In Wednesday’s (9/9) Chapel Hill News (North Carolina), Mark Schultz writes, “Paula MacLeod cut a rock star pose as she held the instrument in her outstretched arm. She wasn’t pounding power chords. The instrument wasn’t even a guitar. It was a violin, and MacLeod wasn’t even playing that. She was sanding grout. The 42-year-old Durham artist was turning the violin into one of four decorated instruments the Durham Symphony Orchestra will raffle this December to raise money. It’s been years since she went to the symphony. But when artist Emily Weinstein asked MacLeod and Kathryn DeMarco to join her in this year’s Painted Violins Project, the two quickly said yes. … So the women got together recently in Weinstein’s Chapel Hill studio to create three of the violins. (A fourth has been decorated by out-of-state artist Guy Aitchison, the son of a symphony member.) … Last year’s violins raised about $500 each, but organizers hope to double that this year. The 75-member symphony, with paid and volunteer musicians, has a $132,800 budget and, like many arts organizations, has struggled during the recession.”
Posted September 10, 2009
