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A lineup of fascinating creative professionals highlight the September ARTS Encounters which will be held Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27th at the Benini Ranch near Johnson City. The Galleries and Sculpture Ranch open at 10:00 each morning, the speakers start at 1:30, and everyone is welcome, free of charge.

Rama Tiru will present “A Globetrotter’s Perspective”, photographs from around the world. “This man with a mask with a gentle demeanor belongs to a very fierce warrior tribe of Asaro Mud Men,” Rama Tiru explained. “When I wanted to photograph his mask, he quickly whipped out his mask and smiled at the camera. After I clicked, he was back in his mask.”

Rama Tiru’s travels with her physician-husband to Tibet, New Guinea, Brazil, India and the United States have produced poignant and personal interactions with people of these lands, and it is this collection she will share during ARTS Encounters. Rama is currently working on a photo documentary coffee table book – Austin East of I-35 with images and interviews of the people of East Austin - a community culture, with has a personality of its own that reflects the history through its residents’ life experiences.

New largescale sculptures by Myrna Orsini of California and Mike Helbing of Chicago are recent installations at the Benini Sculpture Ranch which brings the total to 140 outdoor pieces by sculptors from around the country and abroad.

Helbing will be featured at ARTS Encounters. Helbing is a fulltime professional sculptor, living in the Chicago area. He received his Masters in Fine Arts - Sculpture from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and for 30 years has concentrated on production of his artwork. His most recent commissions were a largescale stainless steel commission for the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and a 27 ft tall sculpture installed at Richland Communicty College in Decatur, Illinois. Helbing will travel to the Texas Hill Country the week prior to ARTS Encounters and install two largescale stainless steel pieces on the Benini Sculpture Ranch, including Beautiful Storm, a 16 ft. tall stainless steel and glass piece.

Helbing’s work is in the Indianapolis Arts Center, the Southern Illinois Medical Center in Springfield, the Mitchell Museum and Southwestern Illinois University. During ARTS Encounters he will present an overview of his career as a sculptor and discuss specifics about the newly installed pieces on the Benini Sculpture Ranch. In addition, he plans to share information about his work as a founder and current Chair of the Board of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum (soon to be renamed National Veterans Art Museum).

ARTS Encounters will include two popular music features - Sol Patch and Helen Darling. The heart of Sol Patch beats when singer-guitarist and primary songwriter Bryan Maldonado joins with vocalist and soul-mate, Melissa Weatherly. In January 2009, Sol Patch released their debut album, “Everything Under The Sun”.

Masterpieces, Fakes and Surprises: The Work of an Art Appraiser is the talk to be presented by Judy Godfrey, who is an Accredited Member of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA-AM) and USPAP Certified. She brings to the art appraisal business more than 27 years of museum directorship. She was President and CEO of The Grace Museum in Abilene, Texas, from 1997-2006, and Director of the Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport from 1979-1997. She taught in the Centenary College Art Department for seven years.

Judy has a Masters Degree in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in Art History. She is a 2006 graduate of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts and a 2003 graduate of Leadership Texas. She brings integrity, scholarship and reliability to her researched appraisals.

And from the world of business design, Kevin Mundt, currently a Mechanical Architect with Dell, Inc. will discuss the development of mass produced products as forms of art. Take a look at any product that you purchase. How did its shape come about? How was the color and finish selected? Why do you feel compelled to purchase some products over others? Learn what goes on behind the scenes in the development of a product.

For further information call 830-868-5244 or visit www.ArtsEncount ersatBeninis.com or SculptureRanch.com.