Sculpture Exhibition Brings Artists to Laramie

Two more sculptures are being installed in Laramie this week as part of the University of Wyoming Art Museum's community-wide exhibition "Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational."

Sculptor James Surls will install his work on Prexy's Pasture at UW and Charmaine Locke's work will be installed at the Albany County Public Library. Both are in Laramie July 23.

Locke's sculptures often include imagery of Mother Earth and mythology. She has exhibited widely throughout the United States since 1977, and her work is included in many private and public collections.

Surls will install a new work in stainless steel for the exhibition. His visual vocabulary includes flowers, diamonds, eyes and knives, and his signature material is wood with blackened, burned features.

Surls' sculptures are in the collections of such major museums as the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum, all in New York City; the Modern Art Museum (Fort Worth), Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), and the Dallas Museum of Art.

He has placed many commissioned pieces in major private and corporate collections.

Surls was given the Living Legend Award by the Dallas Visual Art Center in 1993. In 1991, he was named Texas Artist of the Year by the Art League of Houston.

Surls and Locke organized many pivotal art exhibitions in Houston before relocating to Basalt, Colo. Their community work has had a huge impact on the art scene, helping to develop non-profit alternative arts institutions and exhibitions.

Works in "Wyoming Invitational" have been placed or created at various locations in Laramie and on the UW campus since May.

"The exhibition offers extraordinary educational opportunities for students of all ages to learn about the artists, their creative processes, and give a behind-the-scenes view of how these large-scale works are created and placed," said Susan Moldenhauer, the art museum's director and chief curator. The exhibition will be on view from Aug. 1 through July 31, 2009.

"Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational" was organized by the University of Wyoming Art Museum in cooperation various agencies in the city of Laramie and the Albany County Public Library.

"Imagine learning from the masters" is a guiding principle of the UW Art Museum's program. The museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 22nd & Willett Drive in Laramie. The Museum and Museum Store have special hours this summer and are open Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free.

For more information on the exhibition and the museum, call (307) 766-6622 or visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum or www.uwartmuseum.blogspot.com.