Calls for artists to contribute to Asheville’s second Sculpture Competition have gone out, and things are taking on an optimistic shape.
Last year’s exhibit was an aesthetic success, despite also being a logistical hassle due to what some artists considered mounds of restrictive red tape. To prepare for this year’s, the River Sculpture Working Committee met Wednesday morning in the board room at the Asheville Area Arts Council. Sixteen people were invited to participate, and eight attended. (A couple of those absent were out of town.) Robert Winkler, founding organizer and curator, conducted the meeting with the help of his wife Arlene. Harry Harrison, director of the YMI Cultural Center, has assumed the position left empty by Ken Kotara as representative of the Public Art Board.
Winkler feels that in spite of the problems encountered last year, the stated objectives were reached. This year he has set more ambitious goals. He wants to include artists from four states and is hoping for more large works. He also would like to raise the artist’s stipend from last years $250 to $500. “If we expect out-of-state sculptors to participate, we have to give them enough money to make two trips to Asheville,” he pointed out. It was suggested that there might be Asheville folks willing to open their homes to the visiting artists so that the latter can save on motel bills. Winkler also wants to raise enough money to offer merit awards.
Issues of signage, parking and security were all raised — plus a brief discussion about the possibility of, once again, moving the works to a downtown location at the end of the exhibition. An important agenda item was securing the the proper permits, and theree was consensus that the city would have to stay involved in this process and not leave all the work and expense to the artists.
— Connie Bostic, A&E contributor
