Sculpture Commissions

New Sculpture Park seeks Pacific Northwest Sculptors to Exhibit

Price Sculpture Forest on Whidbey Island near Seattle is preparing to open soon. Infrastructure is already in place, including professionally constructed walking trails, paved parking lot, utilities, security cameras, and public WiFi. The first set of sculptures was installed in the sculpture park in August. One of those sculptures has already been sold even before opening, with multiple others donated to the park’s permanent collection. You can view several of the sculptures on our website blog and social media pages (see below).

The current Call for Artists is looking for additional high-quality sculptures for the 2020 grand opening. The Sculpture Forest has two themes, each with its own walking trail loop: Nature Nurtured (for sculpture representing either living things or natural elements) and Whimsy Way (for sculpture that is fun, humorous, or whimsical). If you have an outdoor-oriented, year-round sculpture that fits either of those themes, you are encouraged to submit an informal proposal. Go to www.SculptureForest.org/sculptors for more info.

A Great Opportunity for Sculptors

To help early participating sculptors, the nonprofit organization running the park is providing zero commission (100% of sale proceeds to the artist), sculpture insurance, marketing, and onsite installation assistance. Sculptures can be for sale, on loan, or donated to the park’s permanent collection. The park will also provide a personalized advance tour to any sculptor submitting a proposal and considering public exhibition. Early participants get to select their favorite location that helps show their sculpture in its best setting.

The Sculpture Forest is excited that PNWS member Matt Babcock will be exhibiting his sculptures Standing Otter and Discobolos. Three other members have also expressed interest as they work out specifics.

The Sculpture Forest concept took root eight years ago when founder and PNWS member Scott Price had impactful experiences at other sculpture parks. He imagined his 16 beautifully forested acres, accessible by road, bike route, and an existing walking path near historic downtown Coupeville, would be a significant tourist draw for the town and broader area that he calls home.

A Sustainable Sculpture Park

Preserving the 100-year-old trees and verdant native habitat forever was also part of the plan. Scott worked with the Whidbey Camano Land Trust to create a permanent Conservation Easement that removed all residential development rights from the property. The Conservation Easement has been designed to create a public sculpture park within the preserved forest. He then formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to run the Sculpture Forest.

Scott’s long-term goal is to make Whidbey Island an outdoor sculpture park tourist destination. There are already six different sculpture locations on the island, each with their own unique approach. His plans are to collaborate with the other organizations to market a Whidbey Sculpture Trail under a cohesive public relations, events, social media, and digital strategy.

You can learn more about the upcoming sculpture park and its opportunities for sculptors:

www.SculptureForest.org

Facebook (www.facebook.com/PriceSculptureForest)

Instagram (www.instagram.com/pricesculptureforest)

To learn more about Pacific Northwest Sculptors events, contact us today!

Dance with Me: Sculpture, Dance and Creative Collaboration

My comment, “Sculpture and dance are closely related, much like a creative collaboration” had left some people puzzled at a recent Pacific Northwest Sculptors member meeting. I see dance and sculpture as a continuum of movement and stillness, the ephemeral to the eternal. Almost everything we know of early civilizations comes from sculpture. Indeed, if some form of physical artistic expression can last thousands of years, it’s likely sculpture. Additionally, an installation can encompass the ephemeral, everything from gallery installation to Andy Goldworthy’s nature work.

I’ve been a sculptor for forty-three years, and celebrate thirty years of dancing contact improvisation in 2019. Often what I learn from one discipline transfers to the other. Dance requires that I show up several times a week, fully present, emotionally, and physically. I have discovered this has been a good method for making art. Moving mindfully became my physical therapy, an antidote to the exertion and repetitive motion of carving. That kind of awareness gradually shifted my focus from the object to the space surrounding it.

The Creative Collaboration of Sculpture and Space

That awareness has helped me site my sculpture in clients’ gardens. Conversely, many sculptors believe their collaboration is completed when the art is finished and sold. If you have sited your work outside, you know what happens. It shrinks radically as it contends with the chaos of the rest of the world. Siting sculpture requires shifting focus from the art object to creating an environment that includes art. Blocking some views, framing other sightlines, defining a clear approach, you choreograph how people move through space to better appreciate the art and the entire space it occupies.

My concept of what sculpture is got much larger.

My early artworks often appeared overly polished and careful. There’s a valuable skill in banging out “working-class sculpture” aka stage sets and props for performances. Cardboard is free and quickly fabricated. In fact, I have never made cardboard models for my own sculpture before I started dancing. Now I make them all the time. These models I create act as a physical embodiment of an idea. Indeed, the model serves as a visual placeholder that haunts me until I have time to make it in a permanent medium. Working in a throw-away material encouraged me to work fast, go for big shapes, deep shadows, and lots of bright colors. The results are often very engaging on their own. I now make damn sure that same fun and energy make it into all my sculpture. The question I pose to other PNWS members is, “What enriches your creative practice?”

Creative collaborations with famous sculptor and dancer pairings: Isamu Noguchi and Martha Graham; Robert Rauschenberg and dancers Paul Taylor; Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown; Robert Morris and Simone Forti.

To learn more about Patrick’s work, Pacific Northwest Sculptors, and contact us today!

Art Commissions keep Eichinger Studio Busy

Joya Martuscello

Exciting progress is being made on one of Martin Eichinger’s larger art commissions in progress. Natural beauty is met with great artistry as we embark on the next phase of this large-scale vision for the Cloisters on the Platte, a spiritual retreat in Nebraska.

Martin and the Eichinger Sculpture Studio team are currently working in conjunction with four other teams of master sculptors from around the country on a commission of over 70 monumental bronze figures. It promises to be the grandest example of the Stations of the Cross ever created.

Joe Ricketts, an entrepreneur, and philanthropist is the founder of the Cloisters on the Platte. Set on a beautiful natural expanse along the Platte River, the destination will offer a silent retreat experience in the Jesuit tradition. It will be “based on the spiritual exercises developed by St. Ignatius Loyola but will be open to people of all faiths. “Anyone who is interested in spiritual growth is welcome.”

Martin Examines the Space Through Inner Examination

To prepare for this project and to understand better the mindset behind Ricketts’ vision, Martin participated in a silent retreat sponsored by the Cloisters on the Platte. “As a sculptor, I wanted to understand how the devout would experience the retreat and the Stations of the Cross that were a significant part of it. The three-day silent retreat left me deeply moved on both personal and spiritual levels, far beyond the artistic level I was trying to understand.”

Working with a growing Eichinger Sculpture Studio team and working in concert with other teams of master sculptors has been a fulfilling experience for Martin. He has acted as a sort of conductor with so many pieces in play. The project took advantage of contemporary digital technology, working closely with Form 3D Foundry in Portland. It’s been a fascinating process, seeing it come to fruition this last year.

In addition to the Cloisters project, Martin also has begun work on two new art commissions. He was recently asked to create a monumental bust of Rafik Hariri, the late former prime minister of Lebanon, for the Rafik Hariri Business Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Also, “The Abigail,” a mixed-income housing project in Portland, has chosen Eichinger Sculpture Studio to create a monument in honor of Oregon poet and suffragette Abigail Dunniway for installation in the facility’s courtyard. Libby (Krock) Carruth is the lead sculptor for the Abigail project.

The Geode: Creative Space for Portland Artists

All this is happening inside an Eichinger Sculpture Studio that is under major reconstruction and transformation. The Geode: A Nest for Creative Entrepreneurs, is beginning to make big strides in all directions. Each day at the studio is a new hard-hat adventure. Marty continues to finalize his design elements for the building and we are starting to see some of the special artistic features take shape including programmable light blades and a lit spiral staircase. Marty never ceases to surprise us all with his imagination and skill.

We here at ESS are grateful for our community and we believe firmly that art can be a powerful tool in these times of great change.

To learn more about Pacific Northwest Sculptors events, contact us today!