NEWSLETTER of the Society of Connecticut

January, 2008 Vol. 5, No. 1 SCS, Inc., P.O. Box 415, Essex, CT 06426

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S PEN There was a lot accomplished at the Annual Meeting at the Lyme Art Association on Sunday, January 6. The meeting started a little late because some members wanted to pick up their sculptures from the show first. But then, it got under way with about fifteen people in attendance. Many thanks to those who came and showed real interest in volunteering their time for the Society. We talked about the new rule that members over eighty will not have to pay dues and will be considered honorary members. Harold Wright gave the treasurer’s report and talked about setting up a budget for the year. (Thanks, Harold, for all your work in watching the cash, sending out renewal notices, working on an SCS brochure and mailing the newsletter out for us.) It was announced that new members will be assigned a category of membership – either Associate or Elected, depending on their experience in juried shows. The Lyme Art Association reported that there were five pieces of sculpture sold during the Holiday Show – a record for the Society. It was noted that we were also pleased with the publicity that the show received throughout the area. An election of officers will be held by mail-in-ballot voting in early February. Board members are going to be assigned specific functions within the organization. We’ll have someone in charge of finding venues and coordinating shows, others will be recruiting volunteers, working as webmaster for the website, organizing soirees and workshops, and maintaining membership lists. There’s lots to do to keep this a vibrant and growing group. At the meeting a number of people offered to help. And please note! - You don’t have to be on the Board to give us a hand. We’d like to hear from you. Update on the website: Bob Swain is hard at work crafting the website. We have had great response to a call that was put out to our email list for bios, artist statements and photos of sculptures. We are planning to contact everyone in the Society whom we haven’t heard from to be sure we are including everyone who is interested. Let us know if you want or don’t want your name on the web in the membership list and/or with a link to your information or your own website. This is an exciting new venture for the Society that I think will have many positive results. –John Molloy SCS Newsletter January, 2008 SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTIST – ARNOLD PRINCE “My sculptures are based on existing forms in nature,” says Arnold Prince. “There are so many designs that just come at you.” And Arnold has been creating beautiful works of art based on natural forms since his boyhood in St. Kitts, in the British West Indies. His talent as an artist was recognized at an early age and he was sent to the United States to study. Arnold carves in wood and stone and has had great success over the years with his work. The two cement lions that stand at one entrance to Williams College’s Clark Museum of Art have become landmarks in the town of Williamstown, . Another commission Arnold produced is a large outdoor bronze sculpture of civil rights leader, the Rev. Arthur Hardge, which sits in front of the Multicultural Building at the Univeristy of Rhode Island. Arnold has had a distinguished career in the art world as artist, sculptor, author and teacher. After studying for five years with William Zorach, John Hovannes and Jose DeCreeft, Arnold began teaching in high school and then went on to become an Assistant Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. Arnold then became Artist in Residence for the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts from 1982 to 1987. He wrote a textbook called Carving Wood and Stone: An Illustrated Manual, which has enjoyed international distribution. “One of the dynamics of the genre of sculpture is the containment of energy. I sought a new discipline and chose wood assemblage. Animals in general and especially birds I use as subject matter, to create forms that give a broad exploitation of three-dimensional space.” Arnold has shown many of his impressive works in Society of Connecticut Sculptors shows over the years. And now Arnold is donating many of his wonderful sculptures to public institutions so that people can enjoy them. He is giving his art as he has given of himself over his long, illustrious career.

IN MEMORIAM –Harvey Weiss The National Sculpture Society’s Bulletin in December, 2005 featured Harvey Weiss, member of the Society of Connecticut Sculptors and resident of Westport, on the cover. And the article began, “Artist, story teller or mad scientist? According to Harvey Weiss there is very little distinction between those parts of his personality when he begins a sculpture. Weiss’ studio becomes a laboratory and his tinkering results in imaginative works of mixed media using everything from terra cotta to wood to

2 SCS Newsletter January, 2008 metal to fiber.” Harvey was quoted as saying, “This is a business of design, shape, relationships and balance which are basic to any art work. But what I find most important is the communication of a thought or emotion or dramatic event or sense of situation.” Harvey Weiss worked as a sculptor and teacher all his life and has left an indelible mark on the world of imaginative sculpture. He will be missed.

WORTH THE TRIP! A Visit to “Ever Changing, Simply Amazing” – so reads the brochure that welcomes visitors to Brookgreen Gardens in Pawleys Island, (near Myrtle Beach). It is a sculptors’ paradise. You can walk the gardens, visit the zoo, attend a program, study in their sculpture studio, and marvel at the massive outdoor sculptures that are everywhere on fifty acres of the grounds. Brookgreen Gardens was estab- lished in 1931 by Archer and Anna Huntington and was the first public sculpture garden in America. There are over 1200 works spanning the entire period of American sculpture from the early 1800’s to the present. Brookgreen is rich with evidence of the great rice plantations of the 1800’s as well as with the native plants and animals of the area Anna Hyatt Huntington was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1876. Her important works include an equestrian statue of “Joan of Arc,” “Diana of the Chase,” “Don Quijote,” “Youth Taming the Wild,” “Cid Campeador,” and “Bulls Fighting” – to name only a few. Her work has received many awards, both national and international, and she was given the honorary degree of

Doctor of Fine Arts by Syrause Uni- versity in 1932 and in 1933. At top left, two A. H. Huntington In addition, she was made an officer of the Legion of Honor. pieces; ones at right by Richard McDermott Miller, J. & Derek Wernher. 3 SCS Newsletter January, 2008 EDITOR’S MUSINGS South Carolina on my mind!! My husband, Bob, my good buddy Sandee, and I took a workshop on Human Anatomy for Sculptors with David Klass at Brookgreen Gardens in early October, and we came home wonderfully enriched by the experience. All three of us now have an 18-inch model of the human skeletal and muscular systems that we built step by step in Plastilina© under David’s masterful eye. We worked hard every day for six days, from 9 until 5:30, but hardly noticed the time passing. It was an in-depth look at the insides of the human body that we hope will carry over into more accuracy in our sculptures. I talked to the staff at Brookgreen and said we should support each other in furthering the enhancement and enjoyment of sculpture in Connecticut and in South Carolina. –Wendy Swain

WELL WORTH THE EFFORT! Taking a Workshop at Brookgreen Gardens Here’s the list of workshops at Brookgreen for 2008: January 7-11, Self Portraiture with Janice Mauro (too late for this year, but maybe next year…); February 1-3, Critique of Works in Progress and Introduction to Slate Carving with Barara Lekberg; February 8-10, Sculpting the Horse with Carter Jones; February 25-29 Mold-Making with Fred Brownstein; March 3-7, Sculpting Torsos with Tuck Langland; March 24-28, Sculpting the Truth: March 31-April 4, Design and Composition with Stanley Bleifeld; April 11-13, Birds in Sculpture with Sandy Scott; April 21-25, Woodcarving with Martha Griffin; May 5-9, Problem Solving in Sculpture Design with Garland Weeks; May 19-23, Sculpting Bas-relief with Eugene Daub; June 2-6, Sculpting the Dog with Louise Peterson; June 9-13, Sculpting the Female Figure; September 29 to October 3, Gesture and Motion: From Drawing to Sculpture with John Sisko; October 20-24, Native American Culture in Stone with Doug Hyde; and November 3-8, Human Anatomy for Sculptors with David Klass. (At right, Sandee Spahr took David’s class in October; also, D. Klass himself.) There are good flights to Myrtle Beach on five different airlines. Lots of great places to stay close to Brookgreen with bike paths to ride to the workshops Excellent restaurants abound! Contact brookgreen.org.

4 SCS Newsletter January, 2008 LYME ART ASSOCIATION RECEPTION AND SHOW A lovely evening reception inaugurated the combined Lyme Art Association and the Society of Connecticut Sculptors Juried Holiday Show, which ran from November 11th to the 6th of January. The Association’s building is so well suited to hosting a show that highlights the talents of their painter members and our sculptors. Many people from the community turned out for the reception, complete with wine and cheese and live piano music. Approximately thirty sculptures were selected by juror Lloyd Glasson for the show, and they were artfully placed throughout the LeAnn Cogswell’s sculpture “Wild” was one of five SCS gallery spaces. They were in bronze, pieces sold at the exhibit. At terra cotta, wood and alabaster – left, Harold Wright and wife, nudes to horses, portraits, animals Dorothy, view Bruno Lucchesi’s “Mother & Child.” and scenes in relief. Many thanks go to Dr. Gerald Freedman, John Molloy and Harold Wright for their work in putting this show together. The Art Association is located in the heart of the historical district, with the Old Lyme Inn directly across the street. The Florence Griswold Museum as well as the Lyme Academy of Fine Art are close by as well. The high visibility of the Association has helped to increase the number of visitors to the gallery.

COMMISSIONS – SCS MEMBERS SHINE Congratulations to: Helene Johnson, Steffi Friedman and Dr. Fay Stevenson-Smith!!! SCS members have been hard at work recently in their studios not just producing pieces to sell later from a gallery or a show, but collaborating with individual collectors or institutions to produce a particular work of art. Here are some of the commissions that have been done recently by our members. Helene Johnson, SCS Board member, was commissioned to create a large wall relief of “St. Michael Defending the Faithful Against the Wickedness of the Devil.” The relief has been prominently installed in the sanctuary of St. Mathias church in East Lyme, CT. Attending the ceremony in October to unveil and bless the sculpture was the Archbishop of Norwich. The relief was commissioned by the Rev. Michael T. Donohue, pastor of the parish. Steffi Friedman, also a Board member, crafted a moving piece of sculpture

5 SCS Newsletter January, 2008 with two strong arms lifting a baby out of fire (at right) called “New Life Out of the Ashes”. It was commissioned by the Al and Janie Miller families in Hamilton, Ohio, as a memorial to those who perished in the Holocaust. The powerful arms and hands, arising from the ashes indicate the irrepressible human longing to rebuild, to create, to live renewed despite unparalleled oppression. The sculpture has been installed at the entrance of the Fitton Center, visited annually by over 100,000. The sculpture is at present the Center’s only permanent display. Steffi flew to Hamilton for the dedication of this piece in November. The reception was attended by several hundred people. Dr. Fay Stevenson-Smith has completed two recent commissions. The first is a pair of book-end relief sculptures of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas that have been reproduced in bronze and are given as thank-you gifts to donors at Knox College in Indiana. Fay is a graduate. The second commission was a portrait bust of Ruth Batson, a Civil Rights Leader. The bust was created for the Social Justice Award at Harvard Medical School. (See the Batson piece above; bookends at right.)

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE – Celebrating the Holidays Together A chocolate fountain flowed near pieces of bananas, strawberries and pretzels lined up to be skewered and dunked; the shrimp sat near a cocktail sauce that glowed red; the colorful plate of veggies were waiting to change to the colors of the dips before disappearing; cheeses aged and blended longed to be smeared on the round and square crackers and toasts. The house smelled of cinnamon and cloves in the hot apple cider, and the red and white wine flowed into the clear goblets. The Holiday Open House at the Swains’ in Stratford saw about twenty or twenty-five SCS members who had come to share in the food, the camaraderie and the conversation. Once in a while it is good to get together to celebrate the holidays with other artists and sculptors.

MUSIC & ARTS CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES A Bridgeport Arts Program Meets a Westport Artist Steffi Friedman began working with the students in the MACH program in Bridgeport on Thursday evenings in October of 2006. The students (about six of them) were selected by their art 6 SCS Newsletter January, 2008 teachers around the city because of their obvious talent in art. Last year, they worked on their sculptures under Steffi’s guidance (ably aided by Dr. Fay Stevenson-Smith and Joyce Fama). This summer, the students created planters that Steffi helped them make molds for. The goal of the project was to produce beautiful art that could be sold And to that end there was a Holiday Fair to sell the planters, sculptures The position of the and some decorated t-shirts – also designed by the students. The Westport Nature Center hosted the event and the students sold artist is humble. most of their works much to their delight. Essentially (s)he is a The MACH program has been in existence for 30 years, providing arts education through various after-school programs channel. and summer camps for about 1000 inner-city children. The --Piet Mondrian Connecticut Post did an article about Steffi’s success in working with the students of MACH that appeared on the front page of the Arts & Travel section saying that Steffi’s working with the MACH program has produced “results [that] are inspired”.

MINUTES OF BOARD MEETING & ANNUAL MEETING Twelve members of the Board of the Society of Connecticut Sculptors met at Miso restaurant in New Haven Society of CT Sculptors in November, and the following items were discussed The Board of Directors logistics of the Lyme Art Association Show, increasing the John Molloy, President circulation of the newsletter, the set-up of the website, the Harold Wright, Treasurer annual meeting in January and the responsibilities of the Susan Zurles, Vice President board members. There is also a Society of Connecticut LeaAnn Cogswell, Secretary Sculptors logo being designed by some of Steffi Friedman’s Members at Large students in the MACH program that will be used on the Ken Bujnowski website and in the newsletter. The Lyme Art Association and Steffi Friedman SCS show ended on January 6th and the logistics of pick-up of Rosemary Gurpide work were also discussed. Helene Johnson Maurice Maultz BRUNO & ANN – MR. & MRS. SHOW Fred Richman The Paul Mellon Arts Center Gallery at Choate- Fay Stevenson-Smith Rosemary Hall in Wallingford was the site of a wonderful Wendy Swain Sculpture Show with works of Bruno Lucchesi and Ann Jack Yerkes Rosow-Lucchesi. The Opening Reception was held in late September and the Show ran until the 17th of November. Their work is renowned not only in the United States but also abroad, especially in Italy. Congratulations to you both!

7 SCS Newsletter January, 2008 Society of Connecticut Sculptors, Inc. P.O. Box 415 Essex, CT 06426

See the article about the “Mr. & Mrs. Show” at Choate, p. 7

8 SCS Newsletter January, 2008 SURVEY & MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Please fill out the form below and return it to: Harold Wright, 81 Green Hill Road, Killingworth, CT 06419.

Name______Address______Phone number_(____)______E-mail______

_____I have been a member of SCS for ______years.

_____I would like to become a member of SCS. Benefits include newsletters, venues for exhibiting work, social events with other sculptors, etc. (Individual membership is $45 per year. Please send a check made out to SCS to: Society of Connecticut Sculptors, Inc., P.O. Box 415, Essex, CT 06426)

_____I would be interested in writing an article for the newsletter or suggesting a focus for future articles.

_____I have the following talent(s) that I would be willing to share with SCS members:

______

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_____I would be willing to find paid advertiser(s) for the newsletter.

_____I would like to participate in future exhibits.

_____I am interested in attending social events – field trips, evening soirees, demonstrations or lectures.

Comments:

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