Sculpture Week 2012

Summer has arrived, and with it has come Annabeth, a Summer intern who is working at Patchwork as part of Goshen College’s summer Service Inquiry Program. It’s wonderful to have her help around Patchwork over the next couple months. Annabeth is interested in writing and photography and started her work at Patchwork by helping with Sculpture Week. Here are her reflections:

What do you get when you give twelve kids mass amounts of cardboard, staplers and glue?  Patchwork Central’s Sculpture Week kids produced a myriad of different creations: a flying eagle, an acorn named “Nutty,” a walking house, a hugging bug, etc. Sculpture Week was led by Rob Milliard-Mendez, a sculpture professor from the University of Southern Indiana. The two week program, lasting June 11-14 and June 18-21, began with a tour through the outdoor sculptures of Sculpt EEV and a field trip to the Evansville Museum to see sculptor Ann Weber’s whimsical cardboard creations. Once our inspiration was lit, new ideas began to build.  And build we did! From cardboard, a common, everyday material, came one-of-a-kind personal masterpieces.

Week two of sculpture week also utilized an unlikely material: driftwood from the banks of the Ohio River. Our leader and head sculptor, Rob, took piles of the gnarled, rugged, sun-washed material and pioneered us through the process of making a giant driftwood sphere sculpture. We all found our project niche, whether it was sawing, drilling or stringing wire.  The making of this circular sculpture showed us the spirit of teamwork, the power of diligence, new friendships and plenty of fun. Now on display in Patchwork’s Blackford Forest on Blackford Street, the sphere was well worth our efforts. From those early days of observing professional sculpting throughout Evansville, to the last day of installing our own outdoor public art, one thing is certain: we have truly come full circle!