It is hard to fit a large steel statue in a gallery; it is even harder to get viewers into a gallery with a large steel statue in it. Rockville’s Sculptures on the Grounds art show, now in its 21st year, solves this problem by presenting large sculptures outdoors on the grounds of the Rockville Civic Center Park, located between Edmonston Drive and Baltimore Road.
"The idea is to expose residents and community neighbors to different styles of art that they can’t always see easily," said Betty Wisda, the Arts Program Supervisor for the City of Rockville.
To accomplish this the city has placed five artists’ statues around the grounds surrounding the Glenview Mansion and F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre through Oct. 15. The five artists and their styles range drastically. Artists include Cecilia Lueza, a Miami resident originally from Argentina, whose piece "Landing" is colorful and flowing. Another featured artist is Potomac native Don Herman, whose piece "Fright" is metallic, abstract and hard-edged.
"[The City of Rockville] puts together a good collection of work," notes artist Bill Wood of Fairfax, Va., whose piece "A Few Degrees from Plum and Square" is the most abstract of the works in the show. "You get large abstract shapes and more detailed sculptures all stuck together. They are all dramatically different."
ARTISTS WERE selected via submissions of their artwork to the city.
"We put a call out to different artists at the beginning of the year," said Wisda. "Pieces had to be large-scale and durable since they are outside all summer."
After submissions were received, a review board comprised of artists and Rockville arts commission members sifted through the entries and selected five for the show. Although three of the artists are local, including David Hubbard of Silver Spring who created "Monument of Music," the only qualification entrants were judged on was the quality of their work. Of course this doesn’t mean that the event being local wasn’t a boon for the three local artists.
"You can’t just pick up a piece and move it when you work with large sculptures. It’s just too hard sometimes. So it is nice that there is an outdoor venue nearby that allows for this kind of showing," said Herman of the locale.
Artwork from outside the area comes in too and it is the venue that Sculptures on the Grounds offers that attracts more distant artists like Lueza and Hana Jurban of Grimesland, N.C., who constructed "The Cycle."
"Public art is very interesting because you get the chance to show your work off to lots of people who might not see it otherwise," said Lueza.
IT IS THE ease of public view that makes the Sculptures on the Grounds an exceptional art show at the same time, says Wisda.
"The reason we do the show during the summer is that there is so much going on in the Civic Center Park with our summer shows playing at the theater and people out on the lawns. It allows for art to be seen by people who don’t usually go to art shows," she said.
For artists this is an opportunity to express themselves in an open surrounding without the confines of the walls and other art in a gallery.
"I’ve always been focused on large outdoor pieces. I’m not an art gallery kind of guy," said Wood, "I think any venue that has people coming through and exposing them to things they wouldn’t normally see is great. In a gallery you get to see art. The art is in and of itself complete. Outdoors there is always space beyond the work."
Herman sees outdoor shows as a way to work with unlimited space — the artwork can grow however the artist wants, he pointed out.
"Indoor pieces, you are restricted by size. You can’t go into shows because you get limited to small pieces. But outdoors you get to work to any size and any material. It gives you more freedom," he said.
In its public setting, the art is ultimately there for people to enjoy, and to involve, inspire and interest them.
"I hope viewers find inspiration to explore, to move. Inspiration to do something great in their life," Lueza said.