2008 Annual Juried Sculpture Show

The 2008 Annual Juried Sculpture Show is in fine form at the Bank of the Arts and ready for the
public opening on November 11. There are just a few days left to make your reservation for the Private Preview Party on Friday, November 7, and to enter the raffle to win “Newborn,” a compelling work in bronze donated by Mitch Lewis to benefi t the show. See details about both on page 8 of this issue.

Greenville sculptor Jesse Morrisey explores the idea of growth through forms associated with the natural world by using industrial materials, primarily cast metals, as seen in “New Growth,” below. The pattern on the outside of the pod was inspired by a type of sea sponge that has
a similar design. Another of Morrisey’s entries to this show was selected by juror Dr. Lawrence Wheeler for the outdoor exhibit in New Bern’s Sculpture Park.

Length, density, placement, color, and direction all participate in the work by Wake Forest sculptor Burton Tysinger. In the aptly named “Oh!,” a layering of colored wooden dowels creates this free-standing form.

Tysinger also was part of the 2007 show with his work “Raintree.” Liz Vercruysse, of Herman, Nebraska, works primarily with local clay bodies that are fired with wood at her rural studio
in northeastern Nebraska. Her work is highly organic, textural and uses forms readily found in nature. Vercruysse’s passion for nature is evident in “Pod Forms as Icons,” an oversized representation of seedpods—reproductive symbols of our environment.

Dr. Wheeler, who is director of the North Carolina Museum of Art, says that in judging the works submitted from many regions of America, he encountered “the broad range of creativity and expression present in the leading galleries and exhibitions of contemporary sculpture in
the world.” Craven Arts Council & Gallery is pleased to bring that world to you.

We are most grateful to the patrons who have made the Sculpture Show possible:
• Founding Patrons Steven and Sabrina Bengel; First Citizens Bank; and the Sun Journal.
• First-Place Award Patron Pepsi–Minges Bottling Group.
• Honoraria Patrons Mark and Suzette Bardill; Dr. Jim Congleton; Dr. Andrew Davidson; EMBARQ; Haroldson Properties; Sumrell, Sugg, Carmichael, Hicks & Hart, P.A.; Stubbs & Perdue, P.A.; and David and Elizabeth Ward.
• Patrons Mark and Lynne Harakal; and the City of New Bern.
Also, thanks to the Craven County Tourism Development Authority for its ongoing support.