Ninety-one year old Andrew Bucci, a native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, has honored the USA International Ballet Competition with his “Figure in Green” as the signature image for the 2014 Commemorative Poster and Commemorative Program.
Mr. Bucci helped unveil the poster at the Jackson news conference announcing details of the 2014 USA IBC, set for next June 14-29. He commented that the black drape that covered the poster before the unveiling “looked like a funeral,” but he happily exclaimed, “My child,” when his lively, colorful image was revealed Tuesday, October 8.
The beloved artist has spent most of his adult years in Maryland, where he spent 20+ years with the National Meteorological Survey. He trained as a meteorologist with the Air Force while serving in World War II. His European experience allowed him an opportunity to paint at Académie Julian before returning home, where he painted with fellow Mississippian artist Marie Hull. He first exhibited his work at a 1947 Mississippi Art Association show and earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago.
Art by Mr. Bucci will be exhibited, and many of his works will be for sale, during the 2014 USA IBC at Thalia Mara Hall. Signed and unsigned copies of the 2014 poster also are available for purchase.
He is a recipient of the 2009 Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and has work in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Mississippi Museum of Art and many other prestigious collections.
BankPlus is gold-level sponsor of the 2014 USA IBC Commemorative Poster.