Guild showcases new sculptures

May 2—Amanda Brown, executive director, says the sculpture garden at the Creative Arts Guild is a "unique gem" for the community.

The Robert T. Webb Sculpture Garden recently received an update with the addition of 12 sculptures, bringing the total to 69.

"There's about seven more that will be installed before our festival in the fall," said Brown.

The Guild's annual spring Art & Soul fundraiser on Saturday included guided tours of the sculpture garden. Saturday was International Sculpture Day, which was one of the reasons Guild members decided to hold this year's event on Saturday.

Brown said the sculpture garden is "open 24/7, 365 days a year, and there's no entrance fees. That's very rare and unique. The works themselves are just as diverse in subject matter as they are in creator, as all the artists represented are worldwide and they're stemming from a large variety of cultures and backgrounds. There's been a lot of thought put into the curation of this by our curator Robert T. Webb as to what pieces are selected, where they're placed and how we grow and diversify the garden."

Many of the 12 new sculptures, including works such as "Carlotta," "Contemplative Woman" and "Reclining Woman," which portray the lives of rural, everyday women, were created by Mexican and Latin American artists, said the Guild's Arts in Education Director Amanda Walker, who gave tours of the sculpture garden.

Sarah Murry, the Guild's marketing director, said having several sculptures from female artists and artists of color give added representation to people in the community.

"It's a unique opportunity for students or people in the community to come and learn about these sculptures," she said. "We have a large Hispanic population here and this gives them the chance to see a sculpture from an artist from places like Mexico or Uruguay."

Benefiting Arts in Education

Formerly known as Spring for the Arts, the Art & Soul ticketed event helps raise funds for the Guild's Arts in Education programs, which include "ongoing classes and workshops offered in the areas of visual arts, dance, music, theater and culinary arts," said Brown.

This year's event included a raffle, mini-golf area, three-course brunch and Atlanta-area band Soul Candy performing rhythm and blues, soul and funk hits underneath the Guild's covered Spigel Pavilion. Two gallery exhibits were available inside the main building.

ATL Imported, on display until May 31, includes more than 40 pieces from 14 Atlanta artists curated by visual artist Rial Rye. Artists featured include Lay'Na Anderson, Kelly Breedlove, Momar Clemons, Billy Clifton-Strawn, Hail Holtzclaw, Paul Leroy, LOWKEY, Lucy Luckovich, Navin Norling, Jeffrey Wilcox Paclipan, David Robinson, Tori Tinsley, Aineki Traverso and Sharon Walker.

Creative Arrangements by Rhenda Spence was on display April 12-29 and featured 18 photographs taken by George Spence, a former president, board member and longtime benefactor of the Guild, that showcased floral arrangements created by his late wife who passed away in January.

Looking through a different lens

Gallery Director David George said having exhibits like ATL Imported helps local residents see art through a different lens or perspective.

One of the artists whose work is on display is Kelly Breedlove, who creates artwork by using photos from his mother's private collection.

"He takes the photographs, he blows them up and then affixes them to a board," David George said. "And then he does an embellishment and pours clear, plastic resin over it. It makes them very heavy and very impactful."

A 'master'

Rhenda Spence, also a former president and board member of the Guild, was a "master" of floral arrangements as an art form and spent many years designing and arranging flowers for the Guild and for St. Mark's Episcopal Church, said George Spence.

"After she died, the Guild asked me if I would put together a showcase to honor her," George Spence said. "She did so much for the Guild and was on the Georgia Council for the Arts."

George Spence said throughout the years he had photographed "everything she did."

"The job was to sort through them all and get it down to 18 (photos)," he said. "There was a bunch of good ones. It was hard to curate it down. I finally got a local artist, Ellen Anthony, to help me make the final cut."

He said his wife designed arrangements "just for the house" as well, some of which were on display in the gallery.

"She went to Kroger one day and bought an eggplant, an artichoke, some grapes and flowers," he recalled. "She came home and put it all together on the dining room table. I took a picture of it and she said, 'I really like that.' She spent about $4 on it. It would be about $18 today."

David George said the exhibit honoring Rhenda Spence holds a special place in his heart along with countless others within the Guild and the community.

"We wanted to have it for this event specifically because Rhenda was always such a huge part of our spring fundraiser," he said. "My first year here was in 2022 and she used to make one showstopper flower display for this event and then she'd do little ones for the tables. Both Rhenda and George (Spence) have been such a huge part of the Guild."

"A lifelong journey"

Brown said the main goal of the spring fundraiser is to continue the Guild's efforts in the Arts in Education program.

"What that means to us is it helps us to secure our ongoing partnership with the O.N. Jonas Foundation," she said.

Through the partnership, the foundation is able to "take artist residencies into schools, where both performing artists and workshop artists are in the classroom one-on-one with students or in small groups," said Brown.

Murry said the partnership allows students to be more involved in the arts by going on field trips, hearing spoken word poetry or seeing dance and puppet performances.

Brown said the partnership "is committed to broadening student arts exposure and education in Dalton Public, Whitfield County and Murray County Schools, as well as the Elbert Shaw Regional (Youth) Detention Center, Crossroads Academy, Mountain Creek Academy and Northstar School."

Each year the Guild's Arts in Education programs create "nearly 50,000 arts experiences for our area students," she said.

"And that's education experiences for all ages," she said. "A lot of those do go to schoolchildren, but it is our hope that the love and education of the arts continues because it's an endless well of what you can learn. We believe in a lifelong journey of that education."