Kemp Sculpture Garden Exhibit Opening
The 19th Annual Sculpture Garden Exhibit and Artist Reception will be 6:30-8 p.m. Saturday, May 13, on the grounds of the downtown Kemp Center for the Arts. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.
Chad Plunket, director of the Charles Adams Studio Project in Lubbock TX, juried the exhibit, said Kristine Thueson, ACWF Programming Coordinator.
Nine of the 10 sculptors, whose work was selected for the new exhibit, should be present at the Kemp Saturday evening, according to Thueson, along with Plunket and new Preparator, area sculptor B.C. Gilbert.
The 2023-24 exhibit features 10 new pieces that will be added to the 11 permanent sculptures on the Kemp grounds. The new pieces will be on exhibit until May 2024, when next year’s exhibit will be installed.
The new exhibit include works by Ellis Barber – Waco, TX; Danville Chadbourne – San Antonio, TX; BC Gilbert – Wichita Falls; Chad Hines – Temple, TX; Suguru Hiraide – Wichita Falls; Dewane Hughes – Troup, TX; and Jim Robertson – Trinity, TX. The event is open to anyone in continental North America, she said.
Other new sculptures are by Steven Buduo – Saint Louis MO; Jenn Peek – Norman OK; the late Seward Johnson – Hamilton NJ.
The Saturday event will feature live music by members of the Wichita Christian School Drum Band, as well as complimentary appetizers and beverages. Awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places will be presented Saturday night. The Kemp Center galleries are open during the reception.
“We use a different juror each year,” said Thueson. “This show has a broader range of styles than in past years. It’s an extreme combination of abstract and figurative pieces.”
Plunket was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, and has in lived in Alabama, Tennessee, and Newcastle, England, before moving to Lubbock.
A working sculptor, he was referred to Thueson by recently retired Preparator Joe Barrington. Area sculptor B.C. Gilbert will take over Barrington’s former duties of installing the outdoor sculpture exhibits.
Plunket juried the outdoor exhibit by examining images of 80 sculptures from across the country. “He is familiar with the (Kemp) space visiting this past summer,” Thueson said, “so he can make better informed decisions on what can fit in the space (garden).” The jurist will be there Friday for the installation and Saturday evening for the reception.
In curating the exhibit, Plunket said “I was really just looking for quality work. I certainly don’t want to curate something in and then have it fall apart four months later. On a personal level, I enjoy work that has a sense of humor to it. I think sometimes we think that art has to be such a serious endeavor. There are some pieces that have some whimsey going on with it.
‘It’s also work that changes once when you get closer to it and then move around,” he said. “I like work that maybe continues to surprise me or inform itself to me as I get closer or circle around it.”
Plunket said people should take the opportunity to meet the sculptors and ask them questions about their work and to learn more about the medium. For those who will be unable to attend the opening, the Sculpture Garden exhibit will be available to view anytime during regular Kemp hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
What to know if you go
When: The Artist Reception is 6:30 to 8 p.m. Sat., May 13. The outdoor exhibit is available to view when the Kemp Center is open.
Where: Kemp Center for the Arts, 1300 Lamar
Admission: Free and open to the public. Information at (940) 766-3347 or www.artscouncilwf.org.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Kemp Sculpture Garden Exhibit Opening
