About the Sculpture Park's 2007-2008 exhibit

Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park opens its 5th year-long sculpture exhibit on July 26, 2007, with a Meet the Artists Reception held Thursday, August 23, 2007 from 5 - 7 pm at the sculpture park, located at the west end of the Newburyport boardwalk near The Black Cow Tap and Grill. (Rain location: second floor, Firehouse Center for the Arts.)

We are pleased to present the 2007-2008 exhibit of contemporary sculptures by Massachusetts and New England artists. Four new sculptures by Michael Alfano, Rob Lorenson, and David Skora, join the current three sculptures on exhibit at Somerby's Landing by Wendy Klemperer, Robert Motes, and Dale Rogers that have been gifted to the City of Newburyport. The newest acquisition, Robert Motes' sculpture, An Imagined Place, was permanently gifted to the City of Newburyport in 2006 by the generous donation of the Newburyport Art Association.

The new exhibit combines bold, colorful forms with metamorphic pieces that encourage the viewer to explore ideas about materials, the environment, philosophies and beliefs. An underlying element of all the sculptures is transformation. From the brightly painted surfaces and dynamic composition of industrial material in Red Rover; the textured surfaces and powerful form of Meteor appearing singed from its journey through earth's atmosphere; Symphony's welded steel curves, balls, and beams - swirling in a symphonic movement; Peace Offering's transformation of two very different birds, a dove and a hawk, whose wings become human hands, forming a gesture of offering understanding and peace; Elk, constructed of recycled rebar transforming into a majestic elk grazing in peace; An Imagined Place, capturing a nurturing space representing home, complete with an oversized cup of coffee or tea; to Another Good Day, with a rolling wave balancing a wheel embedding a stone, which is symbolically lifted up.

Curator, Jay Havighurst, is excited about this year's show which marks the 5th year of sculptural exhibits at Somerby's Landing. Complementing the rich historical waterfront, Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park provides a contemporary venue for new ideas in forms that interact with the waterfront and stimulate viewers both young and old. The exhibit is open all day, every day, year round, free of charge, and is handicapped accessible. Over 250,000 people will see the sculptures during the year-long exhibit. Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park is a participating gallery in the Newburyport ArtWalk. Come and enjoy!

Support for the 5th Annual Exhibit is provided by the Firehouse Center for the Arts, the Newburyport Art Association, and the Black Cow Tap & Grill. The exhibit is supported in part by a grant from the Newburyport Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Special thanks to the City of Newburyport and the Newburyport Waterfront Trust.

The group organizing the 2007-2008 exhibit led by Curator, Jay Havighurst, includes support from the Gregg Smith, Executive Director of the Firehouse Center for the Arts and Geordie Vining, Senior Planner for the City of Newburyport. Special thanks to Sue Ann Pearson, Director of Marketing and Development at the Firehouse Center for the Arts, for help with publicity. The park's website and signage are designed by Jay and Lynne Havighurst of Artfluence.

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 Brief History

Geordie Vining, Senior Planner for the City of Newburyport, initiated the idea for a sculpture park in 2003 and approached the Firehouse Center for the Arts. Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park was then created through the collaboration of The City of Newburyport, Massachusetts, the Newburyport Waterfront Trust, and the Firehouse Center for the Arts. The goal of the sculpture park is to enhance the cultural and visual appeal of the refurbished waterfront area for residents and visitors of all ages.

Joyce Audy Zarins coordinated the first annual exhibit, with support from Jay Havighurst and other members of the Firehouse Visual Arts Committee as well as the Newburyport Waterfront Trust and the City, which included three sculptures by artists William Brayton, Joseph Landry and Antoinette Prien Schultze installed in October of 2003. Inception of the exhibit was supported by then Mayor Alan Lavender and by Kathleen Miller, then Executive Director of the Firehouse Center for the Arts.

The second exhibit, led by Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park committee coordinator Joyce Audy Zarins, opened in July 2004 and featured six sculptures by artists Richard Aliberti, Bob Emser, Wendy Klemperer, Dale Rogers, and Elizabeth Van.

The third exhibit, led by Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park's Curator, Jay Havighurst, opened in July 2005 and featured eight sculptures by artists Michael Guadagno, Wendy Klemperer, Katherine Knotts and Ron Garand, Robert Motes, Gary Rathmell, and Dale Rogers.

The fourth exhibit, led by Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park's Curator, Jay Havighurst, opened in July 2006 and featured eight sculptures by artists Wendy Klemperer, Robert Motes, Kim Radochia, Dale Rogers, Edward Walsh, and Glenn Zweygardt.

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 About the Sculptures and the Artists

The 2007-2008 show of seven sculptures includes an exciting range of work by the following sculptors:

Michael Alfano
A nearly six foot wide resin bench, Peace Offering, by Michael Alfano graces one corner of the park. The dove conveys the hope for peace, its tail transforms into a hawk, representing hostility. The dove's wings become open hands, which might be ours, in an asking, a weighing, or an offering pose. Or they might belong to a larger force that welcomes two people to sit down and discuss their differences. This sculpture represents some of the many aspects of attaining peace. It is a expression of Michael's Soka Gakkai Buddhist practice, with the intention of contributing to peace and culture.

Alfano lives in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and has been sculpting limited edition figures, monuments, and philosophical pieces in bronze, resin, and cold cast copper for ten years. He studied at the Art Students League of New York with an emphasis on life size sculpture and anatomy, and at Boston University's Sculpture Program. Alfano is a member of the Copley Society of Boston, New England Sculpture Society, and the National Sculpture Society, as well as other professional affiliations. He is currently working on a sculpture for the Boston Marathon starting line in Hopkinton.

Wendy Klemperer
Wendy Klemperer fabricated Elk of rebar in a naturalistic representation of an animal that once grazed the woods and plains of New England. It is the first permanent sculpture at Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park. Funds to purchase the Elk were raised by 7-year old Jesse Vining in 2005. Jesse created a campaign to "Save the Elk" with the admirable vision to keep the Elk as a permanent installation at Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park. He met with top businesses, local organizations, and individuals in and around Newburyport. The response to Jesse's presentations and hard work was wonderful. Thanks for principal donations from the Lilliput Foundation, Five Cents Savings Bank, Institution for Savings, Newburyport Rotary Club, Hall & Moskow, the Newburyport Elks Lodge, and many other individuals, friends and family, children and adults.

For nineteen years Klemperer, of Brooklyn, New York and Nelson, New Hampshire, has been exhibiting sculpture throughout the United States. She has had solo shows in New York City and New Jersey and is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships. Her work has been written about in the Boston Globe and the New York Times. She has a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and a B.A. in Biochemistry from Harvard-Radcliffe.

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Rob Lorenson
Bold color and dynamic geometric forms in painted aluminum command attention in Red Rover by Rob Lorenson. Lorenson creates a compositionally rich interplay of modernist elements that are exceptionally crafted to remove the hand of the artist and make the work look manufactured as though it were an industrial product like the industrial forms that originally influenced it.

Lorenson, from Middleboro, Massachusetts, sculpts the annual "Innovator of the Year" award for Massachusetts Institute of Technology and exhibits his sculpture at L'Attitude Gallery on Newbury Street in Boston. Lorenson is an Associate Professor of Sculpture at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts and is part of the Middleboro Cultural Council. He has an extensive resume of exhibitions, commissions, and awards. Beside solo work he does, he has worked as a fabrication apprentice for three different metals-intensive sculptors. He has a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from University of Northern Iowa and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the University of Northern Iowa. Presently, Rob is working on his doctorate at Northern Illinois in education.

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Robert Motes
A larger than life, whimsical piece, An Imagined Place, by Robert Motes is built from welded, stainless steel curvilinear forms. The public is welcome to sit on the chair at An Imagined Place, an inviting environment for contemplation. Robert Motes' sculpture An Imagined Place was permanently gifted to the City of Newburyport in 2006 by the generous donation of the Newburyport Art Association.

Motes, a sculptor and designer from Cornish, Maine, founded Run Run Studio in 1999. Run Run Studio is one of the few artisan furniture manufacturers producing original sculptural furniture designs. Motes studied at the University of Pennsylvania, American College of Paris, and studied sculptural design at Maryland Institute College of Art. He has exhibited extensively on the East Coast.

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Dale Rogers
A stainless steel sculpture, Another Good Day, by Dale Rogers plays with perceptions and seem to defy gravity, on view at the top of the walkway near Merrimac Street. Dale gifted this sculpture to the City of Newburyport in 2005.

Rogers, from Ward Hill, Massachusetts, has been a sculptor in stainless, mild steel and stone for a number of years. His work is held in private collections throughout the U.S. and in Canada and Switzerland. His work is represented by twenty-five galleries throughout the U.S. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing.

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David Skora
Suspended elements are key to the welded steel sculptures, Meteor and Symphony by David Skora, although each sculpture takes a very different form. Meteor, with its textured surface, appears chiseled by travel through space and stands suspended in time. While Symphony, a tall vertical structure with finely crafted individual shapes welded together, seems to suspend movement in a symphonic gesture of falling forms.

Skora lives in New Hartford, Connecticut and holds a Master of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts and a Bachelors of Science from Western Michigan University. In addition to sculpting, Skora is a Painter and Graphic Designer, and has taught Graphic Design and Fine Art at several Universities in Connecticut. His work has been show in numerous group shows and is held in private collections throughout the country.

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 Purchasing and contact information

For information about pricing and purchasing any of the sculptures, contact Curator, Jay Havighurst at (978) 768-3600 or email create@artfluence.com, or Geordie Vining at (978) 465-4400. For directions call the Firehouse Center for the Arts at (978) 462-7336. The park is located just off Merrimac Street at the western end of the boardwalk (near the mouth of the Merrimack River), in downtown Newburyport. It is adjacent to the the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center and the Black Cow Tap and Grill.

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