2011 Best in Show winner - "Wind Harp" by Phillip Hathcock
Sculpture artists from across the nation are invited to participate in the seventh annual National Outdoor Sculpture Competition & Exhibition. Up to 15 sculptures will be juried into the exhibit and compete for cash prizes totaling up to $14,750. The exhibition is presented as a component of the annual North Charleston Arts Festival, to be held May 4-12, 2012. Applications may be downloaded from the Applications & Registration Forms section at http://bit.ly/culturalarts. Deadline for submissions is Thursday, March 1, 2012.
Organized and presented by the City of North CharlestonCultural ArtsDepartment, this 11 month exhibition offers established and emerging artists the opportunity to display their thought provoking, extraordinary sculptures throughout the picturesque North Charleston Riverfront Park. Set on the banks of the Cooper River, Riverfront Park features ten acres of walking paths, a boardwalk and fountain, an expansive lawn with performance pavilion, children's play areas, and picnic sites. The historic site is centered in the Noisette District, the largest urban redevelopment project ever undertaken in the United States.
Steven Matijcio, curator of Contemporary Art at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), will jury this year’s exhibit. Matijcio is a graduate of the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, NY, and has held positions in many important galleries and museums including the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the National Gallery of Canada. Matijcio’s curatorial practice is consistently cross-disciplinary, extends from the historical to the contemporary, and was honored with a 2010 Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award. He has lectured on theory and criticism at the University of Manitoba, written for numerous catalogues and journals (including the Guide to the 27th Sao Paulo Biennial), and was commissioned by the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to curate one of their first online exhibitions. This past summer he was chosen from an international field of candidates to take part in curatorial residencies in Gwangju, South Korea and Berlin, Germany.
The National Outdoor Sculpture Competition & Exhibition will be on display May 1, 2012, through March 24, 2013, at North Charleston Riverfront Park, located at 1001 Everglades Avenue in North Charleston. An opening reception and announcement of awards will be held at the Charleston Area Convention Center on Friday, May 4, 2012. For more information about the North Charleston Arts Festival, the National Outdoor Sculpture Competition & Exhibition, or other exhibition opportunities, contact the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at (843) 740-5854.
