New sculptures coming for show

Come Monday morning, the big blue bearing will be gone.

The sculpture was one of the most controversial pieces in the 2007 Sculpture Show that went up last spring at the Red Wing Arts Association’s Depot Gallery. Those art works will be removed next week to make way for a new group of sculptures.

About 10 pieces will be moved in, Arts Director Dan Guida said.

“There should be some very interesting pieces,” he said. He’s expecting some that are “more representational,” while others will again be abstract.

Local participating sculptors will include David Culver from Bay City and Max Cora and Eric Legrey, who work out of studios at the Anderson Center at Tower View.

Michael Bigger, who has several pieces in the Anderson Center’s Sculpture Garden, is bringing in a piece titled Snakelick #2, an 8 1/2-foot tall work made of powder coated aluminum. Dean Antilla, Jennifer Wolcott and John Trulo also are on the list.

Steve Bateman, who creates Minnesota DNR sculptures out of trash pulled out of the Mississippi River, plans to bring a swan this year.

Additional works may be added for the “Experience Our Earth” show which is coming in mid-May, Guida said. Those sculptures probably will be smaller, indoor pieces.

The inaugural Sculpture Show in 2007 attracted a lot of attention all year, Guida said. “The sculptures created interest in the gallery and interest in art.”

Not everyone was pleased. “Some people liked them, and some people felt they distracted from the historic theme of the depot,” he said.

But there is no question the sculptures were attention-getters.

“People spent a lot of time taking pictures of them, posing with them, contemplating them, laughing at them,” he said.

That’s especially true of the big blue bearing.

“People weren’t sure if it was an actual bearing off a big ship or something, or an art piece,” Guida said.

“It has been the one piece that has drawn people - particularly children. Many wedding photos and prom photos” were taken at the bearing. Visitors, especially children, liked to crawl in the middle for a photo.

“We’ve had calls from people on the train about it,” Guida added. “I’ve seen people on the train taking pictures of it.”

The other sculptures also have been popular over the past 12 months. “Lots of people are very fond of the angel,” he said. “I’ll miss that big angel the most.”

Last year’s show kicked off with a community Sculpture Crawl. Although no formal tour is planned this year, the map and brochure created in 2007 is available for anyone who wants to go exploring.

The arts group has been giving copies of the brochure to visitors who are curious about Red Wing’s art. “We have people taking the tour all the time,” he said. “It’s ongoing.”

The schedule for April 19, which is also being celebrated locally as Earth Day, follows:

• The gallery and the Sculpture Show will open at 9 a.m.

• From around 10 a.m. to noon, science students from Tower View Alternative School will give demonstrations and set up stations at which people can experience different elements and functions of the earth - air, fire, light, soil and water.

• From 1 to 3 p.m. several artists will be covered in soil for about a half-hour so they can draw inspiration from the earth for art works they will then create. Tower View art students will participate. Those visual arts, poems, music pieces and other creations will be exhibited at an “Experience the Earth” show in mid-May.

• From 3 to 6 p.m. everyone is invited to an Earth Day reception for sculptors, artists and others involved in the day’s events.

Tags: community, art, depot