FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lon Smith December 27, 2006
Director of Sales & Marketing
835 E. 1st St. Wichita, KS 67202
316-833-1171
316-833-1495 fax
groupsales@worldtreasures.org
Museum of World Treasures teams up with Independent Women's Football League and famed Italian Sculptor, Bruno Lucchesi
The Museum of World Treasures has just signed a contract that commissions the world renowned sculptor, Bruno Lucchesi to create a 2'X 3' bas-relief that will become the icon of the newly founded Independent Women's Football League Women's Football Hall of Fame which - it was announced recently - will make its home at the Museum of World Treasures.
Lucchesi is most well known in Wichita for his sculpture entitled ?After Shopping', completed in 1979 and residing on the plaza just in front of the Museum of World Treasures. He has visited Wichita on several occasions offering master classes, lectures and overseeing the exhibit of his works. In that vein, the Museum of World Treasures will host an exhibit of Lucchesi's sculptures to open on Saturday, March 3, 2007 at 1pm. Lucchesi will be in town on the day of the opening and will give a lecture on that same day at a time to be announced. The museum will also unveil the aforementioned IWFL Women's Football Hall of Fame relief at that time. Additional information about this exhibit will become available as the date approaches.
The Independent Women's Football League (www.iwflsports.com) is comprised of approximately 35 teams with around 1500 players, all women who suit up in full gear and play full contact football. Their season runs from around April 1st through the end of July each year. The tentative plan is for them to hold their annual induction ceremony in Wichita, possibly with an exhibition game to follow that might come to be known as their Hall of Fame Game.
"One of the missions of our institution is to find avenues through which we bring divergent cultures together in such a way as to challenge ourselves and the public to gain a new perspective," stated Lon Smith, director of sales and marketing for the museum. "We believe that partnering an Italian sculptor from New York with women's football achieves this mission."
"We are so incredibly pleased to have the opportunity to host the IWFL Women's Football Hall of Fame and for that to be represented iconically in an authentic work such as that being created by Mr. Lucchesi," stated Mike Noller, president and CEO for the museum. "His work is known the world over and will ad greatly to the museum and the Hall of Fame."
The Museum of World Treasures, a 501(c)(3) non-profit Kansas Corporation, is located in the heart of Wichita's Old Town district. It is home to a $50 million collection of antiquities, including one of only four battling dinosaur exhibits in the world, and original draft of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln, and an extensive collection of ancient art and artifacts. The museum is open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday thru Saturday and 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets to the Museum are $5.95 for children, $7.95 for adults and $6.95 for seniors, but bring your Music Theatre of Wichita ticket stub and get in for only $5! For more information about the museum, visit www.worldtreasures.org. To schedule a group tour, contact Lon Smith, Director of Sales & Marketing, at 316-263-1311.
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