July Issue 2001
Rosen Lecture and Sculpture Walk Scheduled for July 28 at An Appalachian Summer Festival in Boone, NC
The 15th Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition, a focal point of An Appalachian Summer Festival, will present a sculpture walk led by juror Richard Hunt on July 28 at 10am, followed by a reception. The lecture will take place in the Catherine J. Smith Gallery, located in the lobby of Farthing Auditorium on the Appalachian State University campus in Boone, NC. Selected works remain on display throughout the academic year.
The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the sculpture walk, and the lecture, sculpture walk, and reception are free and open to the public.
Celebrating its fifteenth season, this national, juried competition enjoys a longevity rare for exhibitions of its type. The exhibition is made possible by the generosity of Martin and Doris Rosen, and features a remarkable array of contemporary sculpture. The competition provides cash awards for ten artists, chosen from a wide range of established and emerging artists. In 2000, works were submitted by sculptors from 24 states, with the top award going to Amy Gerhauser for her work "Sheltering Spiral II".
2001 Finalists are: Robert Pulley, Columbus, IN, Emergent Force, stoneware clay; Dora Natella, Eugene, OR, Timeless/Luovo, polyester resin, steel, and rocks; Brett Hunter, Harrisonburg, VA, Learn to Swim, granite and steel; Robbie Barber, Woodway, TX, Texas Two-Step, steel, paint, and found objects; Glenn Phifer, Boone, NC, Totemic XX, welded aluminum and copper sheet; Dennis Peacock, Knoxville, TN, Prometheus (Still Stealing Fire), steel; Robert Spinazzola, Hastings on Hudson, NY, Dream Deferred, steel; Scott Wallace, Hendricks, MN, Keepsake, bronze; and Ann Melanie, Winterville, NC, Mass, welded painted steel. The Site-Specific Winner is Severn Eaton of Winston-Salem, NC. The work will be completed on-site.
Participation by nationally known jurors and artists have contributed to the longevity and continued success of the program. This tradition continues during the competition's 15th season, with the selection of juror internationally renowned sculptor Richard Hunt, who served as the competition's first juror in 1987.
Recounts Hunt, "My career in sculpture began in 1955. It was then, while still a student, I began to exhibit my sculpture around Chicago in all sorts of places: art fairs, small galleries, local art centers, and the like. During the twelve years that followed, my sculptural development grew as a private, independent, studio-based, self-generated activity that responded to the stimuli I supplied and the skills I could master.
Then in 1967, I began work on Play, a commissioned sculpture which my studio could not accommodate. I started to work on sculpture for the first time outside of my studio, on a time and material basis in a metal fabrication shop, with the help of other men and machines. Play, as I look back on it, began what has been a second career for me, that of a public sculptor. The dimensions of this second career, which remains inextricably linked with the first, were not clear in that beginning, and have only become apparent to me with time and reflection on its course.
Work in the factory contrasts with work in the studio, where the sculptor's head, hand, and hammer can shape an idea in a spontaneous generation, which is frozen in time as it is fused with the torch's heat. Outside the studio, the sculptors horizons broaden to the limits of the possible; that is to the extent the sculptor can conceive of, and master, the interactive possibilities. These possibilities are often realized through the creative interaction of the artist with patrons, or patron groups in their conception, and with engineers, technicians, and tradesmen in their execution. Outside of the studio, the sculptor's internal dialogue gives way to the dialogue that a sculpture sets up with the environment the sculpture is created for.
Public sculpture responds to the dynamics of a community, or of those in it, who have a use for sculpture. It is this aspect of use, of utility, that gives public sculpture its vital and lively place in the public mind.
The challenges utility brings to the sculptor's mind and art, are as varied as the people and the sites encountered with each commission. As sculptors in our time respond creatively to the challenges that the opportunities for the greater utilization of sculpture impose, we establish links with the greatest traditions in sculpture, and with the largest and most diverse audience sculpture has ever had."
The "Rosen" exhibition sites allow the featured works to be complemented by the natural beauty of the Appalachian campus, and experienced in a casual and unhurried way by visitors, students, and faculty members.
Selected works remain on display throughout the academic year. A catalogue featuring reproductions of each selected sculpture, and a map indicating a walking tour of the sites, is available at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery, located in Farthing Auditorium. All works featured in the exhibit are available for purchase, and a price list is also available at the gallery.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings or contact Hank Foreman, Director/Curator, Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, at 828/262-3017 or on the web at (www.appsummer.org).
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