‘Stick Artist’ Patrick Dougherty to Build Large Installation in February
Internationally acclaimed Chapel Hill-based artist Patrick Dougherty will add a new dimension to Guilford’s green & beyond sustainability theme year with a monumental outdoor sculpture on the College quadrangle near Duke Memorial Hall. Dougherty has produced more than 200 installations around the world and uses only locally harvested tree saplings to weave playful, nest-like architectural forms.
Dougherty will build the Guilford structure, which is expected to be at least 20 feet high and 25 feet in diameter, during a three-week residency in February. Volunteers will harvest saplings from Piedmont Triad Airport in the area where a new runway is to be built.
Guilford’s Art Gallery, located in Hege Library, will present “Patrick Dougherty: Past Projects & Stickworks,” an exhibition of photographs, drawings and models of Dougherty’s past installations spanning from 1987 to 2009, from Jan. 10 through April 15. (The gallery will be closed for school holidays on Jan. 17 and March 5-13.)
The exhibition’s opening reception will be held Wednesday, Jan. 12, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Art Gallery.
Dougherty, a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, began experimenting with traditional building techniques in 1980. To date, he has created installations at the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Botanic Garden, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and sites in Italy, France and Japan. Several of the works appear in his book Stickwork, published in 2010 by Princeton Architectural Press.
Volunteers are needed to harvest saplings and to assist Dougherty with the structure’s construction. Call (336) 316-2438 or e-mail thammond@guilford.edu for scheduling information.
The exhibit and installation are presented in partnership with the United Arts Council, Guilford’s Department of Art, Center for Principled Problem Solving and Community Senate.
Dougherty’s project is part of Guilford’s 2010-11 theme year, green & beyond, a collection of events and learning opportunities dedicated to examining the topic of sustainability and to promoting sustainable individual and institutional practices. For more information, visit www.guilford.edu/greenandbeyond or call (336) 316-2277
January 10, 2011
