great moments in sculpture #2983

 It's a commonly known fact that taking a sculpture class is the most fun a human can have on this planet.  Take that sculpture class at Lander and have me for a teacher and the fun is exponentially greater.  True fact.

The hooligans above are my Advanced Sculpture students from the spring semester.  When you ask them to take a serious photo they comply by only putting rabbit ears on two of their peers.  Wonder what they do when when you tell them they don't have to be serious?  Stick around.

 Tuesday was their big day of installing their sculptural bugs in uptown Greenwood.  Professor Jon Holloway again donated his corner lot for the installation.  He's the nicest guy.  So for our final exam meeting, we loaded heavy sculptures up on a trailer and drove them slowly down Main Street to the corner of Maxwell Ave and Edgefield St.  

 Some of the ladies dug holes in the hard ground while the guys stood around and watched.  

 Last year we installed large steel flowers and they were very popular with the community.  This busy little intersection gets a lot of face time and the flowers were a nice change from the vacant lot.  The flowers were so well received that they stayed 12 months instead of the planned 3 month exhibit.  When we removed the flowers last week, several people stopped to complain about us taking them away.  This put more pressure on me, hoping that the new sculptures would satisfy the public.

 Lots of relatives, friends and spectators came out to watch the last touches be put on the installation and to get a peek at the new work.  Kids posed with their favorite bugs and some of the nice people helped lift things and dig holes.

 The students were even nice enough to provide some sweets and drinks for people to enjoy while they were there.  "Ladybug" by Whitney Upchurch is in the foreground of the image above.

 The spectators above are standing behind "Donnie" the dragonfly by Samantha Brown.

 Fred Parker's "Stickbug" sits near the sidewalk.

 Bethany Murray's "Honeybees" hover above the pine straw.

 "Jermel & Rochiel" are two compound bugs made by Jermel Kennedy.  They represent Jermel and his twin sister Rochiel.

 "Cicada" is a wood and steel sculpture by Whitney Price.

 This creature is "Small & Mighty", a rhino beetle made of steel by Danielle Tavernier (The Tavmanian Devil).

 "Malaria Hysteria" is a giant mosquito standing in a puddle of blood.  The sculpture is made of steel rods and was made by Haley Brunhilda Floyd.


The early word is that the sculptures were successful in pleasing the community.  This less abstract installation is perhaps more accessible to the public.  We had some positive comments from drivers and passengers and the spectators had very kind things to say.  

If you plan to come to the Festival of Flowers in Greenwood this summer, make sure you stop by the corner of Maxwell Ave and Edgefield St to see the exhibit.  Come near lunch and you can  treat yourself to Kickers on one side or Millhouse Pizza on the other.  Both spots are musts for food in Greenwood.  

And here's what happens when you tell the sculpture hooligans they can have a goofy photo.  I'd say this captures what my semester with them has been like.  Work, work work!!!