Laura Belsey's Photo Exhibition A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A PUDDLE Opens Tomorrow

From tomorrow, January 7, 2016 through February 28, 2016, The Sheen Center, New York's new downtown cultural initiative at 18 Bleecker Street, will host A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A PUDDLE - a photo exhibition by Laura Belsey, an artist and director of television and documentaries. This truly "only in New York" exhibit opens with an artist reception at The Sheen Center on Thursday, January 7 from 6:00 - 8:00pm.

About A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A PUDDLE from the artist, Laura Belsey:

"A few steps away from my apartment, along Avenue of the Americas in Greenwich village, there is a permanent puddle. In the summer it stinks. One day, instead of just leaping over it, I decided to be a good citizen and do something about it. So I called 311. Inevitably, I was endlessly put on hold, then bounced from department to department. Everyone claimed they had no jurisdiction over the puddle. Finally, my complaint was filed with the Department of Heath and Mental Hygiene.

"To document my case, I began taking photographs of the puddle. But almost instantly something unexpected happened. Every day I would discover something new in this overlooked nuisance. My perma-puddle became an ever-changing kaleidoscope, refracting facets of my neighborhood, the season or my mood. Contradictions abounded. I found great beauty and possibility in this often trash-filled gutter.

"I never did send the photos to the city. A few months later I received a letter saying that the investigation was closed. But my puddle, where garbage and the heavens merge, remains."

"A Year in the Life of a Puddle" photo exhibit will be on view daily from January 7 through February 28, 9:00a.m. - 6:00p.m. and will be open to ticket holders before and after Sheen Center events.

Named after the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, best known for his popular radio and TV ministry in the 1950s and 60s, The Sheen Center is the newest arts center in Manhattan in 35 years, and will showcase works that affirm the highest values of the human spirit through the performing and visual arts, symposia, lectures and exhibits. The state-of-the-art complex has a 274-seat proscenium theater equipped with five-camera high-definition livestream capability and a multi-track recording studio with thirty-two onstage inputs; an 80-seat black box theater; four rehearsal studios; and an art gallery.

For more information, visit www.sheencenter.org, or follow on www.facebook.com/sheencenter and Twitter @SheenCenter.

LAURA BELSEY is a filmmaker and artist based in New York City. She has directed across several genres - including episodic television, commercials, documentary, and short films. Recently, Belsey directed episodes of "Criminal Minds", "Law & Order SVU", "NCIS New Orleans", "Beyond Borders", "Unforgettable" and "Stitchers". Prior to directing television, Belsey helmed hundreds of commercials and has won numerous international awards, including a Cannes Gold Lion. Her "New York, New York" spot for the Coalition For The Homeless, hailed by the New York Times as "one of the most remarked on, and remarkable, examples of the puissance of public service advertising", is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Her feature-length documentary, Katrina's Children, which explores the impact of Hurricane Katrina strictly from the point of view of children from different neighborhoods of New Orleans, was selected by Booklist Editors' Choice as one of the ten best documentaries of 2008. Belsey currently serves on the Directors Guild of America's Eastern Directors Council. She is co-chair of the DGA Eastern Directors Council's Focus On Women committee.