Sculptures in Easthampton

The third biennial "Art in the Orchard" started its run on August 13th. It will run until October 31st. The apple orchards up the street from my house have been filled with sculpture. This year there are 28 pieces of sculpture made of a wide and wild variety of materials. Here are some of them:

This is called "Truth #1" by Peter Dellert

"Orchard Pig" by Susan Halls

A detail of a piece called "Empty" by Katie Richardson. I have seen some of her other pieces made out of steel and glass. She makes some very cool stuff.

Don't be alarmed! UFOs have not landed in Easthampton. It is a piece of sculpture called

"Cosmic Gypsy". I guess they are coming in peace.... 

This was created by Chris Woodman. The piece spins in the wind.

BUT WAIT!!! ......THERE IS MORE!!!!!

In addition to the "Art in the Orchard", which is a special event, there are a couple of other new  permanent pieces of sculpture in the downtown area. Recently a huge Gibson Explorer appeared between the Senior Center and an Indian restaurant. It is steel. It looks solid. 

Why next to  Senior Center? I don't know nor care. It looks really cool. Maybe it is there to remind us that the first generation of rock and rollers are now senior citizens.

I have not been able to find out the artist's name yet.

Here is a detail of the Explorer. 

If you want to find out what a real Gibson Explorer sounds like, you can check out Pete Willis on first three Def Leppard albums. You could also check out Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd. 

On Main Street there is also a new bicycle stand. 01027 - that is the Easthampton zip code. For what I have seen, people are actually using the bicycle stand for its intended purpose. And above all: it looks cool.

College for Kids at Westfield State University

During the last week of July my wife and I taught a sculpture class for kids at Westfield State University. This was part of their "College for Kids" program. Our class was called "Skulpture with K". (It was taught by Mr. And Mrs. K.)

In five days we did 7 different sculpture projects with our students. It was a blast! We did the same thing in July two years ago. Here we have a couple of the sculptures that the students did.

This is an abstract sock sculpture. It is called a "sock sculpture" because it is made of a piece of wood, a twisted coat hanger, a nylon sock and some acrylic paint. 

Here is a wall sculpture made out of an old picture frame, a piece of plywood and some scrap wood. Yes,.... it is clearly inspired by Louise Nevelson's work. The skills of these students were way above their grade level. Below you can see the materials that were used in making it. There were more great pieces, but during the hectic last day I didn't have a chance to take as many photos as I wanted.

I am looking forward to next July.