Parisian event to raise money for disabled artist
Vaudeville-style event to help woman's friend study in Paris
BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF ISABELL VILLACIS Isabell Villacis poses next to the Eiffel Tower sculpture she and her friend Kathryn Heitman made out of coffee cups. Heitman is hosting a "La Partie D'Isabell" at the Metuchen Forum Theatre on Feb. 13 to raise money to make Isabell's dream of travelling to Paris come true.

METUCHEN - Kathryn Heitman is one step closer to making her physically disabled friend and artist Isabell Villacis' life dream to travel to Paris a reality.

Heitman, with help from local businesses, her family and Isabell's family, and Scanlon Communications, will host a "night in Paris" at the Metuchen Forum Theatre, which they have named "La Partie D'Isabell." The night, which will have a vaudeville feel to it, will include an evening of art, song, romance, tasty treats, fun and folly - all things Parisian - to help Isabell realize her dream to study in the City of Light and meet with art galleries and show her work.

"I wanted to make the night have an old-style and old-time feel," she said, "with vaudeville characters such as the cancan, flamenco, and fan dancers."

The night will also include an art exhibition and auction, chocolates, French pastries and champagne, an old-time photo stand with costumes, Miss Saturn and her hula hoops, and flowers sold by strolling cigarette-girl-styled beauties.

The show will be dedicated to Ed Purcelly, who passed away in November.

"Ed gave me the idea to hold the show in the forum, since he was working there at the time," said Heitman. "He said he would donate his time, so we decided to dedicate this show to him."

Isabell, who lives in Bound Brook, was born with cerebral palsy and has no use of her arms and legs; however, she has found her artistic voice through a painstakingly tedious process of communicating each stroke, each color, each tool and texture, and each step of every piece of art to able-bodied assistants referred to as "neutral arms trackers." Jurists and art professionals have acclaimed her work in both local and New York art scenes.

"I started painting on my own time when I was 16," said Isabell, who is 27 years old now and works in a painting program in Princeton. "I didn't know it would get this far. I do abstract art, paintings, sculptures, graphic design and composing. My dream is to go to Paris because I admire all the Paris painters. I like abstract artists like Jackson Pollack [an influential American painter and a major force in the abstract expressionist movement], Henri Matisse [a French painter, sculptor, and lithographer] and Mark Rothko [a Latvian-born American painter who was classified as an abstract expressionist]."

It was a year ago when Heitman, who met Isabell almost two years ago, came up with the idea to raise money for Isabell to go to Paris.

"At the same time, I was raising money for myself to go travel through Europe, and I got a chance to," said Heitman, who studied in London. "We didn't know how the idea would go, but our goal is to raise between $8,000 and $10,000."

When Heitman and Isabell met, they found out that they had many similarities and have become very good friends.

"She's three months older than I am," said Heitman. "We are both highly creative and a little crazy. We both have grand ideas for our projects; everything has to be 12 feet tall or bigger."

The two were able to make an Eiffel Tower sculpture out of coffee cup holders.

"It took 100 hours of work," said Heitman. "And we painted it black."

Heitman kept her idea a secret because she wanted to surprise Isabell, who dreams of going to the Louvre, Eiffel Tower and the Moulin Rouge. Heitman also was not 100 percent sure whether the show would be a success or not, and didn't want to get Isabell's hopes up.

"I wanted to wait until at least the new year," she said. "But that didn't work. I was selling these little gift bags, and I told Isabell to make bookmarks so I could enter her into a bookmark contest. She would come to me every week and ask, 'Did I win, did I win?' And every week, I would have to tell her to try again. We were able to sell 250 bags."

Isabell found out the truth in a Philadelphia bar in November.

"I thought it was a joke," she said. " I was in shock. We went down to Philadelphia to see our friend Lene Keingarski's art show. I couldn't believe it."

"La Partie D'Isabell" will be held 7-11 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Metuchen Forum Theatre, 314 Main St. Tickets are $20 general and $50 VIP and can be purchased at the door or reserved in advance by calling Friends of Isabell at (512) 417 5498.

The local businesses that helped with the event include the Metuchen Forum Theatre; the Raconteur; Dan Yacowitz of Global Gourmet in Asbury Park; Metuchen Dance Center; Metuchen High School; Metuchen resident Mike Gurzo, who donated $125 so they could hold a dress rehearsal; Sean Ryan, who is the stage manager; Lene Keingarski; Hands Helping Hands in Nutley; and Café Paris.