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| Patrick Dougherty, So Inclined, 2007, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt. |
In September, internationally known sculptor Patrick Dougherty was in residence at Middlebury, where he created a large-scale, site-specific sculpture in front of the Mahaney Center for the Arts. Situated on the lawn facing Route 30, Dougherty’s work was conceived and executed on site and in full view of all who passed by. Using saplings harvested locally, the artist drew on volunteers from the College and the surrounding community to help him build his architecturally scaled artwork.
Known for his ingenious architectonic structures, Dougherty has a 20-year track record for completing ambitious assignments. He has been invited to create installations at venues all over the world. In addition to museums in Japan, Europe, and this country, he has been the guest of colleges, secondary schools, airports, municipalities, and public and private parks. Recent works reside 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, the museum has mounted an exhibition of photographic and video documentation drawn from a number of Dougherty’s prior commissions.
Dougherty’s signature enterprise is to work locally, engage the community in his project, use indigenous materials, and leave behind a standing testament to the synergy of collaboration. The graceful swirls and coils constructed from available twigs and saplings 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.
Patrick Dougherty’s visit to Middlebury was sponsored by the Committee on Art in Public Places, funded by the College’s One Percent for Art initiative, and the Middlebury College Museum of Art.
The Museum exhibition is on view through December 9; the outdoor sculpture will remain beyond that date. Free