Atlantic City Alliance Announces Public Art Program To Drive Tourism

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Atlantic City Alliance (ACA) announces a new five-year program designed as part of the Atlantic City Master Plan to drive tourism through interactive public art displays. Internationally renowned Moment Factory and international curator Lance Fung have teamed up with the ACA to create a new generation of Atlantic City spectaculars, which are reminiscent of Atlantic City's long tradition of unique destination experiences.

Major urban centers around the world have seen the positive impact that collaborative public art projects can have on the community by creating beauty and conversation where there may be only blight or empty space. Art is a proven draw for visitors. Both the Moment Factory show and the Lance Fung installations will expand the experience a visitor has in Atlantic City. Each free public display will be engaging and thought provoking.

The ACA-- in close collaboration with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), the City of Atlantic City, other local officials and other partner--aims to provide locals and visitors with a new way of viewing Atlantic City by temporarily transforming spaces around the famed city's boardwalk into accessible works of art and play. Each project will serve as a cultural point of interest for Atlantic City visitors, inviting them to participate, linger and experience the boardwalk in a totally new way.

This effort is part of the ACA's larger marketing campaign, "Do Anything, Do Everything," which aims to increase visitation to Atlantic City. The projects will improve the overall physical landscape, animate empty lots, engage locals and provide visitors with a new, free and interactive experience as envisioned in the Master Plan published by the CRDA on February 1, 2012. The master plan calls for activation of the Boardwalk and key areas—particularly Pacific and Atlantic Avenues and the feeder streets to and from the Boardwalk as a way to create walk-ability throughout the Tourism District.

MOMENT FACTORY
Moment Factory is a Montreal-based new media and entertainment studio. Since 2001, Moment Factory's multidisciplinary team of artists has created extraordinary multimedia environments and groundbreaking interactive experiences for live shows, public spaces, events, brands and cultural institutions. Moment Factory has completed more than 300 projects for clients like Cirque du Soleil, Jay-Z, Disney, Celine Dion, Microsoft and for Madonna's new MDNA world tour.

For the Atlantic City Alliance, Moment Factory is now developing a highly sophisticated, 3D projection show featuring the facade of Boardwalk Hall. It will include surround sound, theatrical lighting and the latest architectural video mapping technologies. The world-renowned production house's permanent installation project will bring to life Boardwalk Hall's historic facade every night, all year long. Set to debut this summer, this free show celebrates Boardwalk Hall's history.

FUNG COLLABORATIVES
San Francisco and New York-based curator Lance Fung founded his company in 1999 as an arts organization without borders.  His exhibitions have been featured at the Torino and Beijing Olympics, Santa Fe, San Francisco and Egypt. He was the curator of the 2008 Site Santa Fe Biennial, Lucky Number 7. He is best known for the 2004 "The Snow Show" exhibition in Finland, having presented the collaborative works of thirty internationally recognized artists and architects, including Yoko Ono, Sir Norman Foster, Kiki Smith and Tadao Ando.

He fosters emerging and established artists in ambitious projects. Mr. Fung has found success across a broad spectrum of installments and galleries all over the world, and specializes in the creation of temporary art installations that integrate the work of several artists in one themed exhibit and which provide a reflection of the surrounding environment.

For the Atlantic City Alliance, Lance Fung will collaborate with a broad base of talented artists, including select individuals from New Jersey, to lead the creation of series of separate art installations along the Atlantic City boardwalk. The installations will be built throughout the summer and culminate in the fall season of 2012.

"While the world's great museums showcase art for appreciation as well as scholarship, moving art outside to the blank canvas of the sky, the ocean and the historic Boardwalk here in Atlantic City can be a catalyst to evolve how people think about our city," said Liza Cartmell, president of the Atlantic City Alliance. "Atlantic City has long been known as a place that pushes the limits to showcase the new and the unique and this is just one more example consistent with its history of innovation".

"We know that the greater Atlantic City community will also benefit from these distinctly unique public art projects," said CRDA Executive Director John Palmieri. "Because of their size, scale and interactivity, as well as the respect for the heritage of our resort community, residents will benefit from the civic pride and improvement we expect as an outcome."

About the Atlantic City Alliance (ACA)
The ACA is a recently established New Jersey not-for-profit corporation whose primary mission is to develop and implement a full-scale, broad-based, multi-year marketing program for Atlantic City. The ACA works with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) to market and promote the Tourism District via a public/private partnership. The ACA also works with local and state government, the private sector and other organizations to further enhance the marketing program.

Contact:
Genevieve Grdina
[email protected]
212-277-3762

SOURCE Atlantic City Alliance