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The Project is Now Complete
Thank you to all who volunteered to work on this project. Your efforts made Patrick's visit an enormous success!
About the Project
Internationally known sculptor Patrick Dougherty was in residence at Middlebury College this September to create a large-scale, site-specific sculpture in front of the college’s Center for the Arts. Located on the lawn facing Route 30, Dougherty’s work was conceived and executed on site and in full view of all who pass by the building during the period of its creation. Using saplings harvested locally, the artist drew on volunteers from the college and the surrounding community to help him build his architecturally-scaled art work, which was completed in the course of his three-week Middlebury residency.
Known for his ingenious architectonic structures, Dougherty has a twenty-year track record for completing such ambitious assignments. He has created installations—by invitation—at venues all over the world. In addition to museums in Japan, Europe, and this country, he has been the guest of college campuses, secondary schools, airports, municipalities, and public and private parks. His website www.stickwork.net offers a full account of the geographical range of his travels and accomplishments. Noteworthy among these are recent works created at Cornell University; Brown University; Dingwall, Scotland; Raleigh, North Carolina; New Harmony, Indiana; Misima, Fugino Machi, and Chiba, Japan; Honolulu, Hawaii; and the Lacoste Campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design in France.
In its fall “Art Now” installation, on view from Tuesday, September 11 through Sunday, December 9, the Middlebury College Museum of Art has mounted an exhibition of photographic and video documentation drawn from a number of Dougherty’s prior commissions.
The titles of Dougherty’s works suggest an ongoing interest in wordplay as well as art construction. His projects, which often reach startling scale, at first glance appear to be “found,” or discovered, structures. The artist’s predilection for graceful swirls and coils constructed from the twigs and saplings available to him allude ultimately to the forms of hives, cocoons, lairs, and nests. But whether they are ornamental embellishments on the facades of buildings or habitable shelters intended for occupation, his imaginative projects are eye-stopping.
Dougherty’s unique and signature enterprise is to work locally, engage the community in his project, make use of indigenous materials, and leave behind a standing testament to the synergy of the collaborative process. At Middlebury his visit was sponsored by the College’s Committee on Art in Public Places, funded by the College’s “One Per Cent for Art” initiative, and the Museum. With additional cooperation from the staff of Facilities Services, Public Safety, the Program in Studio Art, and the student group VACA (Vitality of the Artistic Community Association), the project was organized and energized by the artist himself. In addition, the Middlebury College student population and local secondary school students, as well as the general public, were invited to participate. Everyone was invited to stop by during the course of the installation, whether to assist in its construction or just contemplate its progress.
Preparations for this project began with Dougherty’s visit to campus in April 2006. In accordance with his practice, the sculpture will remain on view for as long as its structural integrity is secure and as long as it can survive the Vermont climate. When it is deemed ready for removal, its materials will be returned to the earth
Daniel Houghton, Middlebury Class of 2006, documented the Dougherty residency and its resulting work of art. Local craftsman Stephen Keith and Andrew Lynch (Middlebury Class of 2003) assisted the artist and organized the corps of volunteers.
Dougherty received a B.A. from the English Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and an M.A. from the Department of Health at the University of Iowa. He also did postgraduate work in art at Chapel Hill.
For further information about the Dougherty project please contact donadio@middlebury.edu.
