NASHUA – The culture of art continues to grow in Nashua, which was made apparent on Saturday when community members gathered for the closing ceremonies of the 2019 International Sculpture Symposium.

Members of the community gathered at City Hall to celebrate the final placements of three new sculptures worked on by artist from different parts of the world, taking a trolley ride later in the afternoon to see the works of art in their new environments.

Over the past three weeks, Jocelyn Pratt, of Putaruru, New Zealand; Gerard Motonidi, of Nairobi, Kenya; and Jon Barlow Hudson, of Ohio, worked at Pickers Artist Studio to create their pieces, all of which conveyed different styles of sculpting according to Jim Larsen, this year’s symposium’s co-director.

“We had a lot of variety this year, in three types of stone – all local though, and in artist from three different countries working in kind of three different styles,” Larsen said.

“Jon Hudson being very additive with his stone usage like bolting four stones together, Jocelyn, practicing this very traditional version of stone carving where none of the original surface of the quarried stone shows,” he added, analyzing each artists’ styles of work, “and then Gerard engaging in this more conversational version that’s almost a synthesis of the two styles where he uses the original quarried textured and also stone carving techniques to create a finished piece.”

Larsen said that the symposium continues to bring easily accessible art to those in the community that may otherwise not be able to gain access to it, as has been the goal over the previous 11 years, since 2008.

“We’re just trying to present art that is accessible to everyone,” he said. “Too often art that is in a museum tends to be presented to a certain class, typically the upper class.”

“Always remember that the artist making the sculpture gives it to you as a gift, so you interpret it yourself, and you may parallel with the artist, but we do see things based on our own experiences and that’s the important thing,” said John Weidman, founding director of the International Sculpture Symposium. “To share those experiences is something that the artist really enjoys doing.”

Weidman was honored prior to the tour for his hard work. The symposium’s committee and Larsen hosted a ceremony with the members of the community in which Transformation of Beelzebub, done by Lasha Khidasheli of the Republic of Georgia during the 2014 symposium, was visited.

“I certainly did not expect all this, and I do appreciate it. I just want to remind you of just how important it is to know that so many people are contributors of this effort,” Weidman said after the dedication ceremony. “You can’t do it alone, you can not do it all at once and you need help a lot of the time.”

Mathew Plamondon can be reached at 594-1244 or mplamondon@nashuatelegraph.com, @telegraph_MatP.

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