What: 14th Sculpture Garden Artist Reception

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Kemp Center for the Arts, 1300 Lamar St.

Admission: Free

Information: (940) 767-2787 or kempcenter.org.

 

For the past 13 years, April showers and the hard work of the Kemp Center of the Arts have brought forth a new crop of sculptures in the art center’s sculpture garden.

And 2018 is no exception, with the 14th Sculpture Garden Artist Reception set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday on the grounds of the downtown Kemp Center. Everyone is welcome.

There will be 10 new sculptures, said Kristine Thueson, Kemp Center gallery manager, which will be intermingled with the collection’s 11 permanent pieces.

The exhibit will run through May 2019 and is available for anyone to enjoy during regular Kemp hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Thueson is very excited about the new season. “In the past, this has been an invitational exhibit with a curator chosen from exhibiting artists the previous year. This year will be our first juried exhibit,” she said.

Isaac Duncan, a sculptor originally from Brooklyn, New York, and now living in Chattanooga, Tenn., will curate and judge the show. “We did a call for entries, nationally and internationally, and Duncan selected one work apiece from 10 artists and 4 alternative artists.

Duncan will judge the work while it’s being installed today and will announce the results at the Saturday reception. All but two of the artists will be at the Kemp on Saturday reception, along with Duncan and sculpture garden installer Joe Barrington.  

Work was chosen from sculptors across the country including Washington DC, Maryland, California, Sante Fe, New Mexico, Corpus Christi and San Antonio. There are four artists from Texas, including Dwayne Hughes who also had a piece in the 2017 show.

Thueson compared the sculpture reception to a garden party with appetizers, beverages and art. “It’s open to the public free of charge,” she said, “and there is live music: Rock, Paper, Scissors. If there is rain, we will move inside to the Great Hall.”

The Kemp had from 200 to 250 people attend the opening in 2017. It’s definitely come and go, she said, and the short awards ceremony will start around 7:30 p.m.

For those unable to attend the reception, the Kemp will host similar Sculpture Garden After Hours parties from 7 to 9 p.m. every first Thursday of the month. The get-together is in conjunction with the Downtown Wichita Falls Development, Inc.’s After Hours Artwalk.  There will be live music, and people may BYOB and picnic on the grounds.

“We’ve always been excited about Sculpture Garden opening,” Thueson said. “We are particularly excited this year because it’s a juried exhibit rather than an invitational exhibit. It was nice to throw it open to a national audience of artists just to increase our net of what we might get.”