Published: March 08, 2007 08:42 pm         

‘Conversations About Public Sculpture’ at the Swope Art Museum

The Sheldon Swope Art Museum and Art Spaces Inc. — Wabash Valley Outdoor Sculpture Collection — will present the second in a three-part series, “Conversations About Public Sculpture,” at noon Wednesday in The Swope.

Lauren Ewing is this month’s featured artist. Later this year, an original sculpture she has designed will be placed in Gilbert Park, along Historic National Road U.S. 40.

Originally from Indiana and now living in New York, Ewing is an ISU alumna and nationally known artist and speaker whose works may be found in many significant collections throughout the world.

The idea for this sculpture grew out of her many years of interest in architectural typology, including the work of cultural geographer Robert Bastian, now professor emeritus at Indiana State University.

Ewing’s sculpture is a scaled-down version in limestone of a common house type that appears frequently in many of the older Terre Haute neighborhoods as an irregularly massed composite cottage, with multiple gable roofs and an incised porch.

These cottages proliferated because of their ability to morph; that is, to fit any lot configuration and maximize the use of natural light. They were most popular between 1890 and 1910 in working class and middle-class neighborhoods. However, because of their age, they are disappearing from the cultural landscape.

The cottages were usually built on corner lots but were adapted for use throughout residential neighborhoods in north, south and central Terre Haute. It is sometimes referred to as the “Terre Haute house type.”

Gilbert Park was chosen for the sculpture’s location in part because the adjacent neighborhood contains many of these original houses.

The mission of Art Spaces is to establish a collection of public outdoor sculpture in Terre Haute and the surrounding region of the Wabash Valley.

This series of lectures, which is sponsored in part by the Indiana Humanities Council, provides the public with an opportunity to learn more about public sculpture, the current Art Spaces projects and to meet the artists who are creating public sculpture in Terre Haute. The public is invited and encouraged to bring their lunch if they choose. The event is free. Call the Swope at (812) 238-1676 or Art Spaces at (812) 244-4216 for more information.