418
Nothing speaks louder than the scale of the audience that turned out for the 18th Challenge. (Ok. We lost count at 400 so 418 seemed like a good estimate.) And we know there were another 100 who wanted to attend. For your passion, loyalty and generosity...Thank You.

$72,800
By the time the auctioned pieces are picked up, the evening will have earned well over $72,000. That begins with the generosity of 100 artists. The event would not exist without them. then, there are all the levels of donors - You. Tickets + gifts + bids + raffle chips, these all added up.

91¢
Thanks to the artful generosity of Doug Coffin and the Big Green Pizza Truck, Koffee, Caseus, Whole G, Liana's Table, (all of whom were once or have employed/or now employ our apprentices) and Little Black Dress Wines, The Wine Thief, and Orange Street Market, 91¢ of your dollars will underwrite training and scholarships directly. Our talented and hardworking staff and apprentices and parent volunteers also contributed mightily to this efficiency. Oh, and let me say it again, - the artists - all make it work.

42
You may recall from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, that one number is the answer to all of life's persistent questions. Some of you wonder that we do not interrupt the festivities with a short, compelling speech for our cause. We think the artwork speaks more eloquently. It says: invention...in minds and hands...is an essential experience of growth. Tools, challenges and expertise must be shared. A compelling number, yes?

C(n,r)
The math of Combinations is straight forward. The larger the set to draw from, the more unique combinations are inevitable. The Leonardo event stimulates our work with more than purchasing power. People connect, suggest and inspire. John of the Engineering School speaks with Anne of the Economic Development Corporation, who has supported MakeHaven to which our apprentice Alex belongs whose father talks with John about biomedical innovation. This goes on in a chain that links the building. Or the entire staff of New Haven Reads attends with the contributing artist Ethel and discovers that we have preschool book programs that will enrich their work.

-1
Many of us cannot forget the absence of Ann Lindbeck whose life was cut short last Fall. Directly or indirectly she was a part of 17 Challenges. She helped plan and install them. She made beautiful pieces for them. Sally and I know that for every Challenge to come, we will hear her quiet, yet forceful voice and recall her impeccable eye and touch. She was a work of art.

Sometime, come sit on her bench in the Waterlab and enjoy the river.

And yes, we are prepared to begin again. Mark this date in your calendar. Send us your questions, suggestions and recommendations while the memory of the evening is still fresh.

Bill Brown, Director
Sally Hill, Principal Designer

Numbers
In the late middle ages, a new arithmetic followed the spice trade from India to Italy on Arab ships. It brought place value, simplified calculation, and the digits we recognize as our own. These were the type of numbers Gutenberg needed for his press. These are the numbers that Leonardo learned in his apprenticeship with Verrocchio.

Leonardo’s Passion
We call Leonardo a polymath, a synonym for Renaissance Man, derived from the same base (knowing) that gives us the word mathematics. Leonardo loved the certainty of mathematics. He studied with Friar Luca Pacioli, an esteemed theoretician who began his training in merchant math. Leonardo threw himself into the classical problems of Fibonacci and Archimedes. There is no science without mathematics, Leonardo proclaimed. Yet he was seduced by the ideal, and perhaps subjective, forms of proportion, harmony and cosmic symmetry. Which has caused art historians to dissect Mona Lisa’s smile with a compass and ample exegesis or to spot microscopic numbers mischievously coded in her eye.

The Challenge
That’s the Challenge: pick a number*. Pick any number whose form or material or meaning appeals to you. Elaborate the number (you may recall this pastime from elementary school). Add, subtract, multiply or divide the number with your methods and media. Search for the prime, the pure, the constant. Or unveil the mystical, the mirth or the magic in numbers.

* Our CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) Machine has produced a myriad of Baltic Birch numerals in the Old Style found in Leonardo’s Notebooks. Different sizes are available.

The Benefit
Leonardo daVinci painted with unrivaled vision, explored science with modern logic, and invented with pure imagination. The Leonardo Challenge celebrates one of his inventions: improvisational creativity. One hundred artists, designers, and playful spirits will transform a common object – this year: numbers – with wit, whimsy and artistry.

The April 26th Benefit will revel in those artists’ creativity. Through their generosity, and yours, the evening will support workshops and outreach for a new generation of Leonardo’s.