Annual Nashua International Sculpture Symposium to be held next month

NASHUA – The 18th annual Nashua International Sculpture Symposium, In The Making, will be held from May 8-31 at the Picker Artists’ Studios, 3 Pine St.
The opening ceremony will be at 5:30 p.m on May 8 and the closing ceremony will be at 1 p.m. on May 31.
This year’s sculptors are as follows:
Valerie Funk
Born in Constance, Germany, Valerie Funk first studied theater, film and media in Vienna, Austria before pursuing fine arts at the University of the Arts Berlin under Ina Weber. She completed her studies in 2021 as a master student specializing in sculpture.

Funk’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions at renowned institutions and galleries, including Kühlhaus Berlin, nGbK Berlin and Kunsthaus Kaufbeuren.
Most recently, she participated in the international sculpture symposium in Norway, where her work will be exhibited for two years at Kunstfelt Stålaker. Valerie Funk lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
Danaë LeBlond-Joris
Born in 1999, Danaë Leblond-Joris spent her childhood between a Paris suburb and the South of France. She studied art in college and art history/archaeology at a university in Paris. She then traveled to Italy to learn sculpture for three years at a fine arts academy in Florence.
She also began working for the artist Sabrina Mezzaqui as an assistant/collaborateur for her work in several exhibitions at the Galleria Continua. The COVID-19 lockdown sent Leblond-Joris back to her village in the South of France, where she met a local stone carver who taught her stone masonry. In the fall of 2021, Leblond-Joris began working for the entreprise Atelier Jean Loup Bouvier, specializing in sculpture for historical buildings. She continued to practice sculpture on stone within this company for construction sites in Marseille, Cluny and Paris.

Yunmi Lee
Born in Incheon, South Korea, Yunmi Lee graduated from Seoul National University in 2015 with a degree in sculpting. She continued her studies in Italy, completing her education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara in 2020.
Since 2014, Lee has exhibited her works in both group and solo exhibitions in South Korea and Italy, establishing herself with a distinctive artistic style. She has participated in numerous international art symposiums, earning recognition for her artistic vision.
Lee’s creations are characterized by soft, curving forms that convey messages of rest and hope, inviting viewers to embrace a slower, more fulfilling sense of time.
Casey Schachner

Casey Schachner of Savannah, Ga. is an associate art professor at Georgia Southern University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Baylor University and a Master’s degree in studio art from the University of Montana.
Raised in the southeast U.S., Schachner’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, from site-specific installations to public artworks. She served as an artist in residence at the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art in Cortona, Italy in 2011 and a 2012 artist in residence at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in Vermont. Schachner was selected as the 2017 Emerging Artist for Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild. In 2018, she exhibited at the Public Art Exhibition on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, where she received a People’s Choice Award. Schachner is one of three recipients of the 2022 Georgia Sea Grant for Artists, Writers and Scholars awards. Recently, Schachner’s design for the global COVID-19 memorial monument was selected for a large-scale public artwork in the Chicago Medical District.
The artists will gift their finished sculptures to the city of Nashua to become part of its permanent collection following the three-week-long symposium. These new pieces will be celebrated with the public at the closing ceremony event to be held starting at 1 p.m. on May 31.
There are various ways for families, organizations and businesses to get involved in a meaningful way and become part of the legacy of sculpture in Nashua during the symposium:
-Plan to attend the Picker Artists Studios for the opening and closing ceremonies
-See the artists at work on their sculptures between May 12-28.
-Sign up on our website to bring/provide a meal (lunch or dinner) for the sculptors
-Volunteer with NISS
-Sponsor a sculpture or donate to invest in the cultural, social and economic value of public art in the city
-Schools and organizations are welcome to partner with NISS during the symposium