Feature Articles

October Issue 2002

Brookgreen Gardens in Pawleys Island, SC, Announces Winners of National Sculpture Society Show

Carol Tarzier of Oakland, CA, was named the Gold Medal winner of the National Sculpture Society Annual Awards Exhibition at Brookgreen Gardens in Pawleys Island, SC. Fifteen other awards were given as well to sculptors around the country.

Tarzier's Venus Seated was cast in bronze; the artist said her sculptures are concerned with "the beauty of form, and form as communicating mood and emotion." The winner of the Gold Medal Award also receives the Maurice B. Hexter Prize of $3,500. The sculpture is on display with 57 other pieces in the NSS show, which is on view at Brookgreen's Rainey Sculpture Pavilion through Oct. 27, 2002.

Educated at Stanford University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Tarzier received her BA from Bennington College in 1983. She began sculpting in 1993, a few years before she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. Tarzier has taught at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and the City College of San Francisco.

In nine years, Tarzier showed sculptures in eleven solo exhibitions, several two-person shows, and numerous group exhibitions. Most recently, she has exhibited with the National Sculpture Society and in 2001 she was awarded the Alex J. Ettl Grant from the NSS.

Solitude by Kent Ullberg of Corpus Christi, TX, was the winner of the Silver Medal and John Cavanaugh Memorial Prize of $1,000. It is a bronze mountain lion that the artist said expresses the "sense of quiet and dignity" that befits the solitary existence of the creature. Ullberg, who was born in Sweden in 1945, has produced more than 50 monuments and 250 smaller castings, making him one of the most widely collected sculptors of wildlife monuments. His work may be found in museums, wildlife parks, corporate headquarters, private collections and various other prestigious institutions around the world. Ullberg is an award-winning Fellow of the National Sculpture Society.

Rain in Rome by Jane DeDecker of Loveland, CO, was the winner of the Bronze Medal and Pietro and Alfrieda Montana Memorial Prize of $750. It depicts a family huddled tightly underneath a single umbrella as they enjoy their run through the rainy streets of Rome. Having a diverse artistic background, including studies in crafts, tapestry, and anatomy, DeDecker narrowed her focus of study under sculptor George Lundeen and stone carver Robert Game. The experiences gained in this apprenticeship atmosphere have helped bring her to her current position as a prize-winning sculptor.

The fifteen awards were announced at Brookgreen by Robin Salmon, Brookgreen's Vice President and Curator of Sculpture who serves as chairman of the NSS Exhibitions Committee. The awards carry cash prizes ranging from $100 for a work by a young sculptor to $3,500 to the top winner. The actual awards and prizes were presented to the artists at a sculpture symposium held Sept. 20-22 at Brookgreen.

The jury of three who selected the winners included prominent sculptors Robert Guelich of Texas, Catherine Ferrell of Florida and Lin Nelson-Mayson, Curator of the Minnesota Museum of American Art.

Other award winners were: Wings of Power by Gerald Balciar, of Parker, CO, won the Leonard J. Meiselman Memorial Award of $700 for a realistic sculpture done in the classical tradition. Icarus by Jay Hall Carpenter of Gaithersburg, MD, won the American Renaissance for the Twenty-First Century Award of $500 for the best integration of forma and content. Portrait of a Girl by Izabella Slobodoff of Rockaway Beach, NY, won the $500 Agop Agopoff Memorial Prize for a classical sculpture. Butter Ball by Tim Cherry of Branson, MO, won the Bedi-Makky Foundry Prize of $350 for a bronze sculpture.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Floyd DeWitt of Bozeman, MT, won the Margaret Hexter Prize of $300 for a creative sculpture in the round. Dreaming the Future by Barbara Lekberg of New York, won the Edith H. and Richman Proskauer Prize of $300 for a non-traditional sculpture. The Fall by Marciano Amaral of New York, won the American Artists Professional League Award for traditional realism of $200. Small Goddess by Betty Branch of Roanoke, VA, won the C. Percival Dietsch Prize of $200 for a sculpture in the round.

Tickled by Louise Peterson of Guffey, CO, the Beverly Hoyt Robertson Memorial Award for a work by a young sculptor. Death Mask by Tuck Langland of Granger, IN, won the Polich Art Works Foundry Prize of $1,000 towards casting. Mercury by John Sisko of Seattle, WA, won the John Spring Art Founder Award of $1,000 towards casting of a bronze sculpture by Modern Art Foundry. Two Old Pros by Curt Mattson of Peoria, AZ, won the Elliot Gantz & Company Foundry Award of $500 towards casting. Silence by Gwen Marcus of New York, won the Tallix Foundry Prize of $500 credit towards casting.

The National Sculpture Society, founded in 1893, is the oldest organization of professional sculptors in the country. It has nearly 4,000 members and has a relationship with Brookgreen Gardens that goes back to the founding of the gardens in 1931. Archer Huntington was a major patron of the NSS, and Anna Hyatt Huntington was one of its earliest members. The Huntingtons developed Brookgreen and opened its doors to the public in 1932 as a place for display of sculpture in beautifully landscaped settings.

For more information call 843/235-6000 or consult their web site at (www.brookgreen.org).

Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer 427, Bonneau, SC 29431
Telephone, Answering Machine and FAX: 843/825-3408
E-Mail: info@carolinaarts.com
Subscriptions are available for $18 a year.

Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2002 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2002 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.