NASHUA – The show must go on. The Nashua International Sculpture Symposium recently announced the 13th annual Nashua International Sculpture Symposium opening, set for Aug. 20.

Three sculptors will be spending three weeks outside at The Picker Artists at 3 Pine St. in Nashua, each creating a large outdoor sculpture to be given to the city and installed in a public place for all to enjoy.

The 2020 Symposium sculptors are Taylor Apostol from Massachusetts, Elijah Ober from Maine and Kelly Cave from Pennsylvania. The 2020 sculptors all live within a day’s drive from Nashua, and each will self-quarantine for two weeks before arriving.

The sculptors will be directed by James Larson, who is a New Hampshire resident. Larson is a graduate of Hamilton College as a studio art major with a concentration in sculpture.

He has been involved in the Nashua Symposium since 2014, and was artistic director with John Weidman in 2019.

In 2020, the sculptors will work together to design one place-based space for all three sculptures. The space and sculptures will invite the public to interact with the sculptures, to welcome people of all ages to relax and enjoy. The goal is to create a place that brings people together in ways that respect social distancing and embrace the need for each other.

The 2020 Symposium theme, A Place in Time, embraces that change.

The public is encouraged to sign up to supply lunch or dinner for the sculptors during their three-week stay. A list of participating restaurants will be available to choose from so that meals can be cooked and packaged in approved kitchens. Details will be forthcoming.

As in past years, the sculptors will work outside. The public is welcome with masks and social distancing to visit the sculptors at the Picker Artists Studios as they work Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Aug. 24 through Sept. 4. The sculptors will work at the final site from Sept. 5 to the closing on Sept. 12. The Symposium culminates with the closing on Sept. 12. Details will be available as the Symposium gets closer.

The Nashua International Sculpture Symposium is funded by grants, sculpture sponsorships and fundraising events. It is supported, in part, by grants from the Nashua Arts Commission; from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts; and from Freedom’s Way Heritage Association and the National Park Service. Nashua is the only city in the United States with an annual international sculpture symposium.

During this pandemic, contributions are more important than ever. For additional information, including supplying a lunch or dinner to the sculptors as they work, donation opportunities and sculpture sponsorships, visit www.nashuasculpturesymposium.org or email Nashua.sculpture@gmail.com.

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