A total of six workshops and demonstrations will take place during Mid-South Sculpture Alliance’s “Sculpture Conference 2007,” in Chattanooga. The demonstrations will include mold-making, casting, patinas, clay portraits and aluminum pouring. Three consecutive two-hour workshops will be given on Friday, March 30, and on Saturday, March 31, three concurrent two-hour workshops will be held. All workshops will take place in the Art Wing of the Humanities Building at Chattanooga State Technical Community College, located at 4501 Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga.
Stan Townsend of Chattanooga and Ron Young of Escondido, Ca., will present “Molding, Casting & Patinas: Technologies for the Modern Sculptor” on Friday, March 30. In three separate demonstrations, participants will gain an understanding of mold making, casting, and patina techniques. Conference attendees can participate in one or in all three sessions and will learn how to select the proper materials for a variety of projects replicating a three-dimensional object. These demonstrations are sponsored by Townsend Atelier, Chattanooga and Sculpt Nouveau, Escondido, Ca.
The first of these three demonstrations, “Mold-Making” will be from 10 a.m.-noon, and features step by step demonstration of mold making techniques using Knead-a-Mold®, silicone and polyurethane materials. The second, “Casting,” from 1-3 p.m., will demonstrate casting materials and techniques including cold-cast bronze and polyurethane resins. The third, “Patinas,” from 3-4 p.m., will be a step-by-step demonstration of faux finishes, patination techniques and materials using the latest products from Sculpt Nouveau.
On Saturday, three concurrent workshops and demonstrations will take place from 3-5 p.m. Demonstration #1, “Molding, Casting & Patinas: Technologies for the Modern Sculptor,” by Stan Townsend and Ron Young, will demonstrate mold making, casting and patina techniques using Knead-a-Mold ®, silicone, polyurethane materials, and the latest patina products from Sculpt Nouveau. Demonstration #2, “Clay Portraiture,” features master sculptor Cessna Decosimo of Chattanooga who will construct a portrait in clay from his imagination relying on generic morphology of a life-size head. Anatomy, portrait sculpture, and character development are some of the subjects that will be addressed. And in Demonstration #3, “Aluminum Scratch Block Pour,” by Gerard Masse of Lexington, Ky., attendees will be able to scratch or carve in resin-bonded sand to create their own high-relief aluminum sculpture. This demonstration is sponsored by Industrial Welding Supply of Chattanooga.
Cessna Decosimo received his Masters of Fine Arts degree from the New York Academy of Art after studying figurative art at Studio Cecil-Graves in Florence, Italy. Mr. Cessna returned to Italy to teach and direct the sculpture program at the Florence Academy of Art. Since 1998, he has resided in Chattanooga where, along with his wife and fellow sculptor, Elizabeth Rogers, he has established a studio in the Southside area of Chattanooga. He has been commissioned to create several public monuments in the area, including The Police Memorial in Chattanooga, The William Jennings Bryan sculpture in Dayton, Tennessee, and most recently the memorial for the International Tow Truck Museum. He has also completed numerous portrait commissions including the late Chattanooga Chief of Police, Ralph Cothran, Roy Baylor, and John Strang. Mr. Cessna is also an avid draftsman and enjoys painting and watercolor.
Gerard Masse, a sculptor using cast metal, wood carving, and steel fabrication, teaches metal casting techniques and mold making for aluminum, bronze and iron pours. Mr. Masse, a Lexington, Ky., resident, earned two BFAs (sculpture and woodworking design) from Herron School of Art in Indianapolis; and an MFA in Sculpture at the University of Kentucky. He taught foundation sculpture classes at the University of Kentucky for six years and helped develop an international study program in Coalbrookdale, England, the birthplace of modern iron casting. In 2002, Mr. Masse and his wife, Lisa, created Sculpture Trails Outdoor Museum in Solsberry, In., which features over 22 large-scale sculptures with more scheduled to be installed. They also hold a variety of workshops for kids and the public as well as providing a place for advanced sculptors to develop and display their work.
Stan Townsend, a Chattanooga resident, has a BFA from East Tennessee State University with a major in printmaking and a minor in sculpture and drawing. He has been an instructor in drawing, painting, and printmaking at the Hunter Museum of Art, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Chattanooga State Technical Community College. His works are in major private and corporate collections nationwide. In a national competition in 1990, he was selected to be a member of the design team for Ross’s Landing Park and Plaza, a 12-acre urban park at the Tennessee Aquarium that features one of the largest public art installations in the state. He was VP of Marketing and Sales for an international polyurethane chemical company where he helped develop products for the sculpture and three–dimensional markets. He also served as a technical consultant and has lectured and taught numerous workshops focusing on the use of modern art materials in molding and casting. Currently, he serves as VP of Sales and Marketing for Innovative Polymer Systems, Inc. in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca.
Ron Young is renowned for his fascination with Pre-Colombian cultures and this affinity is clearly evident in his work. His art incorporates Mayan architectural symbols, weapons, and art and as he has spent many years studying the Mayan Culture. The majority of his work is cast bronze and aluminum, with wood, stone, and resin. Each sculpture and painting contains a real piece of the past. He is also the author of the two widely read books, Methods for Modern Sculptors and Contemporary Patination and is highly regarded throughout the world for his knowledge and use of patinas. Some of the innovations in his work include a combination of metal and canvas. He has developed a technique of applying metal to a canvas and then use only patinas to 'paint' it. He received his MA & MFA in Art from Long Beach State and UCLA and studied bronze casting with the Pomadora brothers in Italy, receiving a Roman Art Degree. He has since taught at or been director of many leading art schools and foundries.
The Mid-South Sculpture Alliance’s (MSA) “Sculpture Conference 2007: Connecting the Worlds of Sculpture” is a three-day conference to be held March 29-31 in Chattanooga. “Sculpture Conference 2007” will feature keynote addresses and panel discussions, workshops and demonstrations, gallery and studio tours, networking opportunities, and a MSA members-only sculpture show with cash prizes and long-term exhibition awards.
MSA was formed to advance the creation, awareness and understanding of sculpture and its important role in our communities. MSA is only the second affiliate member of the International Sculpture Center (ISC) and serves Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky. Its membership is open to anyone anywhere with an interest in and commitment to the field of sculpture.
For more information and registration information, visit http://midsouthsculpture.org and click “Conference.”
For more information, contact Judy Britain, Conference Co-Chair, at 423-313-2116 or judy@midsouthsculpture.org
Mid-South Sculpture Alliance
P.O. Box 5716
Chattanooga, TN 37406