Workshop to benefit Womanshelter/CompañerasDate: 4/14/2016 HOLYOKE – A native of Holyoke who has become a noted sculptor is returning to the Paper City with a workshop that will teach people the basics in stone sculpture and create a white marble artwork.
DJ Garrity lives in Ireland and France, but will be leading this workshop at the Wistariahurst Museum on May 13 through 15. The cost of the workshop is $450 and includes the white marble and the use of hand tools. It will be the artist’s only such workshop in the United States this year. The class limited to 12 participants and registration will close May 6.
Garrity will be using the workshop as a fundraiser for Womanshelter/Compañeras, the shelter based in Holyoke that serves victims of domestic violence.
Garrity has served as the sculptor in resident at Mount Rushmore and is the author of the book, “The Rhythms of Stone.”
Reminder Publications had the opportunity to speak with Garrity about his work and the workshop.
How did you get involved with doing an event at Wistariahurst? Is this your first time working with the museum?
“The first time I worked with the Wistariahurst Museum was in 2001. The museum was the final stop of a touring exhibition that I put together with artists from Ireland, Northern Ireland and across America. The tour began at the Massachusetts State House at the invitation of Thomas Finneran, the Speaker Of The House at the time. Afterwards we moved over to Boston College followed by The Irish Cultural Centre of Canton and then to the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke.”
Could you describe some details of the event?
“The Garden Sculpture Workshop is a three-day event in which participants use simple hand tools to finesse an image from white marble that holds their unique creative imprint. We carve the human face emerging from a rough block of marble in a manner that allows each participant to achieve a substantial work of art for the home, garden or gallery.
“Gardeners, artists and the lifelong learning community have enjoyed the workshop across both America and Ireland. The workshop has been a popular annual event at the Regenstein School of the Chicago Botanic Garden for the past ten years. The Wistariahurst Museum program will be the only one I conduct in the States during 2016.”
Is the workshop designed for experienced sculptors or people who would like to learn how to create art from stone?
“I designed the workshop as an interpretive training program at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in collaboration with the National Park Service. The technique I teach is referred to as the ‘process aesthetic,’ the emergence of the human visage from a rough block of stone.
“Mount Rushmore is a colossal example of the ‘process aesthetic’ mode of direct stone sculpture. The method incorporates every aspect of the rough stone including the patina, abstract shapes, blemishes and faults that become part of the sculpture. At Mount Rushmore the entire mountain including the talus field at the base of the mountain, the ponderosa pine forest and the surrounding landscape of the Black Hills are all essential elements of the Mount Rushmore experience.
“The program was created for individuals with no previous experience and there it remains. That said, I have worked with accomplished artists and sculptors from California to Florida that have taken advantage of the workshop to enhance a work-in-progress or to simply learn a different approach to direct stone sculpture. The workshop has also been accredited and promoted by Augustana College of South Dakota, the Landscape Contractors Associations within the States of Oregon and California, as well as the Mason Contractors Association of America.”
Do you find that people are daunted by the thought of working in stone as opposed to other mediums?
The thought of working in stone can obviously be daunting but we're able to get past that after the first day. The workshop has been attended by a diverse range of individuals from a young girl of twelve to a ninety-two year old man at Palm Beach, Florida. Roughly seventy-five percent of the workshop participants are women with many from the various garden clubs. The ‘process aesthetic’ technique of direct stone sculpture really is a matter of finesse. The physicality is secondary to the art form and as such is enjoyed across a wide range of physical abilities.”
How did supporting Womanshelter/Compañeras become part of the event?
“I was living in Portland, OR, at the height of the financial crises and couldn't help but witness what was happening to families and especially to the women and children on the front line. At the time, I considered doing something similar in Portland but then left for France and Ireland. My intentions are to remain in Europe indefinitely but I return to Western Massachusetts on an annual basis. I was born in Holyoke, so it's just a natural progression.
“The reality is that I will devout less than a week to the effort while people such as Karen Boyle Cavanaugh, executive director of Womanshelter/Compañeras or Susan E. Scully, director of Development along with the entire staff and volunteers show up every day for women and children who have nowhere else to turn. They own it and one can't help but admire or be moved by their level of commitment.”
What were your duties as sculptor in residence at Mount Rushmore and what was it like to be near a stone sculpture of that magnitude?
“The position of sculptor-in-residence involved establishing a studio on site for training and interpretation purposes and being available in a advisory capacity for matters relating to the mountain or the process of direct stone sculpture.
“I found living and working in the shadow of Mount Rushmore to be a humbling experience. I accepted the position in an effort to expand my knowledge of stone sculpture in the colossal form and for the access it held to both Mount Rushmore and The Crazy Horse Memorial, which is just a few miles down the road. I came away with much more than I could have anticipated. Foremost being a respect for the individuals who worked under harsh and dangerous conditions to create a series of portraits in stone that together present a visceral interpretation of the abstract theory of democracy, as we know and practice it in America.”
To register for the event, contact Womanshelter/Compañeras at 538-9717.
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