Updated Walking and Driving Guide for Sculpture Invitational

Jesus Moroles' sculpture, Granite Windows, remains on view in Prexy's Pasture.

As the exhibition, Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational continues to evolve, the walking and driving guide that accompanies it must also change and be updated. This summer has seen the removal of three sculptures from the exhibition: Patrick Dougherty's Short Cut, James Surls' In Circle, and Charmaine Locke's Open Book.

The walking and driving guide, which outlines the sculptures in the exhibition as well as the public art that is on permanent view throughout the community, has recently been updated to reflect the removal of these three works. The cell phone audio tour for the exhibition has also been updated. Copies of the walking and driving guide can be picked up at any of the sculpture locations, the Art Museum front desk, or it can be downloaded from the website.

Patrick Dougherty's Short Cut Removed from Prexy's Pasture

Patrick Dougherty, Short Cut, 2008

Many folks are wondering what happened to Short Cut, one of the most talked about and enjoyed sculptures in the Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational exhibition.  Earlier this spring, UW's ground crews removed the work which was reaching the end of its life.  Artist Patrick Dougherty said that his outdoor creations made from locally harvested saplings usually have about a two-year lifespan. 

Dougherty, an artist from North Carolina, has created works around the world.  His inspiration for his sculptural forms comes from the specific location of the work.  For Short Cut, the Veedawoo boulders that now grace Prexy's Pasture and other locations on campus became a reference for the four, large boulder-like structures which were placed strategically on an unpaved pathway on the north east corner of the quad that is the heart of UW's campus.  Without impacting the ability to still traverse the "short cut," the sculpture offered the ability to get lost in the work through a myriad of doorways.  Once inside the structures, the open forms offered views to the sky.

Short Cut was one of eighteen sculptures installed on campus and in Laramie that comprised the original exhibition.  It was the third work to be removed.  It was preceded by Deborah Butterfield's Billings (which was on view in the Art Museum lobby) and Steven Siegel's It Goes Under (which was located along the Laramie Greenbelt in West Laramie).  

Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational opened in 2008 as a temporary exhibition.  All of the works are on loan and are on view on a temporary basis.  

Play Time

Weston Heeren peaks out from Patrick Dougherty's sculpture on Prexy's Pasture. Photo courtesy of Skye Heeren.

Skye Heeren and her son Weston were on a bike ride on campus when they came upon Patrick Dougherty's sculpture created from saplings. Weston thought it was a great place to play "Marco Polo". Punctuated by doorways and skylights, Weston and Skye look forward to returning to the scultpure at night to lay on blankets in the scultpure and view the heavens. Inspired by Dougherty's work, Weston said he wants to be an artist when he grows up!

Thanks to Skye for sharing images and stories about Weston's and her experience with Patrick Dougherty's sculpture.

Dougherty's Sculpture on Prexy's Pasture Takes Shape

Top. Patrick Dougherty's sculpture takes form.
Bottom. The view from inside Dougherty's sculpture.
Photos courtesy of the UW Art Museum.

With the assistance of volunteers and museum interns, Patrick Dougherty continues to form and refine his site-specific installations on Prexy's Pasture. Four large forms are now apparent, each with doorways and interior spaces, and placed to create walkways. Work will continue through mid-week when the artist expects to complete the sculpture.

Art Talk: Patrick Dougherty
Wednesday, July 23, 7 pm
Albany County Public Library

Free and open to the public!

Co-sponsored by the Albany County Public Library and
the University of Wyoming Art Museum

Press Release on Patrick Dougherty.
For more information, visit the University of Wyoming Art Museum website.

Patrick Dougherty Working on Prexy's Pasture

Patrick Dougherty working on his scultpure on Prexy's Pasture yesterday. Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Patrick Dougherty, known for his woven sapling site-specific installations, will be working on Prexy's Pasture the next few weeks to create a work for Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational. Stacks of cut saplings under nearby trees are kept wet so the twigs stay pliable and ready for use. Post holes have been filled with structural saplings and shaping the sculpture is underway. Dougherty, along with a number of assistants and volunteers, will be on location every day for the next few weeks to create and complete the work.

Press release for Patrick Dougherty.
For more information, visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum.

Patrick Dougherty on Site to Create Sculpture from Saplings

Chief Preparator Sterling Smith, Artist Patrick Dougherty, and Museum Intern Jedediah Cracco deliver a truckload of saplings to Prexy's Pasture. Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Patrick Dougherty arrived in Laramie earlier this week to begin work on his installation on Prexy's Pasture for Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational. Two days of gathering material on local ranches--the Bath Ranch southeast of Laramie and Deerlodge Ranch west of Laramie--will let the artist focus on the preliminary construction of the sculpture tomorrow. The artist has had a lot of help, with employees from the City of Laramie's Park & Recreation Department lending a hand yesterday and University of Wyoming Physical Plant employees working today. He will be working at the Prexy's Pasture site for the next two weeks.

Dougherty has been working in saplings for more than 25 years. His most recent installations in the Garden of the Arts in Chateaubourg, France (May 2008) and Sculpture in the Parklands, in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, Ireland (June 2008). He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. He lives in North Carolina.

To know more about Patrick Dougherty, visit www.stickwork.net.
For more information about Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational, visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum.

Charles Parson's Molto Allargando completed on Prexy's Pasture

Molto Allargando by Charles Parson on Prexy's Pasture, University of Wyoming. Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum.

With sod work complete, Molto Allargando by Charles Parson now rises magestically from Prexy's Pasture on the campus of the University of Wyoming. The first of five works that will be placed in this newly renovated center of campus, it is the first of 16 works placed outside the museum that will comprise Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational.

Public programs planned with the exhibition include:
July, day TBD
Public Art Talk by Patrick Dougherty

Sept. 12, 4 - 5:30pm
Public Opening Celebration, Prexy's Pasture

Apr. 4-5, 2009
Public Art and Communities: Impact and Inspiration (working title)
UW Conference Center
A two-day symposium with artists in Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational and more that 20 additional presenters who will discuss the impact and important of public art in our communities and on our campuses.

Press release for Charles Parson, click here.

For complete information, www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum.