Ecclesiastes (War Wagon)

Steel

Phil Alan Simpson

Boerne, TX

Located at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center

"My art stems from natural sources and traditional methods,” writes Simpson. “I feel it transcends regional boundaries since it finds its genesis in nature. I work with two and three-dimensional 'scapes,' not necessarily landscapes, and in two and three-dimensional iconographic forms."

Phil Alan Simpson has been living in Boerne, Texas since 1984 and has spent over 25 years teaching art in an academic college setting and currently serves as an adjunct professor at San Antonio College. A nationally renowned artist, his work has been exhibited throughout the United States.

Brownie

Steel Scraps / Found Objects
William Brian Hibbard

Greensboro, NC

Located at 101 Wilkinson Ave.

In the Herb Young Community Center Main Lobby

William Brian Hibbard is a professional painter and sculptor who is an active part of the growing art scene in Greensboro. Born and raised in South Carolina, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting from Winthrop University. His four year-old son’s love of horses inspired him to create this sculpture.

Caryvisualart.org Exclusive - Complete interview transcript with William Brian Hibbard

Paring

Steel/Stainless Steel

Marvin Tadlock

Bristol, VA

Located at 100 W. Chatham St. in the Fidelity Bank courtyard

"What I’m interested in is balance," says sculptor Marvin Tadlock. "And when you’re welding, you’re able to weld things and make them stay where you want to stay. In other words, you can do what looks impossible. The whole thing looks like it’s ready to collapse, and I am able to freeze it in that position."

Two by Two

Reinforced Concrete
William Donnan

Franklinville, NC

Located at 211 N. Academy St.

In front of the Train Depot

Donnan says of Two by Two, "I am trying to reconcile contemporary man's ambiguous attitude towards nature with the older impulse to worship nature."

Tortuosity

Bronze
Larry Schessel
Cary, NC
Located at 310 S. Academy Street in front of the Cary Library

Larry Schessell says of this piece, "The needle point pose is one of the most difficult dance positions due to its extreme bends. Tortuosity represents any art form taken to its pinnacle. The dancer is looking skyward representing even higher goals set by the performer. My art is a celebration of the human form. I capture key moments when the mind and body reach extremes only attainable by the seasoned dancer, expert athlete, and experienced climber. Tension and serenity merge into one creating a harmonious figure."

Street Sax

Mild Steel

Ernest and Lois Rich

Greensboro, NC

Located at 114 S. Academy St.

In front of Comfort and Joy and Serendipity

"The idea is it’s a saxophone player from probably the ’30s wearing the long zoot suit with the big hat," says Ernest Rich.

The husband-and-wife pair design their pieces together, then split the physical work. "I do the forge and hammering work. She does a lot of the flat pattern work. We both do the cutting and shaping of it."

Wedge Form With Dent

Surfaced and Waxed Steel

Jacob DeCola

Greensboro, NC

Located at 400 Kildaire Farm In front of Cary Elementary.

"The piece’s name ought to offer a clue", DeCola says, "That’s sort of an opportunity for me as an artist to include more depth in the piece, and I think it leaves people questioning: Was it intentional, was it dented after it was installed ... whether it fell off the truck."

Angel Blessing

Steel Scrap

Joel Haas

Raleigh, NC

Located at 310 S. Academy Street in front of the Cary Library

Haas makes whimsical sculptures for the garden. He says, “Some people have asked me if there is any serious or deep meaning to my work. I say, "I hope not. There're already enough serious and deep meanings in the world to keep thousands of art critics busy. I just make stuff that transports me to a happier place where I can hum and whistle. Art can do that.”

Up and Over

Stainless Steel
Wayne Trapp
Vilas, NC
Located at 307 N. Academy St. in front of the Chamber of Commerce

Trapp considers his work as a sculptor as experiment and partnership with the space each piece occupies. Saying, “Space is a critical part of sculpture. If you agree that space exists and then break it apart by projecting into it, is that not a contradiction or a denial of the reality of space?” He designed this piece with movement in mind, as the title suggests, but says interpretation is up to the viewer. "Everything with contemporary sculpture is arbitrary."

Nemesis

Limestone

Paris Alexander

Raleigh, NC

Located at 200 W. Chatham St. in Ashworth Village

Paris Alexander was born and raised in New York City where he studied and was taught art since early childhood. Alexander’s work has been exhibited widely including galleries, universities, and museums, with numerous public and private commissions. His work is included in the collection of Saks Fifth Avenue, the R.C. Kessler Collection, SAS Institute, former president Bill Clinton, Senator Bob Dole, and many others.

Paris is also a well-known instructor in sculpture, drawing, and anatomy for the artist. Besides teaching privately, he has been an instructor at several NC Arts councils, the Artspace Arts Program, and the NC Museum of Art Outreach Program.

Nemesis will be on exhibition through May of 2007

Community
Dawn Stetzel

Pittsboro, NC

Exhibited at 105 W. Chatham St.

On the outer wall of Ashworth's facing Comfort and Joy.

Dawn Stetzel describes Community as a collection of separate forms, oriented together in groups or clusters, and conforming to the selected or provided space. She sees these particular shapes as "forms waiting to undergo metamorphosis."

Metamorphosis
Marvin Tadlock
Bristol, VA
Exhibited at 210 S. Academy St.

On the corner of Academy and East Park St.

The artist seeks with this work, to make a structural material such as steel appear whimsical and fluid by creating geometric forms, which metamorphose into the abstracted form of a fish.

Metamorphosis was jointly purchased by the MacGregor Office Park Association and Withers & Ravenel and is now on permanent display at the Office Park.

First Rising
Edwin White
Siler City, NC

Painted Stainless Steel
Exhibited at 310 S. Academy Street in front of the Cary Library

This work was inspired in part by the artist's fishing trips to western North Carolina in which he watched the "first rising" of insects that had been waiting in the streams as larvae. He says that the piece calls to mind those shapes.

Street Corner Blues

Ernest and Lois Rich

Steel

Exhibited at 100 W. Chatham St. in the Fidelity Bank courtyard

Street Corner Blues was conceived and constructed to help commemorate the Year of the Blues. The Riches use negative space in these pieces to entice the viewer to use their imagination and hopefully hear the music.

Sculpture includes Guitar and Bass figures.

Guitar only pictured.

Black Cross

Tom Severa

Exhibited at 400 Kildaire Farm In front of Cary Elementary.

Paradox

Michael Jacobson

Exhibited at 211 N. Academy St.

In front of the Train Depot

Paradox has been purchased by the MacGregor Office Park Association and will is now on permanent display at the Office Park

Duet

Kevin Eichner

Exhibited at 307 N. Academy St.

Chamber of Commerce

Red, Yellow, and Blue Seed Pods

Frank Holder

The Ancient Ones in the Procession
Marla Black of Rock Hill, SC
Exhibited in the Cary Chamber of Commerce
On Temporary Exhibition from May 2003 - April 2003.

This sculpture is a four-piece massive walnut sculpture that emphasized the unique qualities of the individual while referring to the unity of the whole. The fractured facets carved into flawless planes of the wood tend to repeat the theme appearing in much of Black's work, along with a reference to the spiritual significance of the bird symbol. These monoliths were inspired by that spirituality. Shards of coal appear as fallen feathers, forming a wake around the foursome. The Procession, while static, represents movement. The solemn foursome seems to move in unison through space-and time.