RACINE — After almost a decade of posing as a life figure model, Joseph Vignieri will tell his story — to Racine and to the world.
The Racine- and Kenosha-based artist and stage actor is producing a documentary titled, “Life Model Protégé.”
Along with interviews with other artists and life figure models, and demonstrations of life figure drawings, Vignieri will perform a monologue to be included in the film at 7 p.m. Aug. 13 the Racine Theatre Guild, 2519 Northwestern Ave.
Admission is free and tickets may be reserved at racinetheatre.org/rentals-events.
Because the production will be filmed, all attendees must consent to possibly being on camera.
Vignieri said the 20-minute monologue is an “audio-visual accompanied walk-through” of his journey to life figure modeling and will be the “culmination” of the film.
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“I’m going to tell my story, and I want to invite Racine,” he said.
Vignieri started life figure modeling in 2015; since then, he has posed almost 1,400 times and has trained 108 protégés.
He first spoke to The Journal Times about his craft in 2018.
In 2020, Vignieri opened his first life figure drawing studio. After transitioning through multiple spaces, the Draw Joseph Studio is now part of the 16th Street Art Gallery, where he has 3,000 square feet for artists and models to utilize.
The space can comfortably hold about 30 artists at a time, Vignieri said.
The set-up of the studio, which is housed in the Racine Business Center at 1405 16th St., was designed with filmmaking in mind.
Other than footage shot over the city from a drone, the remainder of the documentary has been filmed at the studio.
Vignieri said he had “no desire” to make “Life Model Protégé” anywhere other than Racine, which he said is a “vibrant” art community.
“People may say that Kenosha and Racine are just these little backwaters. It’s like something you ignore before … you’re in Illinois and Chicagoland,” Vignieri said. “But what I’ve learned from all of what I’ve done in figure art and doing the studio and doing proteges, is that this is a vibrant community, and this is fertile soil.”
For more information about Vignieri and his studio, visit drawjoseph.com.
