PRESS RELEASE 

For immediate release

Daytime contacts:                       

Mimi Mann, (559)261-1116

David Ashcraft, (559)760-7000

FRESNO CITY HALL FEATURES

PHOTOGRAPHERS ASHCRAFT, MANN

        Works by Central California fine-arts photographers David Ashcraft and Marilynn “Mimi” Mann will be featured at Fresno City Hall from June 1 through July 3. A reception for the artists is scheduled for June 2 from 5 to 8 p.m. as part of the regular Thursday evening Art-Hops sponsored by Fresno Arts Council.

            Ashcraft, who in addition to his art once owned a gallery in Oakhurst, and Mann, who has studied photography intensely since her retirement from real estate in 1998, are members of the Spectrum Gallery, a cooperative located in Fresno’s Tower District. Each has shown widely in the last few years and been included in juried shows.

              Ashcraft’s work will be installed on the second floor at City Hall, and Mann’s on the first. They may be viewed during the hours City Hall is open. They are for sale, and some proceeds will benefit the Breast Cancer Support Center in Grass Valley.

            With color as his tool, Ashcraft offers large photos of landscapes taken in the Sierra and along the California coastline. The first category includes winter scenes shot above the 8,000-foot elevation. These required the artist to haul some 50 pounds of camera gear on his back into the wilderness on cross country skis or by snowmobile.

            Other pictures by Ashcraft were taken in Yosemite National Park during and after snowstorms or at Big Sur or along the Sonoma County coastline. Ashcraft says he considers the California Coast a “magical” spot and his pictures there focus on its detail and the greater landscape.

            “For me, the ocean is a place like no other,” says Ashcraft, “a place where all the things that don’t really matter are washed away.”

            Mann is recently back from New York City, where she traveled to photograph “The Gates,” a temporary public-art project created by Cristo and Jeanne-Claude for Central Park. For the project, some 7,500 saffron-colored gates, 16 feet tall, were installed in February at 12-foot intervals along the park’s 23 miles of walkway.

            “Although most of my work has been black and white, I felt that I must photograph ‘The Gates’ in color to do them justice,” said Mann. “The experience was breath taking and filled me with joy and happiness.”

During the same trip, Mann also took color photographs of a snow-topped Central Park that will be part of her City Hall show. She also will hang old and new black-and-whites from her portfolio of close-ups.

The Breast Cancer Support Center, in the Sierra foothills, offers holistic life-coaching, education and training to cancer survivors who want to change their lifestyles to help avoid recurrence. Dr. Talia Miller is the director. The number is (530) 271-0747.

BIOGRAHIES ATTACHED