In July, 2009, Brent Funderburk was selected as the “Official Artist” for the upcoming USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, by the IBC.
Funderburk has created a painting, “Firebird 2010″, that will be featured on the poster and programming for the IBC festivities, to be presented in June and July, 2010. The painting will be revealed at a press conference at the USA IBC headquarters in Jackson on November 10, 2009.
Funderburk was inspired by the art and design of Leon Bakst and the Ballet Russes, whose “Firebird” ballet premiered in 1910 in Paris.
The event is designated as the official international ballet competition in the United States by a Joint Resolution of Congress. Presented under the auspices of the International Dance Committee, International Theatre Institute of UNESCO, the USA IBC is held every four years in Jackson, MS, in the tradition of sister competitions in Varna, Bulgaria, Tokyo, Japan, and Moscow, Russia.
Funderburk’s artworks will be presented in a show at the IBC Opening Ceremonies in June, 2010.