New Beginnings at Montalvo
Bronze sculpture by David Middlebrook defies gravity on Montalvo Grounds.
In a spirited celebration of interactive arts in lovely summer weather, the grounds in front of Montalvo’s main facilities in the Phelan Mansion were the inauguration site of outdoor sculpture installations by Ann Weber, David Middlebrook and Ali Naschke-Messing on Friday, July 23, 2010. Music and poetry contributed to the events of the evening. Programs Director Kelly Sicat took visitors on a guided tour of the sculptural works, inviting the artists to talk about each piece with her. She explained that although some of the work is inherently impermanent she hopes this exhibition sows the seeds of an eventual sculpture garden. For the future, Montalvo wants more interface of the arts with the grounds.
Ann Weber’s woven sculpture sits near the discovery site of the small cones that were their inspiration.
Ann Weber, as a resident at Montalvo, wove her forms out of strips of corrugated cardboard and modeled their shapes after small nuts and seed pods she found on the grounds. Weber had asked staff to save as much discarded cardboard as they could get their hands on for her before her arrival. Coming from the Midwest, she says she is used to “making a silk purse from a sow’s ear.” Her background in ceramics drew her naturally to the organic spherical and cylindrical forms she found under the trees. A steel matrix beneath the surface maintains the structural integrity of each sculpture. During the residency, Weber began looking in to the history of James Phelan (the Senator who bequeathed his estate to the arts) and learned of his status as an amateur poet. She named her sculptures after some of his favorite poems. While earlier public works were executed in weather resistant fiberglass and epoxy, these woven cardboard pieces are simply shellacked and exposed to the elements. Weber is ambivalent about eventually allowing this series to disintegrate and return to the earth.
