Gavin Kenyon, a resident of upstate New York, is one of this year's featured sculptors for the Nashua International Sculpture Symposium. (Courtesy photo)

NASHUA – Three artists, one a native of Argentina now living in Boston, another from upstate New York and the third a former New York City resident who recently moved to Mid-Coast Maine, all have their sights set on Nashua and the 14th annual Nashua International Sculpture Symposium coming up in about a month.

Nora Valdez, a friend of a sculptor who participated in the symposium several years ago, will join Sam Finkelstein and Gavin Kenyon as this year’s featured sculptors.

Symposium organizers will introduce the artists at the opening reception, which is scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, May 20, at a location yet to be determined. The plan is to have the reception filmed by Access Nashua and replayed later that evening, according to Gail Moriarty, the symposium’s president and the owner of The Picker Artists building.

The reason the final details are not yet set in stone is the stubborn nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, although gradually waning, is still enough of a threat that city safety guidelines will remain in effect.

But anyone who wishes to watch the sculptors work on their creations will have ample opportunities to do so: Beginning on Monday, May 24, visitors can swing by The Picker Artists building, where they will see all three working outside.

Sam Finkelstein, a former New York resident now living in Rockland, Maine, is one of the featured sculptors at this year's Nashua International Sculpture Symposium. (Courtesy photo)

Visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but Moriarty said the time frame is flexible, and if someone drives by and sees one or more of them working, they are welcome to stop and watch.

Historically, the symposium goes back to 2008, when it debuted as a smaller event inspired by a conversation John Weidman, well-known sculptor and director of the Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, had with Meri Goyette, one of the most effective and tireless advocates of the arts in Nashua.

Still today, Nashua holds the distinction as the only city in the United States to host an international sculpture symposium.

“Truly a community project,” is how organizers describe the annual event. Each year, the sculptors stay at the homes of Nashua residents, and they and others bring meals to the sculptors as they work and provide them transportation when necessary.

“We are thrilled to welcome the sculptors into our space,” Moriarty said. “The energy and collaboration will introduce us and the sculptors to new skills and cultures.”

Nora Valdez, a resident of Boston who was born and raised in Argentina, is one of the featured sculptors at this year's Nashua International Sculpture Symposium. (Courtesy photo)

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IF YOU GO

The 14th annual Nashua International Sculpture Symposium, titled “Introspection,” will open in May and run through early June.

The opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, May 20. The location and information on attendance guidelines are still under discussion. The same is true for the closing ceremonies, which will take place Saturday, June 12.

From May 24 through June 4, visitors may stop by the studios of The Picker Artists, 3 Pine St., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday to watch the sculptors work. The hours are somewhat flexible. All visitors must wear face masks and observe social distancing guidelines.

Details on the opening and closing events will appear in The Sunday Telegraph and online as they develop.

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About the Sculptors

Artists from Argentina – by way of Boston – and New York and Rockland, Maine will soon be adding their names to the list of more than three dozen sculptors who have come to Nashua over the course of the Nashua International Sculpture Symposium to contribute works of art.

This year’s three featured sculptors include:

• Nora Valdez, from Argentina, now living in Boston

Born and raised in Argentina, Valdez earned the title of professor of Fine Arts in 1982, and began showing her work throughout Argentina, winning prizes and critical acclaim. She would move to Brazil, and later, to Europe, where she worked in Italy, then moved to Zaragoza, Spain, where she started working in marble. She has shown her work at the Fuller Museum of Art, the DeCordova museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, among several other venues in Massachusetts.

When she returned to Boston in 2004, she was invited to carve at the Andres Institute of Art in Brookline – the studio operated by sculptor John Weidman that was central to the founding of the Nashua International Sculpture Symposium several years later.

For more on Valdez’s history and career, go to www.noravaldez.com.

• Samuel Finkelstein, Rockland, Maine

A 2014 graduate of Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he majored in art with a concentration in painting, Finkelstein moved to New York City to work in the David Zwirner Gallery as an art handler. During that time, he created his own art, eventually moving into a studio. He fell in love with Maine while vacationing there, and moved to Rockland, where he founded Babyman Studio and turned his focus to sculpting.

• Gavin Kenyon, New York

Gavin Kenyon is a graduate of The School of Visual Arts in New York City and Syracuse University. Since 2002 he has shown his work in numerous exhibits throughout the eastern United States.

His work centers on sculpture, in abstract works possessing a biomorphic quality. Drawing inspiration from the area he grew up in, the forests of Upstate New York, Kenyonís bulbous sculptural forms in cement, wool, and other organic materials are rooted in George Batailleís concept of Informe (1929).

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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