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"Diamonds in the Rough" stick sculpture by Patrick Dougherty; a Meadowmorphosis

Farewell Week: Feb. 9 - 17

Details:

Diamonds in the Rough stick sculpture by World-Famous Artist Patrick Dougherty; a Meadowmorphosis

Farewell Finale to Diamonds in the Rough

Week of February 9 – 17
PLEASE NOTE: Due to weather, the dismantling of the sculpture has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 19. The site will be closed to the public after Feb. 15. The Community bonfire remains as scheduled on Feb. 17.

After almost two years of bringing wonder and delight to the Anderson Wildflower Meadow, Diamonds in the Rough—the house-sized stick sculpture by internationally-renowned sculptor Patrick Dougherty—will be dismantled with help from the community.  Two events are planned to mark this special farewell. 

 

RVA Environmental Film Festival, Saturday and Sunday, February 9 + 10 at the Byrd Theatre

Richmond Premiere of Bending Sticks:  the Sculpture of Patrick Dougherty

Donations welcomed at the door  

The Garden will sponsor a showing of this new feature-length documentary celebrating Dougherty’s twenty-five year career creating hundreds of monumental, site-specific sculptures out of nothing more than saplings.  Bending Sticks follows the artist and his collaborators during a year of stick work and reveals Dougherty’s process, personal story and inspirations. The time is right for a film about this great living artist who is at the top of his game after a quarter century of stick building in such places as Tacoma, Honolulu, Dublin, Brooklyn, Chateaubourg, Tokyo and Richmond, VA.  For schedule details, go to http://rvaenvironmentalfilmfestival.com

 

Community Bonfire, Sunday, February 17, Children’s Garden Fire Pit, 3 – 4 pm

Free with Garden admission

Our Diamonds are NOT forever!  Beginning Monday, February 11, the Diamonds in the Rough sculpture will be dismantled by Garden staff and volunteers.  Portions of the sculpture will be reserved for a Community Bonfire the following Sunday afternoon.  Enjoy the warmth of this mid-winter bonfire, and the light that the sculpture, even in its final moments, brings to our community. 

 

Learn more about the process of creating this wonderful interactive work of art:

On-line Communities Page for time-lapse video, photos, blogs, Tweets &  more.

Photo time-line with captions about the progress More "behind-the-scenes" information about the Garden's preparation
See photos of Patrick Dougherty's other works

Interesting Facts
The Garden’s sculpture is like no other. Dougherty takes inspiration from the surrounding environment and names the piece upon completion. Dougherty uses locally gathered natural materials harvested in a sustainable way. At least five tractor-trailer loads of sticks and saplings were used -- mainly young red maple and sweet gum saplings. They came from private rural tracts of land identified by the Virginia Department of Forestry. Garden volunteers will assisted Dougherty during the building process for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Nest, cocoon, fairy dwelling – terms others have used to describe Dougherty’s work. He is internationally renowned with more than 200 sculptures around the world, has a new book Stickwork; and was recently profiled in The New York Times.

Available in the Garden Shop: Stickwork (Princeton Architectural Press) Features 38 of Dougherty’s works, includes 230 color images.

  Presented by:

 

 

Sponsored in part by:

The Peach Tree House Foundation

The Reynolds Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Anderson

Mr. and Mrs. John Snow

The Davey Tree Expert Company

The Virginia Department of Forestry