[MSN] 'Crissy' the bronze beauty snatched from gallery. Statue was kidnapped in broad daylight by a suspected art thief.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

'Crissy' the bronze beauty snatched from gallery

Statue was kidnapped in broad daylight by a suspected art thief

Willoughby Mariano | Sentinel Staff Writer 
Posted October 18, 2006 


PHOTOS 
 
'Crissy' (COURTESY OF JEFF SHONKWILER) 
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-artthief1806oct18,0,188
814.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-orange
 
 
Missing: Nude woman. Bronze skin. Two feet tall. Fifty pounds. Possibly
swaddled in a concert T-shirt. Last seen at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at
CityArts Factory in downtown Orlando before she was kidnapped in broad
daylight by a suspected art thief.

The statue, titled "Crissy," disappeared as visitors were perusing the
building's three private galleries. The sidewalks near Orange Avenue and
Pine Street swelled with office workers heading to lunch, said Cassy
Turiczek, executive director of the Downtown Arts District and a witness to
the crime's aftermath.

Created by well-known local artist Steve "Pi" Piscitelli, the statue was
gone when Turiczek and others returned from lunch at about 1:30 p.m. All
that was left was an odd trail of concert T-shirts and windbreakers from the
hallway out the door, Turiczek said.

"I thought, is there a naked person in there?" she said.

In fact, the $12,600 nude was gone. The old clothes were likely used to
cushion the statue as it was whisked away, she said.

No one reported witnessing the theft.

The theft brought heartache to Jeff Shonkwiler, director of Florida Artists
Registry, a Web gallery, and curator of the 70-piece exhibit that included
"Crissy." The show, set to open Friday, features the best works of the
artists in his gallery and is his organization's first.

"The sheer brazenness of it . . . ," a shaken Shonkwiler said, "This was
supposed to be a celebration."

"Crissy" had been at CityArts Factory for a little more than two weeks. The
bronze statue resided on a 4-foot pedestal in the building's community
gallery, near a painting of a Volusia County waterway, and a wide, flat
sculpture roughly the shape of a coffee table.

Her back arched. Her thick mane of hair swirled. She was beautiful -- among
Piscitelli's best works.

"I guess someone saw what I saw, and they took it," Piscitelli said.

Piscitelli is a Vietnam veteran who turned to sculpture to ease the
nightmares of war. He is known for his statues of warriors and ballerinas. A
bronze of three soldiers in combat is at the Orlando Vet Center. A
life-sized ballerina stands at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center.
"Crissy" depicts a 5-foot-11 professional model that he met one day years
ago.

Piscitelli is not certain what to make of the theft. He wonders why someone
would bother to steal it -- he is willing to barter with people who can't
afford to buy his work.

He wonders what to tell the real "Crissy" and worries whether he needs to
hide his art in a safe.

Some pieces would be easier to hide than others.

He is working on another ballerina sculpture -- made entirely from the
melted metal of handguns and 8 feet tall.

Willoughby Mariano can be reached at wmariano at orlandosentinel.com or
407-420-5171.