Tuesday, June 30, 2009

It may be art but is it stimulus?

Recently reading Sculpture Magazine, I read an editorial from the Chairman of the Board of the International Sculpture Center, Josh Kanter.
Josh proposes a case for looking at the ongoing argument of supporting the arts or not supporting in new light.

I too, think it is time to retire the argument. The arts are the soul of a creative society.


It may be art but is it stimulus? There has been a lot of press about the arts lately. Some articles focus on the funding difficulties facing nonprofits in the current economic environment, others on the dwindling number of nonprofits and the resulting loss of art opportunities for children and society. Still others discuss whether the arts—and public support—are stimulative.

However, I would like to argue for intellectual honesty in the discussion.

Is spending on the arts stimulative? What, after all, is stimulus?

To read the entire article more

The debate continues .
Published with permission of Sculpture Magazine.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Get outside

This beautiful weather makes me want to spend more time outdoors. With this in mind, I ponder creating spaces for sculpture outside in our personal environments. Now is the time of year to install sculpture in our gardens, in our woods or on our decks. The ability to interact with artworks outdoors is not a new concept.

In centuries past, we were shown gardens filled with sculpture in the somewhat formal landscapes of the English, Italians or French. Themes for sculptures might range from human or animal form, humorous, abstract to utilitarian. Sculpture creates scale in our landscape. Depending on placement, create a unexpected surprise in a landscaped vista.

Today, we enjoy sculpture in a natural and or created environment, perhaps a less formal style than previous designed gardens. Our gardens like our walls of our homes are a personal expression. Indoors and out, living with the beauty of art, is a constant theme.

This past week, I helped with 2 sculpture installations. One for a client and one in my own yard. It's all about incorporating sculpture into your environment. The places where art and nature intersect. It is the texture, the ability to touch and how bronze or stone feels to your touch. The light bouncing off the surface. These special places allow us to reflect and to meditate.

Take a look out side. Find a spot for art in your yard. This is a good thing.

Sculpture news:

Walking past the gallery, Winter Mandala, by David Eisenhour is on view. This bronze was recently written up in Sculpture Magazine, June 2009...."loosely referenced Buddhist spirituality, it also suggested the balance between man and the natural world. David taking inspiration from a sand dollar that served as a personal meditative aid, David's larger than life bronze form displays the marine animals' five fold radial symmetry, together with the pores that draw water into internal vascular system and allow it to move, thereby underscoring an important interdependence between the environment and those that live in it "....


Tom Small
will install a new steel and stone sculpture in front of the gallery sometime next week. Pretty exciting to have another beautiful piece of sculpture outside. The gallery has been showing Tom's work for 23 years. Inside the gallery, are a few stone basin sculpture that would be a beautiful addition to any garden.

If you have peeked in the gallery's rear windows, one cannot help but smile at
Barbara Duzan's latest paper mache image sculpture, "I am a star". A black and white dog sits with foot resting on a hand beaded starred ball. The look in this dogs eyes is hard to resist.

[No this one is for indoor only]. And then there were bronze puppies, Yes that 's true. There's one begging for attention, another rolling over, one playing with a butterfly and one just looking at you. They do beg for adoption.




In any weather, we can experience of art in an outdoor environment. get outside and visit a sculpture park, ie Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park, the local Wescott Bay Sculpture Park or one of my favorites, Storm King Art Center Sculpture.