Sculpture artists from across the nation applied to the 10th Annual National Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition, displayed at the picturesque North Charleston Riverfront Park and presented as a component of the 2015 North Charleston Arts Festival. Organized annually by the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department, this unique, eleven month exhibition offers established and emerging artists the opportunity to display their thought provoking, extraordinary sculptures, as well as compete for up to $16,250 in honorariums and awards. 

Fourteen out of 73 submissions were pre-juried into the exhibition by the juror, Jeffrey York, Public and Cultural Arts Administrator for the Town of Chapel Hill, NC.  Once installed at the exhibition site, York then made his selections for Best in Show, Outstanding Merit, and Honorable Mentions.

“For ten years the City of North Charleston Cultural Department has offered residents and visitors alike, the opportunity to experience a variety of outdoor sculptural forms and styles while enjoying the scenery along the Cooper River,” York stated. He continued, “My selections for the show and choices for awards are subjective. The viewer will form their own opinions and impressions. That is beauty of public sculpture. It is there to enliven the space. One can choose to enjoy it as a diversion from their surroundings, interact with it, discuss, contemplate, or just pass by.”

The fourteen sculptures selected for exhibition are by fourteen artists from seven states. Congratulations to the winners of the 2015/16 National Outdoor Sculpture Competition & Exhibition:

Best in Show  - Sacred Sunset Viewing Spiral (forged & fabricated steel) by Corrina Sephora (Atlanta, GA)
Outstanding Merit - Portal VIII (limestone) by Paris Alexander (Raleigh, NC)
Honorable Mention - Bicycle Carousel (steel and recycled bikes) by Sean Mueller & Jarod Charzewski (Charleston, SC)
Honorable Mention  - Excelerator (painted steel) by Ray Katz (Pontiac, MI)
Honorable Mention  - Rhett (recycled steel) by Jonathan Bowling (Greenville, NC)
COC XVIII (steel, fiberglass, epoxy resin) by Luke Crawley & Quincy Owens (Indianapolis, IN)
Splendid Maelstrom (powder coated aluminum and steel) by Andrew Denton (Greenville, NC)
Fall Wind (steel) by Bob Doster (Lancaster, SC)
Tumble Gate (galvanized steel) by Jim Gallucci (Greensboro, NC)
In Motion (steel and paint) by Hanna Jubran (Grimesland, NC)
Studio Tracks #2 (rockite cement and steel) by Morgan Kinne (Seabrook Island, SC)
Learning Curve Sculpture (welded aluminum) by Frederick Napoli (Lake Zurich, IL)
Temple of the Roses (granite, glass, stainless steel) by Antoinette Prien Schultze (Eliot, ME)
Core 1 (fabricated steel) by Adam Walls (Hope Mills, NC)

Sculpture sites are located throughout North Charleston Riverfront Park, located at 1001 Everglades Avenue on the former Charleston Naval Base.  The park is set on the banks of the beautiful Cooper River.  In addition to the sculptures, visitors may enjoy ten acres of walking paths, a performance pavilion, picnic shelter, a fishing pier and boardwalk, an oversized sandbox, and children’s play fountain. Park is open daily during daylight hours. Admission and parking are free. The 2015/16 National Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition will be on display through March 25, 2016. For more information or to be added to the application mailing list for the 2016/17 Competition, please call the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at 843-740-5854 or email culturalarts@northcharleston.org.  For more information on the sculpture exhibition, visit NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com.