Art Around The Corner Foundation installs new outdoor sculpture garden
Two dozen new pieces now on display in downtown St. George
By Dawn McLain
Visitors to St. George are now enjoying the brand-new outdoor sculpture garden just installed in various venues downtown, courtesy of the Art Around the Corner Foundation. In the early hours of April 14, teams of Art Around the Corner volunteers and city parks and facilities employees fanned out and assisted artists in installing their pieces, which will grace the area for the next year.
Since 2004, the nonprofit, all-volunteer Art Around the Corner Foundation has curated a collection of sculptures that are installed on Main Street along with sites in town square and nearby traffic roundabouts. This year’s grouping of 24 pieces includes a number of bronzes as well as works crafted from marble, stone, metal, glass, assorted found objects, and other materials. Sizes range from smaller pieces, such as Ben Hammond’s 29-inch bronze, “Angel Anchored in the Art Nouveau,” which now resides on a pedestal on Main Street, to Deveren Farley’s towering, 15-foot metal sculpture, “Giant Spider,” which stands guard in the roundabout at Main Street and Tabernacle Street.
“We’re exceptionally proud of this year’s outdoor sculpture gallery,” said Susan Jarvis, Art Around the Corner Foundation chair. “The works represent a diverse assortment of artists and subject matter, which we hope will start some wonderful conversations as people visit our beautiful downtown. We are enormously grateful to our artists, who kindly loan us their pieces each year, and to our sponsors, who make it possible for the work to be displayed by funding the pedestals on which the sculptures are installed.”
Each artist whose work is accepted into the show agrees to provide it to the City of St. George for one year. At any point during that time, the artist may lease or sell it to a private or corporate collector (with Art Around the Corner brokering the transactions), but the buyer will not take ownership of the piece until the exhibit year is up. In a number of instances, the city has purchased pieces for its permanent collection. Most of the art is installed on pedestals that are sponsored (at a cost of $1,000) by local businesses and community members with bigger sculptures placed in traffic roundabouts and such sites as town square.
The 2018–19 Art Around the Corner show represents a major step forward, Jarvis noted, as it includes works by a number of artists who have contributed their works for the first time. Additionally, thanks to a combination of grants and sponsorships, the Art Around the Corner Foundation was able to offer stipends to all artists, helping to offset some production and transportation costs.
“We’re honored that new artists are now a part of our ‘family,’ and we hope to continue that trend as other artists learn about our annual collection,” Jarvis said. “We hope everyone will come out and experience the new collection and consider acquiring one of the pieces for their business or home! The Art Around the Corner Foundation is always available to facilitate purchases or leases of the sculptures to any interested art-lover.”
The collection is available for viewing at no cost to the community. A “walking tour” map containing the names and sites of each piece can be found at artaroundthecorner.org. Printed copies of the map will soon be available at a number of downtown locations as well.
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