About the Sculpture Park

Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park is located on the waterfront of the Merrimack River, at the west end of the Newburyport boardwalk near The Black Cow Tap and Grill.

We are pleased to present the 2008-2009 exhibit featuring four new contemporary sculptures by Newburyport, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Canadian artists. David Davies, Derek Riley, Rob Hitzig, and Simon Larochelle join the current four sculptures on exhibit at Somerby's Landing by Michael Alfano (on exhibit for another year), and sculptures by Wendy Klemperer, Robert Motes, and Dale Rogers that have been gifted to the City of Newburyport. The most recent 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. Two of the sculptures in this year's exhibit by Rob Hitzig and Simon Larochelle, were purchased from Montpelier, Vermont's SculptCycle 2008 to be installed along Newburyport's new 2009-2010 Clipper City Rail Trail. Michael Alfano's sculpture will also be purchased for installation on the Clipper City Rail Trail.

This exciting 6th annual exhibit shows a playful and conceptual ensemble of sculptures for contemplation. Whether adding, taking away, or recycling sculptural material, the work will get you thinking about the artist's intention, which touches on the imaginative and whimsical.

Curator, Jay Havighurst, is pleased to present this ongoing sculptural exhibit 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 Annual Exhibit is provided by Strem Chemicals, Inc., the Firehouse Center for the Arts, and the Newburyport Art Association. 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 exhibit led by Curator, Jay Havighurst, includes support from the Gregg Smith, former Executive Director of the Firehouse Center for the Arts and Geordie Vining, Senior Project Manager for the City of Newburyport. This website and the sculpture park 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.

The fifth exhibit, led by Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park's Curator, Jay Havighurst, opened in July 2007 and featured seven sculptures by artists Michael Alfano, Wendy Klemperer, Rob Lorenson, Robert Motes, Dale Rogers, and David Skora.

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 About the Sculptures and the Artists

The show of eight sculptures includes an exciting range of work by the following sculptors:

Michael Alfano
On exhibit for another year is a nearly six foot wide resin bench, Peace Offering, by Michael Alfano that 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.

Following this year's extended stay at Somerby's Landing Sculpture Park, Peace Offering will be purchased for installation on the Clipper City Rail Trail.

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.

David Davies
Newburyport artist, David Davies' Rhythm Stick "...is a totem for the 21st century.  It is based upon the concept of time and memory and how we interpret and reference each in a non-linear manner.  Using circles, squares and triangles as symbols of moments ‘filed’ in our minds  it explores the way in which we sporadically reference and use them to fit the narrative of conversation.  As the symbols are called upon they are grouped, scaled, turned, twisted or flipped according to need.  In so doing the patterns and compositions they create symbolically define another episode / memory in our lives separate from the events they were drawn from.  While Rhythm Stick implies movement and function it serves only as evidence of a life being lived; perhaps a mere record of the day." (-David Davies)

Rob Hitzig
Vermont artist, Rob Hitzig's, Dog Walker, underscores whimsy. Take a stroll along the path to Somerby's Landing to see this unusual tribute to man's best friend and the act of taking the dogs out for a walk. Using recycled bicycle parts, Hitzig plays off of his surreal imagination.

Dog Walker was purchased from Montpelier, Vermont's SculptCycle 2008 to be installed along Newburyport's new 2009-2010 Clipper City Rail Trail.

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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Simon Larochelle
Will He, combines polished limestone with a bicycle wheel that can be spun. Carved into the inner walls of the limestone, is an upsidedown negative relief of two legs. A visual poem, Will He poses the question: what will he do?

Will He was purchased from Montpelier, Vermont's SculptCycle 2008 to be installed along Newburyport's new 2009-2010 Clipper City Rail Trail.

Simon is a Canadian artist living in Montreal. He has studied and worked as a sculptor since 1998, primarily with metal, stone, and wood. In addition to traveling around Canada to create and install sculptures, he has worked in Spain, Mexico, and France.

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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Derek Riley
Triumph, with its copper-painted aluminum tubing and thrusting curves, suggests a state of movement and resolution. Its arching sides create an inviting passage for little ones to explore.

Riley is from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. While attending Bridgewater State College, he was fortunate enough to study under Rob Lorenson. Rob took him under his wing and taught him everything needed to create art. Since then Riley has developed his own sense of form and space - creating works that are on the edge of movement and form.

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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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 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 Newburyport Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center and the Black Cow Tap and Grill.

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