06-29-2023 Howard Magazine - Flipbook - Page 12
3 THINGS
BY MIKE KLINGAMAN Howard Magazine
PHOTO BY KARL MERTON FERRON
Lee Andersen
ManneqART founder
She’s a free spirit in the fashion world,
an art clothing designer who grew up Down
Under — and then turned her trade upside
down. Lee Andersen would as soon tout
dresses made of wood, metal or paper as those
stitched of fabric. Does that garb come off the
rack? Try off the wall.
“I’ve always challenged the status quo and
gone against the grain,” said Andersen, of Columbia, winner of the 2023 Howie Award for
Outstanding Artist by the Howard County Arts
Council. “I don’t fit the normal parameters.”
Ten years ago, the New Zealand native
founded ManneqART, a nonprofit bent on
inspiring imaginative couturiers to create
nontraditional sculpture on the human form.
Think clothing made using everything from
hubcaps to pingpong balls to playing cards.
Her own innovative designs favor more
wearable art. Steven Tyler, of Aerosmith, wore
an Andersen duster on “American Idol.”
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| Summer 2023 | howardmagazine.com
Here are three things to know about
Andersen:
A cookie brought Andersen and her
love together.
“While on a train [to Baltimore], I was looking for a place to sit when I saw this guy — and
my knees went weak. His briefcase was on
the next seat over, so I sat behind him. Then I
went to the bar, got two chocolate chip cookies, came back and said, ‘Would you like one?’
He said, ‘Yes, would you like to sit down?’
“We chatted for two hours; it was like we’d
known each other forever. A year later, Al
[Scolnik] and I married at the Ellicott City
courthouse. We’ve been together 34 years.”
Though 66, her college days are here
and now.
“I’m studying at the Maryland Institute
College of Art, to earn a Masters of Fine
Arts. [Classmates] call me ‘grandma,’ but I
like to learn something new every day. As a
mixed-media artist, I want to do sculpture,
ceramics and woodworking. I’ll take a metalworking class in September because I’d like to
do welding.”
Cancer has not curtailed her dreams.
“I have [stage 4] colon cancer, which has
spread to my lungs. But I’m on chemotherapy
and have gone into remission before. Kids
have drawn beautiful fake tattoos on my bald
head.
“I tell people to get colonoscopies, which
I did not. I thought I was invincible; I have
such high energy that I never took my body
seriously. I kept ignoring the pain because I
was tough and thought I could handle it.
“I live every day as fully as I can. It’s
healthy to have a reason to wake up in the
morning.”