Artist London Amara Increases FGCU’s “Dunk City” Net Worth

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Dec. 4, 2015 - PRLog -- Artist London Amara Increases FGCU’s “Dunk City” Net Worth

Money, cash, moola, dough- any way you say it, the more you have, the higher your net worth. FGCU’s “Dunk City” Eagles know exactly how to increase their net worth (pun intended), and artist London Amara knows exactly how to help.

What defines virtue and worth of a basketball team? Get the ball through the net and do it over and over and over again, relentlessly. Artist London Amara wants to see “Dunk City” alive and well for a very long time and this year, she has donated another large scale painting for the annual fundraiser.

Amara is unveiling her painting titled “Net Worth” at the “Night at the Nest” fundraiser at 6:00pm Friday, December 4th, 2015. “I chose to paint a high contrast, mid-motion basketball net to send a message. I knew I wanted to visually describe the domination that defines the athletic success of my beloved FGCU, the notorious “Dunk City” Eagles,” Amara explains. She’s right. The basketball net serves as an icon of success for any basketball team, especially one who has earned the nickname, “Dunk City.”

The vibrating image freezes a moment in time; her use of acrylics, oils and graphite are set in motion by layers platinum, silver and gold. The painting celebrates the inherent value of exquisite and rare metals. In classic London Amara style, chaos meets order, pandemonium gets schooled and of course, it’s 7 feet tall.

It is no surprise that Amara created an aggressive painting of the very object that defines a team’s ability to thrive. She has a reputation for creating breathtaking, larger-than-life artwork for her favorite sports teams. In 2011, she chose to hand paint and force-oxidize 35,000 golf tees to create an 6 foot by 9 foot assemblage painting which now resides at PGA’s Innsbrook in Palm Harbor, Florida. One at a time, each tee was hand painted and individually placed into the substrate Amara constructed. The artwork weighed just under 100 lbs. and took months to create, a labor of love she cherishes. “Creating art on this scale presents logistics that constantly require innovative solutions. I love that.”

In 2012, Amara was commissioned to create a work of art in honor of Tampa Bay Lightning’s (then) Captain Vincent Lecavalier. She used 998 carefully cut and arranged hockey pucks to honor his 998 professional games. The assemblage painting now hangs in the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The two spaces she left for his last two games are filled, now that the four-time All Star carved up the ice for his 1,000^th game.

In 2013, Amara slam dunked another painting for the Eagles. True to form, she constructed a 5 ft. x 7 ft. painting by dipping basketball nets in gold. “My heart is wrapped around FGCU,” says Amara. “I followed FGCU’s birth and early development and was astonished by the progress the university has made. They’re made of pure gold.”

And it’s a good thing, too.

Unless you are Yogianda, a few extra dollars usually come in handy. This is especially true when you are raising a university with a big, bad No. 15 seed collegiate basketball team with a Sweet 16 reputation to uphold. “Game-day” expenses or operating expenses rise with success. Increased attendance requires spending more money to accommodate all the new fans, as well as hosting more events, more out-of-state games, and more postseason activity. Support the entire athletic department at FGCU and join the auction Friday, December 4th at 6:00pm.

All proceeds from the annual “Night at the Nest “auction and gala go directly to provide support for athletic programs, coaches and student-athletes. For more information or to make live and silent auction donations, please contact Director of Athletics Advancement Graham J. Diemer at 239-590-7117 or gdiemer@fgcu.edu.

Artist London Amara can be contacted at:

londonamara@londonamara.com

www.londonamara.com