Anniversary Celebration, Holiday Show and Endowed ‘Chair of Philanthropy’ Unveiling!

Sculpture Space Fellows Priscilla de Carvalho, Joe Esser, Carmelo Midili and Sculpture Space Office Manager Holly Flitcroft admire ceramic candelabra and vessels by Gilbertsville NY artist Elizabeth Nields, whose work from The Elephant Temple series will be featured in the Holiday Show.

November 24, 2010 — Area residents and visitors are invited to attend the opening reception of ‘Art at the Center: the Sculpture Space Holiday Show’ Monday, December 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition and sale will be on display through December 22 (weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.), at 12 Gates Street, Utica, across from Butler Park on Whitesboro Street. The program sponsor is Michelle McCarrick Truett of 484 Design, Inc. and Myoura’s Taste of Cambodia on Bleecker Street in Utica is sponsoring the catering. Admission is free.

“The reception will celebrate three highlights: an array of artworks both local and from afar, our 35th anniversary launch and the much-anticipated introduction of ‘the chair of philanthropy’ for an 18-day silent auction,” noted Sydney Waller, executive director of Sculpture Space. “We invite the whole community to join us for this festive year-end party.”

A highlight will be the grand unveiling of The 2010 Endowed Chair created by award-winning Sculpture Space Past Fellow Abraham Ferraro, renowned for his superlative craftsmanship and imaginative designs. Sponsored by the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, the design of the chair will symbolize in an evocative yet concrete manner how philanthropy connects generosity with worthy causes. In addition it will also be a one-of-a-kind comfortable chair. Silent bids for the chair may be submitted until December 22nd. An image of the Chair will be posted on the website after December 6.

The reception party also launches the celebration of Sculpture Space’s 35th Anniversary – to be celebrated throughout 2011–and will include multimedia highlights of the past year in the studio as well as an installation by recent Sculpture Space Fellow Carmelo Midili from Brooklyn NY and Messina, Sicily.

A studio gallery will feature an array of festive artworks including ceramics, paintings, metal sculptures and more, ranging from the whimsical to the grand.

A portion of the proceeds from any sale will support the Sculpture Space program.

The emerging and established artists featured in the show hail from Brooklyn, Syracuse, Albany, the Cooperstown area as well as the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys. Artists include Daniel Buckingham, Suzanne Firsching, Christi Harrington, Scott Hartmann, Christine Heller, George Hendrickson, Sally Jones, J.D. King, Katharine Kreisher, John Loy, Tom Mazzullo, Elizabeth Nields, Narin Nuth, Ann Reichlin, Steve Specht and Victoria Mele Zacek.

A unique cultural resource within the City of Utica, the Mohawk Valley and Upstate New York, Sculpture Space promotes interaction between international visiting artists and the local community by placing works in the public domain, hosting studio tours, and collaborating with other organizations to exhibit artists' projects. Several hundred artists apply annually. Twenty national and international artists are accepted each year to enjoy fellowships and two-month residencies. They receive stipends, 24-hour access to the studio and technical assistance. New this fall, they live in shared quarters in a Sculpture Space house only one block away, purchased and renovated with the help of the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, and Greg Benincasa of H.R.Beebe. The workspace program is in part made possible with support from the NYS Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art, the Milton and Sally Avery Foundation, the Community Foundation, area corporations and an inclusive circle of friends.

Work created at Sculpture Space is subsequently shown in museums, sculpture parks and galleries around the globe. As an international artist residency program, Sculpture Space is a “homegrown non-profit organization with a world class reputation”.