Two new sculptures from the Peter and Hanna Woicke Sculpture Collection brighten the Chestertown landscape with whimsy, charm, and those moments American poet Robinson Jeffers described as a “joy is a whim in the air.”
The two new installations by North Carolina artist Adam Walls, “Ball and Red Arches” and “Taking the Hill” are found on the southwest corner of Cross Street and along the Wayne Gilchrest Trail, respectively and are part of the 24 sculptures to be placed throughout the community by the Chestertown Public Arts Committee.
Walls, a professor of art at UNC Pembroke says he is drawn to creating sculptures that express the joys found in children’s toys and likes to create structures that convey “play” while including messages of encouragement and the kind observations about life depicted in the “following the leader” motif in “Taking the Hill.”
Discovering that he had a natural talent for drawing at an early age, Walls sought a creative challenge he could not find in painting or ceramics. Large, colorful steel fabrications fulfilled that artistic need, and his work continues today to be discovered brightening many landscapes and galleries.
Never losing his sense of whimsy, the artist says his greatest payoff is to see people physically engage with his work.
Walls also says that after visiting Chestertown, he considers the community’s commitment to public arts as having the potential to become a showcase for the arts on the national stage.
This video is approximately eight minutes in length. To find out more about Adam Wall, go here.
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