Volunteers needed for variety of tasks for construction of sculpture
Released: October 12, 2009
TOPEKA - Volunteers are needed to assist in harvesting the saplings, leaf removal and construction of a site specific environmental sculpture to be created at Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University. Assistance is needed Nov. 2-6, 9 -13 and 16-20 and volunteers will work 8:30 – 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 – 4 p.m. To sign up, contact Jan Bychinski at 785-670-2427.
NEWS RELEASE
Stickworks site specific sculpture project to begin at the Mulvane Art Museum
TOPEKA - Beginning Nov. 2, environmental sculptor Patrick Dougherty will expand the definition of creativity, one stick at a time.
For three weeks (through Nov. 21), the North Carolina artist will develop a site specific tree-sapling sculpture in front of the Mulvane Art Museum on the Washburn University campus in Topeka. Through his unique vision, the artist will combine his affection for nature, carpentry skills and primitive building techniques to create one of his trademark sculptures inspired by the local environment. Once completed, the sculptures are typically willowy, whimsical and windblown-looking and tower over, or fold into, buildings, trees and other landscape elements.
To create the sculpture, volunteers will harvest thousands of indigenous tree saplings in the Topeka area, which will then be brought to campus. Dougherty then begins to sketch out the lines of the structure using the saplings like a pencil on paper. The larger diameter saplings are imbedded in the ground and are used to form the armature of the sculpture. He employs the natural affinity of the branches to cling to each other without any wire, nails or clamps. Three layers of saplings are then woven onto the armature forming the skin of the piece with heavier branches used to emphasize lines and different colored branches to provide the shading.
Although his sculptures are only temporary (most last two to three years) like the saplings from which they are created, they have a natural life cycle. Eventually the saplings become brittle, disintegrate, are reduced to compost and returned to the earth.
Dougherty also positions his work in an outdoor arena and conceives his forms to the physical and social qualities of the site in which he is working. Through his sculptures he also establishes an experiential, architectural space for the viewer to explore. In all of his works, Dougherty has played with scale to transform our understanding of the things he makes. As visitors physically interact with the sculpture, it becomes more like a cathedral as its expansive interior is revealed and the walls provide a nest-like quality.
The project will offer extraordinary educational opportunities for people of all ages to learn about the artist, his creative process and a behind-the-scenes view of just how large-scale works are created. In addition to providing a broad cross section of the general public with the opportunity to meet and talk with Dougherty, numerous project inspired education programs and volunteer opportunities are planned. For more information on Dougherty and his work you can access his web site at www.stickwork.net.
EVENTS:
Artist Talk, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20, room 143, Garvey Fine Arts Center, Washburn.
Patrick Dougherty will discuss his sculptures, inspiration and use of materials.
Family/Community Day, 1 – 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21, Mulvane Art Museum.
Participants can help build a large-scale group installation in the ArtLab using recycled materials and create a woven art object using natural materials.
The Dougherty project is supported in part by the Kansas Arts Commission’s Kansas American Masterpieces grant program, Friends of the Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University and Washburn’s Campus Beautification Committee. This project is also sponsored in part by AT&T, The Real Yellow Pages and YellowPages.com.
Museum and ArtLab hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. No admission is charged. The museum is closed major holidays.
The Mulvane Art Museum is located on the Washburn University campus at 17th and Jewell Streets, adjacent to White Concert Hall. Free parking is available in the lot west of the museum. For additional information, call 785-670-1124, e-mail mulvane.info@washburn.edu, or go to http://www.washburn.edu/mulvane.
The artist: Born in Oklahoma and raised in North Carolina, Dougherty earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of North Carolina in 1967 and a master of arts degree in hospital and health administration from the University of Iowa in 1969. He returned to Chapel Hill in 1975, worked as a carpenter and stone mason while studying sculpture and art history at the University of Chapel Hill. The experience of building his own home in North Carolina and using the native materials at hand - saplings - has led him to use this readily available and renewable resource in his sculptures.
Dougherty has built more than 200 installations that are in museums, parks and gardens throughout the United States, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, England, France, Denmark and Austria. His work explores the supple, linear energy of young tree saplings woven into natural, nest-like settings, with inventive references to architectural and sculptural forms and concepts of domestic shelter, habitats, passageways and vistas. He has received many honors and awards, including the Pollack-Krasner Foundation Grant, Henry Moore Foundation Fellowship and several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Dougherty's work has been the subject of more than 100 articles and reviews in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
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