"Tea Time for Darfur" wins Top Prize at Mid South Sculpture Conference

Just back from Mid South Sculpture Conference in Chattanooga, TN last weekend-what a high quality excellent event they put on! Lots of new friends and new knowledge to build on. The guest artists / jurors Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse were insightful and kind, making themselves available throughout the conference to attending sculptors. The key note speaker, Valerie Fletcher, Senior Curator (of Modern Art) of the Smithsonian Institution Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Washington D.C. is simply not available elsewhere, and gave an insightful presentation on contemporary sculpture from the top museum's viewpoint.

Did I mention I WON top prize for indoor sculpture?

"Tea Time for Darfur", my cocklebur / burdock teaset looked great with the afternoon sunlight on it in the window of the gallery.
There were two "top prize" awards each for indoor (Ron Gard from Chicago took the other top indoor prize) and two outdoor sculptures.

"Sanctuaries III" Arts Depot, Abingdon VA

What a priceless opportunity it is for an artist to have a public artspace to experiment in! The folks at The Arts Depot in Abingdon VA were terrific to work with, booking almost a year and a half in advance, touching base every couple months with a timetable for press and installation and reception and artist's talk. We set a new attendance record for a Spot light Gallery solo show opening! Roy Andrade, Cary Fridley, Doug Dourschug and Ed Snodderly played old-time music while huge projections of pioneer barns, both from the inside and out, filled the wall behind spontaneous dancers.
It was the happiest opening I've ever been to, even if I am biased. Folks connected easily with the art, and discussed the contemporary context. Everyone it seemed had "Barn Stories" to share with each other.
I heavily documented the whole experience with the intention of using the images in a proposal for a much expanded version.

Lesson number 11: Never underestimate an opportunity!

I am polishing a presentation for tonight at the Arts Depot in Abingdon, VA. The requested subject is how I developed the Walk-Through Installation on display there now-I'm excited to share the process!

Luckily I just went to a one-day workshop at Penland School of Crafts in NC put on by Creative Capital which gave tons of career-changing information, much of which will come in handy tonight!

Lesson number 10
I learned everything I know in a workshop! (almost)

Arts Depot, Stop Animation Clip copyright 2009

No kidding, I have been working towards the art opening this Sunday for decades. It has just taken a while to "congeal". The Arts Depot in Abingdon, VA "booked" me a year and a half ago. It was motivation to think long and hard about what it was I wanted to represent. I have included the "E-vite"(electronic invitation) and a way cool stop-animation my friends helped me with below. Enjoy.



Lesson #9 Friends are worth more than gold.

Sages and Sanctuaries II

"Sages and Sanctuaries II" is up until August 6th, 2009 at Carroll Reece Museum on the campus of East Tennessee State University. This is the second of a three part exhibition exploring contemporary art through an Appalachian lens.
The first exhibition "Sages and Sanctuaries I" was held at MECC Mountain Empire Community College in Virginia this past January. It was entirely two-dimensional works.
The second at ETSU combines two and three dimensional works, along with some farm materials like tobacco and old hand tools.
The third and largest will open Aug 13th with an artist's reception on Sunday August 23rd from 2 to 4pm. It will be a walk-through installation, combining projection, 2D, 3D, textures and smells to give context to the origins of my artistic aesthetic.
I received a grant for partial funding for a 28 page catalogue that accompanies these three exhibitions. "THESE TRUTHS the brutal tenderness of appalachia" is available on Amazon and other locations.

Derek Guthrie wrote the introduction, and Kathleen Grover and Venus Zarris each wrote enlightened essays.

Sam Mays did a beautiful job with the graphic design.

Published June 2009

ISBN #978-1-61584-019-9

Lesson #8. Don't burn bridges.

Moving Sculptures

Facebook Val Lyle: "Use the right tool (or forklift) for the job.
I love these guys! It's pouring rain.
I didn't even need to put my leather gloves on."

Public Art - Big Ropes

"Feminine Entwinement" is the first big rope piece that I had all the pieces of the puzzle figured out on. She was juried into Bristol, TN's "Art in Public Places" by Paul Ha of the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. She won "The People's Choice Award" for 2008-2009. made of Tug Boat rope, she stands just over 8 feet tall. I have included pictures of her year round, and at the "Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion" music festival where folks enjoyed having their pictures taken alongside her. the location is great, at the Farmer's Market in City Center Park. I built her sturdy enough to take public interaction. I kind of fell into it by accident, but there is a growing need for "temporary" public outdoor sculpture as more and more cities adopt a yearly or bi-yearly juried outdoor sculpture competition to beautify their downtown areas and add art for interest and culture and dialogue. Many of the sculptors I met during this, my first outdoor competition, told me about having a number of pieces that they move around from year to year, each bringing between $1,000 to $2,000 for a one to two year "rental" honorarium. That's good money to a sculptor, and you get the piece back in a year or so. Typically the sculptor delivers the piece, and there may or may not be help when you get there, or a concrete slab to bolt down to, or power tools, or power. Typically installation day is "rain or shine", during the week.

I was so thrilled to be selected I hand-made Thank you cards (see lesson #2) for everyone I could think of involved. Each one was unique, but all loosely based on my sculpture.

This is a great opportunity and I am so honored to be a part of AiPP Bristol. It is a first-rate operation, with lots of help from city workers, hotel accommodations for out of town sculptors, a two-day event that ends with a deluxe reception after the official "sculpture walk that makes everyone feel good! I am looking forward to future participation!

Lesson #7. Start Local.