"Over the years, I have made a number of 'Dragons'. While there are conventions for dragons, the appellation is a convenient title for an unknown critter, because a dragon can essentially be whatever one says it is.
Sculpturally, Doggie Dragon is a composition of opposing curves which create a harmonious silhouette. The shapes of the sculpture dialog around the central negative space.
- Peter Haines
Boston Sculptors Gallery member and co-founder Mac Dewart has a busy summer ahead! Please see below for a few highlights of his current and upcoming exhibits-
Larz Anderson Park, Brookline Mass., Golden Bow
Sculpture Now, The Mount, Lenox, MA, REMIX EXHIBITION, curated by Ann Jon
Free tours July 10, August 14, September 11, October 16: all tours at 11:30 AM
Book event, Poems about Sculpture, Poetry Reading October 16 2 PM with regional poets
Featuring Donegal's Gate and One Bright Morning by Murray Dewart
The Kennard Park Sculpture Trail, Newton MA September 1st - November 11th
Curated by Allison Newsome. Opening Sept 10th, 2016 1:00 - 5:00pm
Featuring Sun Pavilion and Red Wing Gate by Murray Dewart
Cove Gallery, Wellfleet, featuring new sculpture by Murray Dewart: Sabbath Loaf, Byzantium, and more..
Saratoga Race Track Hotel, Kyrie Gate. permanent installation
Book Release, Poems about Sculpture, Murray Dewart, editor, preface by Robert Pinsky, September 2016
Poetry Event, Harvard Bookstore, with Robert Pinsky, Sept 28, 7 PM
It's been 127 days since my first show at Boston sculptors gallery. The first 30 days after the show was all about decompression. I had spent almost an entire year working up to the show. No, not all of it was studio time, but a good solid 8 months. These 8 months were very intense. Its not often that I devote nearly a year to being in my studio working on my art. The fallout is a studio in ruin.
So, nearly six month out from my last show and I am compelled to create a new body of work. My studio still hasn't fully recovered from the tumult, but in the midst of this chaos I am starting to look for clues from the remnants of my previous sculpture and it is here that I am finding new paths forward. I need to be careful when cleaning and organizing my space not to erase these creative bookmarks that I have left for myself. I don't yet know where I am going with my newest work but I do know it will stand on the shoulders of my previous sculptures
- Johnathan Derry
The importance of process in my practice often surfaces when discussing a body of my work. However, in viewing my latest exhibition Imaginate—its clean lines, crafted and polished surfaces, objects inspired by design and displayed as merchandise—one might question why all evidence of process (as defined by making) has been disguised. For me, process comes in the making, but most prominently in my interaction with the objects and apparatus as they materialize—a renovation that has become an obsession and delivered fulfillment—the continuous squeeze of the caulk gun, the tidiest wipe of the excess with a towel that had been twisted and turned to expose the clean fold. Tactility, sensation, perceived functionality and my physical relationship to the finished objects and materials around me (and in the moment) inspires my practice. I have discovered so much in the simple gestures of the viewer eager to wipe their hands upon the towels.
- Amy Archambault
"Journey . . .” has been evolving over the past eight years at David Lang's Studio in Natick, MA. The actual development and construction of "Journey . . .” has taken just over a year and is the result of close collaboration with friends Greg Paul, Felicia Nickola and his brother Bob Lang. The work entails smooth gentle coordinated motion of three sets of wings, which receive a 40 minute projected video accompanied by a haunting and enigmatic soundtrack, slowly turning large wheels at one revolution per minute and a small person pedaling the entire machine at one revolution per second. The installation offers the opportunity to consider where we fit into the infinite time and space continuum of our universe...
- David A. Lang
"JOURNEY . . ." by David A. Lang, Interactive Multimedia Kinetic Sculpture, 11’ x 13’ x 4'
"JOURNEY . . ." by David A. Lang, Interactive Multimedia Kinetic Sculpture, 11’ x 13’ x 4'
From the Press Release:
Kim Bernard’s solo show Motion and Matter at the Harvard Ed Portal’s Crossings Gallery is a celebration of repurposed, reimagined, and recycled materials fashioned into pieces as thought-provoking as they are whimsical. The installation features kinetic sculptures made of balls and springs and hyperbolic planes crocheted out of used bicycle inner tubes. Bernard, who is the Artist-in-Residence at the Harvard Physics Department, says the exhibition “provides a tangible way of seeing physics,” and the works on display are influenced by her research,experimentation, and collaboration with faculty during her time on campus.
Quiver
Kim Bernard's recent exhibit at the Harvard Ed Portal from April 11 - May 19th was the culmination for her 1 1/2 year residency in the Harvard Physics Department.
50 Springs
Hyperbolic Cluster
"Breasts/Nests" in process
Michelle Lougee has returned to neutral toned beige plastic bags for several pieces in her current exhibit "Contra Naturam" at Boston Sculptors Gallery. The material is visually similar to many colors and textures found in nature. Her crocheted sculptures begin with one stitch, then become a chain, then a segment. Eventually segments are joined to create a larger finished piece. Here is an in process image of the sculpture Breasts/Nests and an installation shot of the piece in the gallery.
"Breasts/Nests" finished piece
Two bodies of work comprise Jessica Straus’s current exhibition, “Uh Oh!” Utilizing non-
potable water signage sliced to near illegibility, Straus has constructed water storage
containers that suggest an absurd, last ditch effort to hang onto humanity’s most precious
resource. Likewise her constructed blimp-like earths with geographic maps of alarming
proportions appear to be setting out on impossible quests.
With characteristic black humor, Straus launches headlong into the apocalyptic world of
water scarcity and rising seas. She makes us wonder out loud if we have to arrive at the
“End Times” to get ourselves to focus on this most critical of human issues.
This month, we are featuring Boston Sculptors Gallery member: Caroline Bagenal ! We recently caught up with her to find out what she has going on in her studio:
"Currently I am working on three upcoming exhibitions. The first is the Kennard Park Sculpture Trail 2016, which runs from September 1st through Oct 31st at Kennard Park in Newton. I am building a site-specific sculpture, Strata for Kennard Park. My piece is comprised of layers of materials such as wooden pallets, firewood, fence posts, hay bales, stones, books, newspapers and textiles. Various histories of the park are embodied in the physical layering of materials.
On visiting the park, the old stonewalls, apple trees and an old well that I found spoke to the agricultural history of this land. Reading about the park I discovered that a section of the land in Brookline had been used as a town landfill. This led to the idea that the layers would be composed of both “ natural” and man made materials and also materials collected on the site.
Also in September is Sculpture at Maudslay, in Newburyport where I live. This year’s theme is Blue. I was one of the original founders of Sculpture at Maudslay and will be giving a walkthrough for site selection on April 23rd. This is a community run exhibition. I am painting over 200 books blue which will hang from the branches of a tree. The exhibition is up from Sept 20 – Oct 2nd.
Finally I am working on my show for next year at Boston Sculptor’s Gallery. I am planning a large installation that viewers are encouraged to enter. As you can see from photos of my studio I am working on all these projects and more!"
-Caroline Bagenal
For more information on the outdoor exhibitions see:
Brilliant Basics (2015) (functional), hardwood, latex enamel paint, carpet materials, hardware, 9 x 9 x 18 inches
Imaginate, Amy Archambault's rookie show at Boston Sculptors Gallery opens May 4th and is on view through June 5th. Since her active practice in the public art realm this past summer of 2015, Archambault has been developing an exciting new body of work. Imaginate will feature small interactive objects and large-scale works exploring the creation of play, the evolution of form, and the investigation of functionality.
Carmel (2016), various hardwood, latex enamel paint, mosaic backsplash, grout, 16 x 9 x 3 inches
In her most recent work, the objects, tools and gadgets we acquire as homeowners and "home-improvers' populate Archambault's visual lexicon. She has discovered a striking connection between her process of morphing and amalgamating objects, and the way children engage in "pretend".
Match (2016) (detail), birch plywood, carpet tiles, white-wash pickling stain, 13 x 13 x 13 inches (each)
"' Imaginate' means to be in the process of imagining and / or to form a mental picture of. In my current body of work, one which continuously dismantles the boundaries between studio practice and home-improvement, the term 'imaginate' becomes a stand-in for some state of in-between-- a place between thought and making, art and craft, the cross-pollination of constructing for one's home and creating objects as an artist, and the necessity to address perceived functionality, process and aesthetics."
- Amy Archambault
"The Aching Web," Laura Evans' current solo show at the Boston Sculptors Gallery is up through March 27th. Don't miss your chance to see this exciting new body of work before it closes in one week. The installation is not to be missed. Below, Laura offers us a glimpse into the process of making new work for this show...
“Achieving Balance” started as an idea to translate the sculptural forms I was building with wood branches into bronze. I tend to work directly with my materials, using my hands, or hand tools, so I knew that the bronze casting process would challenge how much control I was able to wield. I choose seven sticks and had a rough composition in mind, before they were sandcast. Next I watched and directed as a colleague carefully welded them together. Once I was satisfied with the way it looked, it was given a patina and a title. This process unbalanced my usual working methods in a good way."
-Laura Evans
"Answering questions about my work is always the most appealing part about an opening. In my show “Void Filler”, the question I was asked the most was, how did I get the sculpture Cool Oblation to the gallery with out it breaking. I thought it was a great question. It is a very delicate piece that is suspended from the ceiling hovering an inch or two above the ground. It was in this same position in my studio when I made it. I knew it would be challenging to transport without damaging the work, so I built a crate around it while it was suspended. The crate was heavily padded on the inside and solid on the outside. I slid a 1” metal rod across the top of the crate and through the hook that the sculpture has on top. The rod was fasted to the top of the box and the cable was released. This maintained the suspension of the sculpture in the crate. I rolled it onto a truck and drove it to the gallery where I reversed the crating process. In a little more than a week I will be doing the process all over again."
-Johnathan Derry
“Elizabeth Alexander makes sculptures, drawings, and installations through an ongoing process of deconstruction and reconstruction of objects, images, or spaces through cycles of concealment and reveal. Referencing architecture and landscape, D.I.Y. culture and decorative arts, her material exploration confronts a piecemeal narrative of an inflated American Dream by questioning perceptions of status, beauty, femininity, and class. Using domestic materials such as decorative wallpaper, images from coffee table books, and porcelain teacups, Alexander carves out environments that give equal tribute to domestic decoration and its deterioration.”
-Flanders Gallery
Spit Cake (Detail)
Boston Sculptors Gallery member Elizabeth Alexander has her work in four museum shows this month- two of which are in New England. Don't miss out on the chance to see her work locally this winter and keep an eye out for her work that is touring nationally:
1. Idle Trades, New Bedford Art Museum/ArtWorks!, Jan 19th-March 20th 2016. Idle Trades features the work of Elizabeth Alexander, Tim Bearse, Sam Duket, Brad Fesmire, Matt Murphy, and Neal Walsh. According to curator Elizabeth Murphy, “this exhibition explores what it means to create—that is, to work—by presenting a range of pieces that emphasize process. Each piece hints at the ideas from which the work proceeded, embracing at the same time notions of vision and revision.” Alexander's work "Queen's Garden II " in Idle Trades is hand cut found porcelain from a series called 'Heirloom.'
Queen's Garden II
2. State of the art: Discovering American Art Now, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Feb 18th-May 29th 2016. Liz is exhibiting a few pieces from her series called 'Heirloom,' in this travelling exhibition which was organized by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Spit Cake
3. State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now, Telfair Museums, Feb 19th-Sept 4th 2016. Liz is exhibiting a few pieces from her series called 'Heirloom,' in this travelling 'State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now' exhibition which was organized by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Gunpowder
4. Paper and Blade: Modern Paper Cutting, Fuller Craft Museum, Feb 20th-July 24th 2016.
"The work Gunpowder, created for Paper and Blade, is assembled out of 3 separate dissected rolls of vintage floral and toile wallpaper. The wallpaper, broken down by extracting the pattern by hand, is reduced to piles of color and shapes to be reordered into separate collages of its positive and negative components. Through this process the body of the paper is filled with wayward voids and the pattern becomes oversaturated through the loss of its ground, both losing some of their domestic qualities. When arranging the material into new fields of color and pattern I am struck by the direct metamorphic effects my own hand can have. I am literally causing the material to disintegrate and regenerate as I work. Because my methods are so laborious and visible, time becomes both a subject and a medium, present in the identity of the material, my process, and the result."
-Elizabeth Alexander
The Boston Sculptors Gallery is pleased to present ‘Twice as Good’, an ambitious group showcase of work by member sculptors and their selected partners/guests.
In turn, I am pleased to present work made in collaboration with my invitee, Kat Ely. As a sculptor and designer several years my junior, Kat represents what I think of as a new generation of Boston-area sculptors, who are driven, inspired, and fearless.
‘Millie’s Revenge’, 2015. 3.5”H X 2”diam. by Christopher Abrams
In spite of the differences between us—Kat is Co-founder and Principal Designer at CLEAR design labs, and is one of the few women proprietors in the field of product design and innovation, while I’m a college instructor and father of two—we share many interests and concerns. We’re both keenly interested in the methods used to create objects, and we both navigate professional terrain where working closely with others is imperative.
Our conversations revealed deeper commonalities: we’re both deeply concerned with the meanings that objects carry, and with the effects that our individual works have on our physical and cultural environments. Working together encouraged deeper reflection on how we, as sole practitioner-sculptors, affect and are affected by our greater community.
Remelt, Aluminum, beer cans, 11"X11"x10" 2015 by Kat Ely
For me, the experience has been far more than ‘Twice as Good’. Working with another talented and thoughtful artist is refreshing, provocative, and essential. We invite you to experience—and support—that insight.
-Christopher Abrams
The earth print series presented at Boston Sculptors Gallery Postcards from the Field: Contemporary Pastoralism exhibition was made in collaboration with the livestock and farmers of the small farms surrounding my studio in Western Massachusetts. I call the process a controlled happenstance. While collecting the pasture to create an earth paint, I watch the habits and movements of the farm animals; the oxen’s slow and phlegmatic swagger in contrast with the sheep’s frenetic and scittery, flock as one, movement as they are let out to pasture in the morning. This observation helps me imagine what might be captured on the print and how best to arrange the placement and situation of the canvas that will be inked and imprinted by the animals. At this moment, this series of prints of the pasture are an authentic landscape painting for me. I am brought to the action and movement happening in the fields around me, truer than any snapshot on my phone.
-Nancy Winship Milliken
Oxen Print Morning Routine, earth, canvas, sealant, 5x5’, 2015
To see more of this and other work please visit wwwcontemporarypastoralism.com a website dedicated to the Contemporary Pastoralism project in which Milliken has traded studio for farm to collaborate with the animals and people of small New England farms.
Sheep Print, Out To Pasture, earth, canvas, sealant, 27x56”, 2015
The Nancy Winship Milliken studio has also printed a fifty page book about the different farms and collaborative projects from 2008 through 2015. Get your copy here. http://nancymilliken.com/catalogs/postcards-from-the-fiel
As a child I had the basic Erector set which with which I could only make simple things like a wheelbarrow. The son of friends of ours had the set that could make the Coney Island Parachute Fall and an electric motor for huge cranes. For me his was the golden prize. Many, many years later while teaching at the Museum School I chanced to go down into a dank cellar. There on the floor, by itself, was the stuff of my dreams, the golden prize, a complete "professional set". In a nano second I had it in the truck. This find started me on a sequence of images based on set parts.
-Dan Wills
After working for many years with the inherent colors of aluminum, copper, and concrete, with only subtle variation of natural patinas, Color Constructions is a bold departure of polychrome wooden reliefs. Inspired by architectural forms, such as piers and bridges, Low Tide is composed of layers of plywood, shingles, and laths within a rectangular format. The wooden elements are painted with colors that range from the natural tonalities of piers in the harbor to the bright colors of the nylon ropes securing the boats.
-Margaret Swan
Please join Margaret Swan and concurrent artist Dan Wills for a SOWA First Friday, the last Friday of their show on November 6 from 5-8 pm.
Low Tide, 2015, acrylic on wood, 48”x36”x2”
"The story I would most like to tell about this show is about how much I have enjoyed watching viewers enter the the gallery and walk toward my piece. I programmed the piece so that the sound frequencies and string vibrations are different every time someone triggers it. Some people see the strings vibrating before they actually hear anything, some hear faint, high pitches coming from the back fliers, and some hear a sudden crashing sound that can be pretty startling. The way each person’s attention gets drawn in to the piece, and each person’s reaction, becomes an important part of the sculpture. I’ve seen people do double-takes as though they can’t quite believe what they are seeing. I’ve seen people laughing and jumping up and down, waving their arms. A lot of people get a big smile when they realize they are communicating with the sculpture, and it is responding to them."
-Andy Zimmermann
The One With Sound by Andy Zimmermann
Currently on view, this immersive, four-channel video installation by BSG member Rosalyn Driscoll and guest filmmaker Sarah Bliss highlights their deeply shared interest in the human body as both site of and source for their work. Bliss’ experience as a mover informs her physically engaged filmmaking. Driscoll’s work speaks to people’s sense of touch, proprioception, and spatiality. Here, the use of moving image to draw links between the landscapes of the human body and the earth’s body, and the choice to especially focus on older bodies (which remain less visible in our culture) make the lived experience of the aging body a central theme. Up through July 19.
The exhibition features site-specific contemporary sculptures by 24 Boston-area artists who found fresh inspiration at the former summer home, studio and gardens of noted American sculptor Daniel Chester French.
Forest Grace by The Myth Makers: Donna Dodson & Andy Moerlein, #1 on the walking map
Stockbridge, Mass. – East meets west at Chesterwood this season in the innovative, site-specific sculpture exhibition “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015”. The temporary installation, on view daily at Chesterwood from May 23 to Oct. 12, features new works by 24 members and alumni of Boston Sculptors Gallery, based in Boston’s South End. The striking artworks in the show represent a diverse range of media and styles, created in response to sources of inspiration found by the artists at Chesterwood, the former summer home, studio and gardens of Daniel Chester French, America’s foremost sculptor of public monuments. The exhibition has been supported, in part, by a grant from the Artist’s Resource Trust.
Aegis: The Sheltering Sky by Eric Sealine, #2 on the walking map
“We invited the Boston Sculptors Gallery to organize an exhibition inspired by Daniel Chester French’s life and work as well as Chesterwood’s landscape that French designed himself. Twenty-four artists from the Gallery took up the challenge and visited Chesterwood several times over the course of a year as their ideas for three-dimensional work in a variety of media and scale took shape,” said Executive Director Donna Hassler.”
Big Red by Murray Dewart, #3 on the walking map
“As sculptors, one of our tasks is to imagine and re-imagine the connection between earth and sky. Chesterwood offers the perfect landscape and setting for this,” said Boston Sculptors Gallery co-founder Murray Dewart.
Two-Sided Head by Peter DeCamp Haines, #4 on the walking map
Chesterwood is notably one of the earliest venues in the United States to successively showcase large-scale abstract, conceptual and figurative works in an outdoor setting. Since 1978, the works of more than 500 emerging and established sculptors have been exhibited at Chesterwood, including Glenda Goodacre, Sol LeWitt, Albert Paley, George Rickey and Richard Stankiewicz. Chesterwood’s annual sculpture exhibition commemorates Daniel Chester French’s distinguished life and career and provides an important platform for contemporary American sculptors.
Threading Yellow by Laura Evans, #5 on the walking map
“We are thrilled to bring our work to Chesterwood and to being a part of the incredible array of arts-focused places in the Berkshires,” said Boston Sculptors Gallery artist Nancy Winship Milliken, who co-organized the exhibition with colleague Andy Zimmermann and Chesterwood’s executive director.
Time and Tide by Andrea Thompson, #6 on the walking map
During the past year, the exhibiting artists visited Chesterwood to select locations for their sculptures—choices that included the French family estate’s home, verdant lawns, formal gardens, bucolic woodland paths and French’s newly restored studio—and have created works in reaction to experiencing this historic and picturesque site. As a result, some artists branched into the use of new materials and sculptural techniques. For others it was an opportunity to bring their indoor studio practices into a fresh and inspirational environment. The exhibition represents a rich and diverse variety of sculptural languages in a wide range of materials including stone, steel, wood, bronze, fiberglass, plastic and paper.
Cistern by Rosalyn Driscoll, #7 on the walking map
Participating artists include Elizabeth Alexander, Caroline Bagenal, Kim Bernard, Murray Dewart, Donna Dodson, Rosalind Driscoll, Laura Evans, Sally Fine, Peter DeCamp Haines, Mags Harries, Niho Kozuru (alumni), David Lang, Michelle Lougee, Nancy Winship Milliken, Andy Moerlein, Eric Sealine, Nancy Selvage, Marilu Swett, The Myth Makers (a joint collaboration of Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein), Andrea Thompson, Nora Valdez, Leslie Wilcox, Andy Zimmermann and Christina Zwart.
Golden Dream by Elizabeth Alexander, #8 on the walking map
An artist’s reception for “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015” will be held on Saturday, June 27, from 4 to 7 p.m. The event will include walking tours with artists whose works are on view. Admission is $10 for Chesterwood members and $20 for non-members.
Swallowtail Chrysalis by Michelle Lougee, #9 on the walking map
In conjunction with the exhibition, artists from Boston Sculptors Gallery will present “Saturday Art Programs”, a family-friendly series of art tours, demonstrations and workshops, including talks about their work in relation to Chesterwood and the surrounding Berkshire landscape, from June 6 through Sept. 12 at 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The programs are free with admission.
Heads or Tails by Christina Zwart, #10 on the walking map
June 6
“A Walk in the Woods”. Explore outdoor sculptures in “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015” with artists Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein, whose work is in the exhibition. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission. Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein, the Myth Makers, will greet curious sculpture enthusiasts and stroll the lovely landscape of Chesterwood contributing inside information on the sculptures on display. This Mythic duo know well the personalities behind the work and have pertinent information about the media and concepts presented in this large exhibition by the Boston Sculptors Gallery. Dress for the weather and enjoy some space outdoors with art.
Chesterwood Chain by Marilu Swett, #11 on the walking map
June 13
Art program with sculptors Nora Valdez, Michelle Lougee and Caroline Baganal, in conjunction with the exhibition “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015”. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission.
Trans-Situation by Mags Harries, #12 on the walking map
June 20
“Pollinators of the Garden and the Imagination”. Explore nature’s pollinators and sculptures on Chesterwood’s grounds with scientist Bill Stubblefield, naturalist Kimberly Lenz, and sculptor Nancy Selvage, whose artwork in the exhibition “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015” was inspired by the pollination process. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission. Bill Stubblefield is an evolutionary biologist with a research focus on Hymenoptera, the order of insects that include bees, wasps, ants, and sawflies. Kimberly Lenz is an artist and naturalist with extensive field experience. Nancy Selvage created a sculpture inspired by the process of pollination for the Boston Sculptors exhibition at Chesterwood.
Landmark I, II and III by Nancy Winship Miliken, #13 on the walking map
June 27
Opening reception with the artists of “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015” featuring 24 site-specific sculptures and installations. Includes walking tours with the artists. 4 to 7 p.m. $10 members; $20 non-members.
Inside Home by Nora Valdez, #14 on the walking map
July 11
“Sculpture and the New England Landscape”. Tour Chesterwood’s grounds with sculptors Rosalyn Driscoll who will discuss how the sculptural installations in “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015” correspond to New England’s architectural elements and landforms. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission.
Words and Leaves by Caroline Bagenal, #15 on the walking map
July 18
Penny Portrait! Art program with sculptors Christina Zwart and David Lang, in conjunction with the exhibition “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015”, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission.
Help us honor Daniel Chester French and his iconic design of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Since an image of his sculpture also appears on the penny, come help build a portrait of our 16thpresident out of pennies! Help yourself to our stash, or bring your own!
Ancient Migration by Andy Moerlein, #16 on the walking map
July 25
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Sculpture
Art program with sculptors Murray Dewart and Eric Sealine, in conjunction with the exhibition “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015”. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission.
Murray Dewart and Eric Sealine will discus the "why?" as well as the "how?" of the works. They will tour the grounds and discuss the sculptures. They will answer questions and provide insights about the work. Each piece has a story.
Barkmoore by Leslie Wilcox, #17 on the walking map
Aug. 1
“Walking the Line A Drawing/Mapping Workshop for all ages" led by Laura Evans of Boston Sculptors Gallery. Tour Chesterwood’s grounds and then create a map – either real or imaginary. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission. Families welcome. We will walk together to see and respond to the sculpture on display. Afterwards we will draw a map of a walk we’ve taken - either at Chesterwood or a familiar daily path. Materials provided.
Floating Flower by Andy Zimmermann, #18 on the walking map
Aug. 8
"A Walk and Talk about Process and Substance," Art program with sculptors Niho Kozuru and Leslie Wilcox, in conjunction with the exhibition “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015”, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission.
Madam President by Donna Dodson, #19 on the walking map
Aug. 22
“Folding Fans and Billowing Bark WORKSHOPS” with sculptors Sally Fine and Leslie Wilcox of Boston Sculptors Gallery. Learn about the history and language of fans and make small, accordion-folded, paper hand fans. Fine’s “Fan Scepter” sculpture is on view in the exhibition “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015”. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission.
Sally Fine will make small accordion-fold hand fans with sheets of paper, wooden sticks and glue. Your newly made fan can be used to cool yourself as you stroll the grounds on this August day and view the other sculptures. Sally will discuss the history and language of fans during this workshop.
Leslie Wilcox will ‘hem’ and shape bark-like shards of soft wire screen such as those embellishing her piece BARKMOORE. Leslie will talk about her techniques for working with metal screens and will describe her process for tailoring each sculpture to its’ site.
Aspect I by David Lang, #20 on the walking map
Aug 29
Sculpture and the New England Landscape
Art program with sculptor Nancy Milliken, in conjunction with the exhibition “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015”, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission.
Tour the grounds of Chesterwood with Nancy Winship Milikin who will be talking about Boston Sculpture Gallery’s installations in relation to the architectural elements and landforms of New England.
Biomorphic Connection by Niho Kozuru, #21 on the walking map
Sept. 12
“Pinwheels and Floating Flowers Workshop”. Join sculptors Kim Bernard and Andy Zimmermann of Boston Sculptors Gallery in this playful and engaging hands-on workshop and sculpture tour for adults and children. Participants will make pinwheels and floating flowers and learn about kinetics and wind power. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with admission.
Third Wind by Kim Bernard, #22 on the walking map
Alongside Chesterwood’s “Boston Sculptors Gallery at Chesterwood 2015”, the Concord Art Association in Concord, Mass., is presenting an exhibition of the work of 24 Boston Sculptors Gallery artists in the exhibition “Boston Sculptors in Concord”. The show runs from June 18 through Aug. 15 and is curated by renowned sculptor Joseph Wheelwright.
Pollinate by Nancy Selvage, #23 on the walking map
In an interesting twist, Daniel Chester French was the first president of the Concord Art Association’s board of directors in 1922. During French’s tenure, the 60 painters and 18 sculptors exhibiting at the then-named Concord Art Centre were many of the period’s most significant American artists, including Claude Monet, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, Thomas Dewing, Robert Henri, Frank W. Benson, Cecilia Beaux, Laura Coombs Hills, Alexander Stirling Calder, George Bellows, Willard L. Metcalf…and Daniel Chester French.
Fan Scepter by Sally Fine, #24 on the walking map
About Boston Sculptors Gallery
Founded in 1992 by 18 prominent Boston-area artists to present and promote innovative, challenging sculpture and installations, Boston Sculptors Gallery is the only sculptors’ organization in the United States that maintains its own exhibition space. The cooperative has presented more than 250 exhibitions and has supported the work of 58 sculptors in 48 states and 36 countries.
Boston Sculptors Gallery articulates, challenges, and promotes the role of sculpture in the public sphere, in communities, and in the lives of individuals. In addition to the continuing program of exhibits in the gallery in Boston’s South End, the organization has presented exhibitions of its sculptors in other venues and countries including “Ovid’s Girls – Overlaps and Undercurrents – Boston/Berlin” (Berlin and Memmingen, Germany, 2014), “Visions/Visiones” (Cusco, Peru, 2013), “Convergence” on the 14-acre Christian Science Plaza (Boston, 2013), “Re-Shaping Reality” at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center (Vt., 2010), and at the Fitchburg Art Museum (Mass., 2007). For more information, see www.bostonsculptors.com
About Concord Art Association
Since its’ founding in 1917, the Concord Art Association promotes and advances contemporary art through exhibitions, lectures and classes. It also maintains a small permanent collection of art produced by leading early 20th century artists. For more information, see www.concordart.org
About Chesterwood
Chesterwood, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is the summer home, studio and gardens of America’s foremost sculptor of public monuments, Daniel Chester French (1850-1931). French is best known for his sculptures of the Minute Man (1875) and the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln (1922) for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
Situated on 122 acres in the idyllic hamlet of Glendale near Stockbridge, Mass., the property and its buildings were donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation by French’s only child Margaret French Cresson (1889-1973). Chesterwood is recognized as both a National Historic Landmark and a Massachusetts Historic Landmark. For more information, see www.chesterwood.org.
All photos courtesy Paul Rocheleau.
