San Ramon Finalist Selected for Figurative Sculpture Competition

One of Adam Reeder's new pieces is called "Pan with his Ipod". The thesis behind it is "how technology has changed the way in which western culture interacts with it's world." View more of Adam Reeder's work at www.AdamReeder.com

Adam Reeder of San Ramon, California has been selected as one of 13 finalists nationwide to compete in the National Competition for Figurative Sculpture, which will be held at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, CT in June.

COMPETITORS FOR THE 29TH ANNUAL NATIONAL COMPETITION FOR FIGURATIVE SCULPTURE ANNOUNCED

Nationwide competition to be held in June at

Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, Connecticut

(Note to editors and reporters: The National Sculpture Society has secured permission from 3 preeminent figurative sculptors, Stanley Bleifeld, Neil Estern and Kirsten Kokkin, former jurors for the National Competition for Figurative Sculpture, to be interviewed in connection with the role of representational art to art and culture).

Old Lyme, CT ─ Competitors for the 29th Annual National Competition for Figurative Sculpture, which will be held from June 16 to 20, 2008 at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, CT, were announced today.

Thirteen competitors and one alternate were selected from a nationwide applicant pool of emerging figurative sculptors. They are:

Joo Hee Bae of San Francisco, California.

Darren Beistle of Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Casey Cohoon of Blackville, South Carolina.

Matthew Collins of Oak Park, Illinois.

Karen Cope of Glendale, California.

Chad Fisher of Moorestown, New Jersey.

Madhu Jalli of San Francisco, California.

Remy Jambor of Seattle, Washington.

Adam Matano of Exeter, Rhode Island, alternate.

Julia Levitina McGeehan of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Lisa Nonken of Hebron, Connecticut.

Adam Reeder of San Ramon, California.

Patrick Stephenson of Niantic, Connecticut.

Melinda Whitmore of Oak Park, Illinois.

Prominent sculptors Gwen Marcus, Aldo Casanova, Tuck Langland and Dan Ostermiller, all members of the National Sculpture Society’s Education Committee, made the selections. Note that individuals directly connected with any of the applicants are ineligible to serve as jurors.

The competition has two parts: The first is the Figure Modeling Competition in which competitors must successfully model a full-length figure from life, 30 to 36 inches tall. This competition is time limited; sculpting must be completed in 28 hours over a five-day period.

The late Walker Hancock, the distinguished sculptor, set the criteria for the competition when it was established in 1978:

Each sculpture is judged on mastery of the human figure in sculptural form as well as each competitor’s comprehension of the action, unity and rhythm of the pose. Emphasis is placed on encouraging the analytic observation of the human figure, including proportion, stance, solidity and continuity of line. Of secondary importance is surface finish and detail.

Three prizes will be awarded to the winners of the Figure Modeling Competition: The Walker Hancock prize for $1,000; the Walter & Michael Lantz Prize for $750; and the Elisabeth Gordon Chandler Prize, named for the founder of Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, for $300.

The Young Sculptors’ Awards Competition is sponsored by the National Sculpture Society and dates back to 1959. Members of the Education Committee of the National Sculpture Society serve as the jury for the Young Sculptors’ Competition and base their decisions solely on the images submitted.

Young Sculptors’ Awards include The Dexter Jones Award for $1,000 for a young sculptor for the best work of sculpture in bas relief; the Roger T. Williams Prize for $750 for a young sculptor who reaches excellence in representational sculpture; the Edward Fenno Hoffman Prize of $350 for young sculptor who strives to uplift the human spirit through the medium of his or her art; and the Gloria Medal, given in memory of C. Paul Jennewein, for a meritorious body of work.

All prizes will be presented at an Awards Ceremony on Friday, June 20, 2008, at 2:30 pm at the Foundation Studio, Administrative Center, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, CT. The public is welcome to attend. The ceremony will be preceded at 2:00 pm by the dedication of Exuberance, a sculpture donated to the College by noted American sculptor, the late Richard McDermott Miller.

The National Competition for Figurative Sculpture was established in 1978 by Barry Johnston in memory of his father, James Wilbur Johnston, to reassert the importance and value of figure study in contemporary Sculpture. It is now co-sponsored by Brookgreen Gardens, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, The National Sculpture Society and the New York Academy of Art.

Brookgreen Gardens. In 1931, Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington founded Brookgreen Gardens, a 501(c) (3) non-profit corporation, to preserve the native flora and fauna and display objects of art within that natural setting. Brookgreen Gardens was America's first public sculpture garden. In 2003, the sculpture garden was named the Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington Sculpture Garden in honor of the founders. The collection currently contains over 900 works spanning the entire period of American sculpture ─ from the early 1800s to the present. Its placement in more than 50 acres of beautifully landscaped settings creates an extraordinary blending of art and nature. In addition to the sculpture collection in the gardens there are two indoor sculpture exhibition galleries.

Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. Founded in 1976 by distinguished sculptor Elisabeth Gordon Chandler, the College provides a four-year degree education through a commitment to traditional concepts and methodologies and develops both intellect and skill through a strong emphasis on figuration. The sculpture curriculum of the College includes portrait sculpture, relief, figure sculpture and advanced sculpture concepts. The major includes three years o f courses in anatomy including scientific anatomy, sculptural écorché plus substantial life drawing. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the State of Connecticut and the New England Association of College and Schools (NEASC), the Lyme Academy offers a four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Painting, Sculpture, and Illustration (to be introduced Fall 2008), a three-year Certificate, and a one–year Post-Baccalaureate Certificate.

The National Sculpture Society (NSS). Founded in 1893, NSS is the oldest organization of professional sculptors in the United States. The purpose of the NSS is to promote excellence in figurative sculpture throughout the United States, to which end its programs are directed. Scholarships and youth awards help young aspiring sculptors. NSS collects and maintains source materials of America’s most important sculptors, past and present. Archives are open to art historians, students and other interested researchers. Video cassettes on various topics are available to universities and other organizations free of charge. Sculpture Review magazine, a quarterly publication, is entirely devoted to sculpture. NSS holds exhibitions open to all American sculptors which showcase the best in current figurative sculpture in the nation, as well as being represented in museum, corporate, and private collections around the world.

New York Academy of Art. Located in the heart of TriBeCa, the New York Academy of Art is dedicated to the advancement of figurative painting, sculpture and drawing. A not-for-profit educational and cultural institution, the New York Academy is the only graduate school in the United States devoted exclusively to the study of the human figure, and fosters values and skills intrinsic to the creation of significant contemporary art.