda.org
Al Oerter Foundation/Art of the Olympians Media Contact: Cathy Oerter, info@aloerter.org.
North County Art In Sports Program Olympian Artists At a a Glance
North County Art In Sports Program Olympian Artists At a a Glance
Roald Bradstock is the executive director of the Al Oerter Foundation/Art of the Olympians (AOF/AOTO) whose lifelong goal has been to unite the athletic side of the Olympics with the cultural side – just as envisioned by Al Oerter and by modern Olympics founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
A two-time Olympian from Great Britain turned artist, Bradstock is among the original 14 Olympian artists who joined Al Oerter in 2006 for a public art exhibition. That show in Fort Myers, Fl. became the birthplace for the creation of AOF/AOTO. Roald’s passion for the Olympics, sport, and art began in 1968 at the age of 6 and has never wavered. While pursuing his athletic and artistic dreams he has lived in three Olympic cities throughout his life – London (25 years), Los Angeles (7 years), and Atlanta (more than 20 years).
He began his athletic career as a swimmer and powerlifter. But his ability to throw a javelin is where his athletic career excelled. By 1981, he had become the No. 2 ranked javelin athlete in the world. He went on to compete for Great Britain in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games. While in high school he excelled in drawing, painting, and sculpture. Relocating to the U.S., he received his Bachelor of Arts in studio art. With his move to Atlanta, he focused on a career as a full-time artist. He won the painting division of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) 2000 Sports Art Competition. In 2003, he won the prestigious International Sports Artist of the Year award. Two years later he became the first-ever official artist for USA Track & Field. In 2006, he took his artistic sports passion to a new level by lobbying the 2012 London Summer Olympic Organizing Committee to include an ambitious sport in art multiple site education program. The effort grabbed British media attention and Roald was dubbed “The Olympic Picasso.”
Neil Eckersley, a bronze medalist in Judo at Los Angeles in 1984, returned 15 years ago to another love of his and is taking firm grip on the art world with a stunning portfolio that has been exhibited all around the world. The Lancaster, England athlete artist hold a bachelor’s degree in Sports Coaching and Sports History. Neil grew up in a working-class area that was responsible for his desire to learn how to look after himself. “Art came from a need to express myself and it gave me an outlet for my creative urges. I had always had a problem with the written word because of my dyslexia.”
For over eight years, Neil lived in a fantastic and rugged part of the world, Norway. He used the environment and the life around him to inspire his work. “Painting excites me since I never know which road it will lead me down.” Art gave Neil the ability to express his experiences and passion through his digital and abstract work. He feels that art is one of the few ways for him to truly express himself within the constraints of a modern society. “I first used painting as a therapy to deal with the tragic loss of my older brother and my work is full of life and emotions, rather than loss.”
Beth Livingston is an artist, educator and Paralympic athlete residing in Bozeman, Montana. In 1989, she earned a bachelor of fine arts from prestigious Parsons School of Design as well as a teaching certificate in art education from The Bank Street College of Education (both in New York City). Beth, who lost the use of her legs in an automobile accident has not let her paraplegia inhibit her from athletic achievement. Traveling westward, she began alpine racing and volunteering as an adaptive ski coach. Soon, she turned her focus to Nordic skiing and Biathlon, securing a berth on the 2002 Paralympic team.
She also had the honor of being nominated by committee to exemplify the Olympic/Paralympic Spirit and to carry the Olympic/Paralympic Torch in her hometown of Bozeman, Montana. After competing in four events at the Paralympics in Salt Lake in 2002, Beth continued to represent her country as a member of the US Adaptive Development team on an international level.
|Today, much of Beth’s personal attention is on creating art works in her Bozeman studio. Her unique form of art expression uses found objects in combination with traditional artistic methods while creating masterful compositions. Her work displays a seen sense of design and provides a viewer with interesting juxtapositions of objects and various art techniques.
Valerie Gruest is an Olympic swimmer, a Ph.D. candidate, and a multi-disciplinary artist. She holds a master of arts in Media, Technology, and Society, as well as a bachelor of arts in Communication Studies with a double major in Art, Theory & Practice, all from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Originally from Guatemala, her academic and art coalesce through her academic research that focuses on how internet technology impacts people’s attitudes and behaviors. Particularly, her work explores the impact of new media on body image issues, the visibility of marginalized communities in digital media, and the evolution of contemporary art practices in online spaces.
She works two dimensionally in painting, drawing, and printmaking and with a three-dimensional process that channels the body and movement to show a connection to our past and present experiences. Her work, she notes, draws greatly from her background as an Olympic athlete, competing in swimming at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Annabel Eyres of England is one of six Olympian Artists chosen to present at the recent Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. She competed at Barcelona 1992 in the Women’s double sculls where she and her rowing mate finished fifth. Strangely, Annabel probably would not have learned to row at all had she not been a talented artist. She took up the sport to restore some discipline in her life after a socially indulgent first year while studying fine art at Oxford University.
“As an artist, I’ve always been drawn to the human body, its dynamism and range of movements,” she notes. Her six pieces displayed at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris featured a series of figures in various positions associated with a different sport. She remains a largely figurative artist, depicting the human form while in motion through the use of minimal lines.
Her love for art started at the young age of eight where she was designing and embroidering items to sell at the school fete. Little has changed for Annabel for she still gets a “huge buzz” out of selling her work. She even funded her international rowing career through a T-shirt design business. Much of her work today includes traditional drawings and painting techniques.
Lanny Barnes Siggins of Durango, Colorado is a three-time Olympian biathlete competing on behalf of the U.S. at the 2006, 2010, and 2014 Olympic Winter Games. She attended the 2018 Winter Olympics as an artist in resident with The Olympic Art Project. Lanny creates the majority of her work in white charcoals on types of black fine art papers and canvas. But she also does many other forms of media.
She specializes in wildlife art in charcoal, but has done everything from still life, to portraits, to sports, to landscapes in every form of media.
Lanny started drawing and painting at a very early age. Besides here wildlife art specialty, she has also tried her hand at other techniques, such as still life. She drew inspiration from the world around her, particularly through sport. Her participation as an artist in resident at the 2018 Winter Olympics has had a profound impact on Lanny’s art career
“I always thought of art and sports as a universal language. But it wasn’t until (2018) that I really experience it firsthand. With athletes from 39 different countries participating, we didn’t need to speak the same language to engage and enjoy this project.”
Roald Bradstock is the executive director of the Al Oerter Foundation/Art of the Olympians (AOF/AOTO) whose lifelong goal has been to unite the athletic side of the Olympics with the cultural side – just as envisioned by Al Oerter and by modern Olympics founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
A two-time Olympian from Great Britain turned artist, Bradstock is among the original 14 Olympian artists who joined Al Oerter in 2006 for a public art exhibition. That show in Fort Myers, Fl. became the birthplace for the creation of AOF/AOTO. Roald’s passion for the Olympics, sport, and art began in 1968 at the age of 6 and has never wavered. While pursuing his athletic and artistic dreams he has lived in three Olympic cities throughout his life – London (25 years), Los Angeles (7 years), and Atlanta (more than 20 years).
He began his athletic career as a swimmer and powerlifter. But his ability to throw a javelin is where his athletic career excelled. By 1981, he had become the No. 2 ranked javelin athlete in the world. He went on to compete for Great Britain in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games. While in high school he excelled in drawing, painting, and sculpture. Relocating to the U.S., he received his Bachelor of Arts in studio art. With his move to Atlanta, he focused on a career as a full-time artist. He won the painting division of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) 2000 Sports Art Competition. In 2003, he won the prestigious International Sports Artist of the Year award. Two years later he became the first-ever official artist for USA Track & Field. In 2006, he took his artistic sports passion to a new level by lobbying the 2012 London Summer Olympic Organizing Committee to include an ambitious sport in art multiple site education program. The effort grabbed British media attention and Roald was dubbed “The Olympic Picasso.”
Neil Eckersley, a bronze medalist in Judo at Los Angeles in 1984, returned 15 years ago to another love of his and is taking firm grip on the art world with a stunning portfolio that has been exhibited all around the world. The Lancaster, England athlete artist hold a bachelor’s degree in Sports Coaching and Sports History. Neil grew up in a working-class area that was responsible for his desire to learn how to look after himself. “Art came from a need to express myself and it gave me an outlet for my creative urges. I had always had a problem with the written word because of my dyslexia.”
For over eight years, Neil lived in a fantastic and rugged part of the world, Norway. He used the environment and the life around him to inspire his work. “Painting excites me since I never know which road it will lead me down.” Art gave Neil the ability to express his experiences and passion through his digital and abstract work. He feels that art is one of the few ways for him to truly express himself within the constraints of a modern society. “I first used painting as a therapy to deal with the tragic loss of my older brother and my work is full of life and emotions, rather than loss.”
Beth Livingston is an artist, educator and Paralympic athlete residing in Bozeman, Montana. In 1989, she earned a bachelor of fine arts from prestigious Parsons School of Design as well as a teaching certificate in art education from The Bank Street College of Education (both in New York City). Beth, who lost the use of her legs in an automobile accident has not let her paraplegia inhibit her from athletic achievement. Traveling westward, she began alpine racing and volunteering as an adaptive ski coach. Soon, she turned her focus to Nordic skiing and Biathlon, securing a berth on the 2002 Paralympic team.
She also had the honor of being nominated by committee to exemplify the Olympic/Paralympic Spirit and to carry the Olympic/Paralympic Torch in her hometown of Bozeman, Montana. After competing in four events at the Paralympics in Salt Lake in 2002, Beth continued to represent her country as a member of the US Adaptive Development team on an international level.
|Today, much of Beth’s personal attention is on creating art works in her Bozeman studio. Her unique form of art expression uses found objects in combination with traditional artistic methods while creating masterful compositions. Her work displays a seen sense of design and provides a viewer with interesting juxtapositions of objects and various art techniques.
Valerie Gruest is an Olympic swimmer, a Ph.D. candidate, and a multi-disciplinary artist. She holds a master of arts in Media, Technology, and Society, as well as a bachelor of arts in Communication Studies with a double major in Art, Theory & Practice, all from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Originally from Guatemala, her academic and art coalesce through her academic research that focuses on how internet technology impacts people’s attitudes and behaviors. Particularly, her work explores the impact of new media on body image issues, the visibility of marginalized communities in digital media, and the evolution of contemporary art practices in online spaces.
She works two dimensionally in painting, drawing, and printmaking and with a three-dimensional process that channels the body and movement to show a connection to our past and present experiences. Her work, she notes, draws greatly from her background as an Olympic athlete, competing in swimming at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Annabel Eyres of England is one of six Olympian Artists chosen to present at the recent Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. She competed at Barcelona 1992 in the Women’s double sculls where she and her rowing mate finished fifth. Strangely, Annabel probably would not have learned to row at all had she not been a talented artist. She took up the sport to restore some discipline in her life after a socially indulgent first year while studying fine art at Oxford University.
“As an artist, I’ve always been drawn to the human body, its dynamism and range of movements,” she notes. Her six pieces displayed at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris featured a series of figures in various positions associated with a different sport. She remains a largely figurative artist, depicting the human form while in motion through the use of minimal lines.
Her love for art started at the young age of eight where she was designing and embroidering items to sell at the school fete. Little has changed for Annabel for she still gets a “huge buzz” out of selling her work. She even funded her international rowing career through a T-shirt design business. Much of her work today includes traditional drawings and painting techniques.
Lanny Barnes Siggins of Durango, Colorado is a three-time Olympian biathlete competing on behalf of the U.S. at the 2006, 2010, and 2014 Olympic Winter Games. She attended the 2018 Winter Olympics as an artist in resident with The Olympic Art Project. Lanny creates the majority of her work in white charcoals on types of black fine art papers and canvas. But she also does many other forms of media.
She specializes in wildlife art in charcoal, but has done everything from still life, to portraits, to sports, to landscapes in every form of media.
Lanny started drawing and painting at a very early age. Besides here wildlife art specialty, she has also tried her hand at other techniques, such as still life. She drew inspiration from the world around her, particularly through sport. Her participation as an artist in resident at the 2018 Winter Olympics has had a profound impact on Lanny’s art career
“I always thought of art and sports as a universal language. But it wasn’t until (2018) that I really experience it firsthand. With athletes from 39 different countries participating, we didn’t need to speak the same language to engage and enjoy this project.”