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Ink People once again puts a face on the creative community of mask makers with its annual fall event, Maskibition. The exhibition and competition opens with a reception and awards ceremony at the Brenda Tuxford Gallery in the Ink Annex, 47 B West 3rd St. in Eureka on Saturday, Oct. 6 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Live music by the masked musicians of the John David Young Trio will get the event going as cash awards will be given for best of dhow ($300), best performance mask ($150), and best art mask. Michael Fields, a founding member and producing artistic director of Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater, will serve as judge for this year’s competition.

Maskibition celebrates the ancient art of the mask and has been a popular fall tradition for Ink People and the Humboldt arts community since 1986. The competition began as a festive blend of two styles of masks - those created for use in theatrical performance and masks designed strictly as works of art.

Throughout the years, mask makers have delighted Maskibition visitors with masks created from an imaginative range of materials including clay, leather, metals, textiles, paper ma¬che, plaster, glass, natural and found objects and recycled items.

Award sponsors for this year’s competition are Donvieve and Michael Christian of American Hydroponics (best art mask), Dell’Arte (best performance mask), and Mythic Faces Mask Arts (best of show).

This year’s show will also feature a non-competitive category for masks created by youth taught by Susan Cooper in the Fortuna “Imagine That” arts program, an Ink People DreamMaker program.

For more information, contact Kathryne DeLorme at 442-7850 or e-mail her at mythicfaces@juno.com.

photo caption:

Mask by Barbara Wright