Another semester of Advanced Sculpture has ended and I have a new crop of sculptures/sculptors to brag about.
This year the administration approved 10 sites on campus, some in very prominent locations, for long term temporary sculpture exhibits. This is a big deal. Huge. How big? Well, it's the first time anything like this has happened at Lander since about 1872. Since 1972 would be impressive but go back and read it again - that's an 8. 1872. Which means this is the first time ever that Lander has had outdoor exhibits like this.
As soon as I got the approval, I shared the news with my ART 402 class and assigned them the task of creating the first round of sculpture installations. Since we needed to make sure this was done well, the pressure was on. Lucky for me, they rose to the task.
That's Andrew Catterton with his steel sculpture "Accumulation"
"Accumulation" is located on the lawn beside Jackson Library
That's Brandy "Cessquatch" Cessarich" with her steel sculpture "Tree Type"
"Tree Type" is composed of 3D letters and is located near the bridge outside the dining hall
That's a very proud Tyler Frasier with his steel sculpture "Meristem"
Funny story about Tyler: He was the first one finished with his sculpture, which means the first one to install his sculpture in this first ever type of exhibit. This means I sent him out to his location with a wheel barrow, post hole diggers and a shovel to dig the hole for his anchor. He started digging in the middle of a very beautiful grassy area and was immediately accosted by a campus official who could not understand why any student would just start digging a hole in the middle of campus. Of course I had already attained proper approval of the site and had been approved to dig in the area, so it was fine, but Tyler didn't know this and he was pretty shaken up by the ordeal. "Meristem" is located on the lawn outside Centennial residence hall.
That's Abby Jordan with her concrete sculpture "The Struggle Is Real"
"The Struggle Is Real" is located beside the Horne Arena and PEES building
That's Travis Taylor with his pinky up and his steel sculpture "Spark of Interest"
"Spark Of Interest" is located on the lawn beside Centennial residence hall.
It's been very interesting to observe as students, faculty and campus visitors have reacted to the sculptures. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and people have been pleasantly surprised by having public art on campus. Tyler had a couple of young ladies compliment his odd sculpture on the day of his installation. This helped him recover from the trauma of being accosted. Even the grounds crew who are forced to cut grass and landscape around these new obstacles have been very excited about the sculptures. Having interesting exhibits rotate in and out during the academic year helps to make that routine walk (or run) to class a little less ordinary. I've had a few people find out about the exhibit and take a walking tour of the campus in order to see it.
In addition to the on campus sculptures, I had three students who chose to create sculptures for off campus sites.
This is "Butterfly Bench" by Caitlin Madden. Caitlin worked with her hometown of Ninety Six, SC to obtain permission to permanently install her bench in a public garden.
This is Katie "Katertot" Carver posing with her "Hero Of Heroes" steel sculpture.
"Hero Of Heroes" is a superhero figure made out of superhero logos. It is currently on display at Tangled Web Comics in Spartanburg.
And this is "Reginald" the rooster created by "Mean" Megan Taylor. "Reginald" is made out of recycled chicken farming parts and is made in the likeness of the mascot for the SC Poultry Festival. He will be installed near his coop on the festival grounds.
It was an excellent year in sculpture at Lander. I'm so proud of these students and their hard work.
