For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
Karen Adams
210-844-8973
klsadams@earthlink.net

San Antonio River Foundation hosts first international artist Martin Richman during site visit for Lexington Street Bridge art installation
Reception at El Tropicano Hotel at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, July 17

(July 15, 2008) SAN ANTONIO – As the river walk from Lexington Street north to the Pearl Brewery is dredged, restructured and refurbished to a more attractive and stately scene, the San Antonio River Foundation (SARF) is working to bring public art to the area by transforming eight bridges in the new stretch.  A reception to host the first international artist for a site visit will be held at El Tropicano Hotel on Thursday, July 17 at 5:15 p.m.

SARF is a non-profit organization spearheading the coordination and funding for the beautification and embellishments of the 1.2 mile-long stretch dubbed “The Museum Reach.”  A total of seven artists will work on 11 projects that will breathe new life in, on and around eight bridges that cross the San Antonio River.

London artist Martin Richman will be in San Antonio to study The Lexington Street Bridge, the first bridge in the Riverwalk expansion heading north.  Well-known for his colorful, glowing sculptures and installations, he comes to examine the context of his upcoming project.

“We are thrilled to host Mr. Richman and extend a warm San Antonio welcome to a celebrated artist and the first international partner to visit the Museum Reach project,” said Kim Abernethy, SARF executive director.  “We look forward to hosting what is the first of many international, national and local artists that make this project truly special,” she continued.

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About the artist: Martin Richman was born in 1949 in Southsea, Hampshire and studied at Portsmouth College of Art and Design and St. Martin’s College of Art, London. After extensive experience in lighting design for the music industry and theatre, he embarked on a full time career as an artist in 1985.  His public art commissions include an interior/exterior light installation on the Alaska Building, London; permanent light installations for bridges at London Fields and Bethnal Green, London; light sculptures for an indoor swimming pool in Wals House, Brussels; and a temporary light installation suspended from the Majestic Hotel, Barcelona.  Recent exhibitions include Mulberry, Bond Street, London (2008). He lives and works in London.