Outdoor Sculptures Installed on 20th Year of CVA
Cary, NC – The 2016 Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit (OSE) will mark the 20th anniversary for the Cary Visual Art organization, whose mission includes bringing high quality art to the Town of Cary.
We spoke with CVA director, Catherine Howard recently about this year’s show.
Locations
With construction still disrupting South Academy Street, it was decided to keep the entire show on the Town Hall campus. In recent years the show had expanded to include placement in front of several Academy Street storefronts. With the groundbreaking of the Academy Streetscape project in June 2015, the placements were scaled back to three pieces at The Cary Arts Center and the balance on Town Hall Campus and at the Page-Walker.
That proved to be a challenge as the “sculptures at the Arts Center last year were getting lost” according to Howard. As anyone walking from Town Hall to the Arts Center knows, these days, that walk is anything but easy.
For 2016, the show will include eight total works with three around Town Hall, three at the Page-Walker Arts & History Center, one on the Fidelity Plaza and one beside the railroad tracks near the intersection with Academy.
Jurors and Selection
The 2016 jurors for the OSE are Bill Rodgers and Julianna Novozhilova, two artists in residence at SAS. Anne Goodnight, wife of SAS founder John Goodnight, was a founding member of CVA and has been a driving force in the SAS collection as well a longtime advocate for public art in Cary.
Art Selection
About a year ago, CVA put out an international call for artists to submit applications for the show. Eighty-six such applications were received and reviewed by Rodgers and Novozhilova with the resulting eight selections. Consideration was given to materials, placement and balance within the show.
Artists this year include: Jack Howard-Potter, Ana Huberman-Lazovsky, Hanna Jubran, Ray Katz, Susan Moffatt, Jordan Parah, Jonathan Schork and Russell Whiting.
Installation Day
For anyone interested in watching large scale sculptures installed Downtown using a crane, the art will arrive the morning of Friday, July 15, 2016. Since the art is all on North Academy, there should not be any street closings or additional road delays during the installation. The trucks, artists and cranes usually get going around 8 AM. That same evening, Cary Visual Art will hold their OSE Opening Night Reception at the Page-Walker. While open to the public, this is a ticketed event. Attendees will have a chance to mingle with the artists while enjoying refreshments. Howard will also present five area graduating high school seniors with scholarship awards totaling $10,000. Performances by a rhythmic drummer and a modern dance troupe will create interpretations of the sculptures.
Last year’s show was just un-installed in June, and this new show will be on view in Downtown Cary thorough the end of June 2017.
For more information, visit the Cary Visual Art website.
Story and photos by Lindsey Chester.
