Press

ALBANY – Hudson artist and award-winning illustrator Joan Steiner will be at the New York State Museum on Saturday, May 5 to participate in activities marking the opening the same day of her new exhibition -- Look-Alikes: The Amazing World of Joan Steiner.

Open through March 2, 2008in the Museum’s Crossroads Gallery, the exhibition provides a close-up look at the 3-D miniature scenes Stein creates, using everyday objects, such as dog biscuits, toothpaste caps, pencils, buttons, soda straws and peanuts. The exhibition includes original dioramas, as well as photo blowups, of the scenes used in her three books – “Look-Alikes: The More You Look, the More You See,” “Look-Alikes Christmas” and “Look-Alikes Jr.” (Little, Brown and Company). Visitors also will get an advance look at dioramas and illustrations from her next book, “Look-Alikes Around the World,” which will be published in the fall.

As part of the Museum’s Family Fun Weekend, Steiner will present a 30-minute slide show at 1 p.m. on May 5th and will be available after that to meet visitors. A brief documentary about Steiner and her work will also be shown continuously in the Crossroads Gallery through March 2008. There also will be a space set aside for parents and children to sit down together to look through the books and hunt for everyday objects.

More than 1,000 “look-alikes” can be found in Steiner’s first book and more than 700 in the Christmas version, which took three and a half years to complete. She painstakingly constructs everyday objects just as they appear. In a “Sweet Shop” scene chairs are built of pretzels and crackers. Pennies become cobblestones in a park scene and a shoehorn serves as a slide. In other illustrations, venetian blinds appear as the siding on a house, lasagna noodles serve as draperies, gloves become a sofa and a balloon transforms into a red dress.

A resident of Claverack with a studio in Hudson, Steiner is a self-taught artist who graduated from Barnard College. She started out designing one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces, including purses that resembled boom boxes and ice skates, and a hat shaped like a fishing boat with a veil for a net. Although
her whimsical pieces sold well she began searching for something more lucrative.

Her big break came when she approached Games magazine about using one of her illustrations. They told her to let them know if she could think of a game and she called back 20 minutes later offering them a puzzle where everyday objects would be hidden in the scenes she’d create. The illustrations published in Games attracted the attention of Sesame Street magazine, which asked for a similar illustration. Since then her illustrations have also appeared in the New York Times and Nickelodeon Magazine. Steiner’s books have sold more than one million copies and have been published in 16 countries around the world. She has won numerous art and design awards, including a Society of Illustrators Award and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.

Several programs will be presented at the Museum in the coming months to complement the exhibition. A preview of the Look-Alikes exhibition will be held on Friday, May 4 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. as part of Albany’s “1st Friday” activities. Complimentary refreshments and free parking will be available. A free trolley ride will also take visitors from the Museum to other Albany restaurants, art institutions and galleries participating.

“Creative Art Days” on May 12, June 16 and August 18, from 1-3 p.m., will feature a tour of the exhibition, a look at Steiner’s books, and an art project with a “Look-Alikes” theme. On June 23 “3D Day” will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. and will offer 3D art sculpting, drawing lessons and book reading. Participants will make their own 3D glasses. “3D Daze” weekends are also planned for the fall and winter, with dates to be announced. Birthday party programs at the Museum also will offer a “Look-Alikes” theme for children of all ages. Parties will include a tour of the Museum, a book reading and an art project. More information on these and future programs is available by calling (518) 473-7154.

The New York State Museum is a program of the New York State Department of Education, the University of the State of New York and the Office of Cultural Education. Started in 1836, the Museum has the longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey in the United States. The State Museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. It is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Further information about programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

# # #