Abilene celebrates 42 years of outdoor sculpture

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SEPT. 16, 2022 – For more than four decades, the Abilene Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition has provided an opportunity for artists to present a new body of work or a new artistic direction.  Abilene’s exhibition is the longest running community initiated public art exhibition in Texas.

 

The biennial Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition is celebrating 42 years of bringing contemporary outdoor sculpture to Abilene made by award-winning artists. The exhibition is always juried, and the call for entries is done in a variety of ways with the focus being on Texas artists.

 

The Abilene Cultural Affairs Council’s Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition Committee organized the exhibition in partnership with the City of Abilene Community Services Department, McMurry, Hardin-Simmons and Abilene Christian universities, The Grace Museum and the Center for Contemporary Arts. This year’s sculptures and their artists are:

- “Red Running Dog” by Anthony Huff, an artist from Abilene

- “Talk of Camels and Needles” by Dewane Hughes, an artist from Tyler

- “The Day Gertrude Flew the Coop” by Glory Hartsfield, a Texas artist who has moved to the Midwest

- “Fallen” by Jeffie Brewer, an artist from Nacogdoches

The sculptures will be on exhibit along North 1st Street (between Beech and Grape streets) for two years.  To celebrate the creators of the outdoor sculptures, as well as artists opening their exhibits at other local galleries, receptions open to the public will take place at:

FRIDAY, Sept. 16

5 p.m. - Reception for Robbie Barber’s exhibition “Souls” at Shore Art Gallery in the Don Morris Center at Abilene Christian University.

5:45 p.m. – Reception for Anna Mavromatis’ exhibition “Material Culture” at The Grace Museum.

SATURDAY, Sept. 17

All day – View the Russell Jacques sculpture “Variations on a Theme III” outside of Amy Graves Ryan Fine Arts Center at McMurry University

5:45 p.m.  – Reception for Felice Contreras exhibition “The Letter ‘T’ Stands For…” at the Ira M. Taylor Memorial Gallery at the Frost Center for Visual Arts at Hardin-Simmons University

6:15 p.m. – Reception for featured outdoor sculptors and group exhibition “Outliers” at the Center for Contemporary Arts featuring six artists:

·         Robbie Barber, Waco.

·         Jeffie Brewer, Nacogdoches

·         Andy Don Emmons, Waco

·         Anthony Huff, Abilene

·         Dewane Hughes, Tyler

·         Glory Hartsfield, who has moved to the Midwest.