LINCOLN, MONT.

Five internationally recognized artists have committed to take part in the Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild International Sculpture Symposium scheduled to begin here on Sept. 15. The participation of the artists selected by Kevin ODwyer, the symposium curator and the Sculpture in the Wild artistic director, is a major step in bringing the project to fruition. ODwyer, who will also take part in the symposium as an artist, has secured the commitment of four experienced symposium artists known internationally for large-scale work that looks at the relationships between people, their environments and their history using the available materials within the landscape. Steven Siegel was the first artist on board with the project. Siegel, from New York, is known for massive sculptural creations made from pre or post consumer materials. Much of his work, often created from reclaimed newspapers, resembles forms found in nature and prompts discussion about society, landscape and form with an eye towards the natural deposit and decay cycle. Like ODwyer, Alan Counihan also hails from Ireland. Counihan focuses on how humans experience place and give meaning to a landscape. His three-dimensional work responds to both the physical nature of landscape and to the energy of human habitation and their experience within it. For two of the artists, Jaakko Pernu of Finland and Jorn Ronnau of Denmark, the Sculpture in the Wild symposium will mark their debut in the United States. Pernu says his work explores the influence of humans on nature and the influence of nature on humans. He uses tree branches and trunks to weave elegant environmental sculptures in response to the landscape and has been creating large-scale installation pieces since 1988. Like Pernu, Ronnau is also known for his work with wood. A member of the Danish Artists Society, Ronnau uses a chainsaw to create sculptures from trees that respond to their nature, origin and history. Although Montana is no stranger to chainsaw sculpture, Ronnaus work is unique in both scale and style. ODwyer said both men are excited about contributing their talent to the project. Both of the artists are Scandinavian and are very familiar with woodlands and the logging traditions of their own countries, he said. It will be interesting to see how they respond to this new environment and I look forward to their observations and connections. For ODwyer, the symposium is a chance to explore his interest in landscape, industrial archeology and architecture and he has responded strongly to the artistic value and potential found in the industrial artifacts of the area. ODwyer already has his sights set on finding a way to use one of the areas old Tipi burners once

used by local sawmills to burn scrap lumber. He sees them as iconic pieces of industrial archaeology and intrinsically beautiful symbols of the Blackfoot Valleys industrial heritage. It was that heritage that led ODwyer to suggest the possibility of a sculpture park for Lincoln to Project Director Rick Dunkerley in early 2013. An internationally renowned silversmith and sculptor from County Offaly, Ireland, ODwyer previously curated the Lough Boora International Sculpture Symposium in 2002, which led to the establishment of Sculpture in the Parkland, Irelands largest sculpture park. ODwyer brought his considerable experience and connections to the international art community to bear as he chose the artist for the symposium in Lincoln. My selection of artists is based on my observations and conversations with community members in Lincoln, its dramatic landscape and my research into the logging, mining and the ranching heritage of the Blackfoot Valley, ODwyer explained. This research helped me with the selection of artists who have a depth of experience not only in creating sculpture but also as historians, story tellers and writers. They have a track record of responding to and engaging with the community in which they are working, which creates a bond between the maker and the observer. ODwyer said the artists are observers and storytellers who have been researching the area extensively in preparation for their visit this fall. They will come on site with fresh eyes and respond to something that you may find familiar, but they see as an artistic opportunity, ODwyer said. Materials, landscape, architecture, farming, ranching or logging implements can all become triggers in their response to creating an artwork. What is familiar to a community as part of a working heritage can inspire a great artwork! The symposium in September is by no means planned as a one and done event. Dunkerley and ODwyer already have an artist lined up for a second symposium in 2015 and the long-term goal for the park is to invite artists to work in the sculpture park during spring and fall residencies. ODwyer will return to Montana in April accompanied by Brandon Ballengee and Steven Siegel. Ballengee, a biologist and an artist who creates hybrid projects that blur the boundary between art and ecological research. He will take part in the planned 2015 symposium. The trio will present a half day seminar on their work, called Art in the land: Beyond the White Cube, at the Holter Museum in Helena on April 4 at 10.30 am. They also hope to give a public presentation in Lincoln during their visit, but a date for that has not yet been set.

For additional information contact: Kevin ODwyer, Artistic Director kodwyerdesign@eircom.net Rick Dunkerley, Project Director dunkerleyknives@gmail.com Roger Dey, Media & PR rmdey2000@yahoo.com Or visit Sculpture in the Wild on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sculpture-in-the-Wild/443462522429266

Kevin ODwyer- Blackfoot Pathways Artistic Director, Curator ODwyers artwork reflects his strong interests in ancient landscapes, industrial archaeology and architecture. His symposia installations respond to the industrial and environmental heritage of the landscape. Industrial artefacts, historical references, folklore and archival interviews are the building blocks in the development of his installations. ODwyer has had numerous solo exhibitions of his studio based work as well as representing Ireland in over 40 international exhibitions. As artist-inresidence at the World Archaeology Conference (2010) he created a site specific sculpture for University College Dublin. His work is in private and public collections including The High Museum (USA), Victoria and Albert Museum (U.K.), Racine Art Museum (USA), The Ulster Museum (N. Ireland), University College Dublin (Ireland), Espace Paul Ricard (France) and the National Museum of Ireland. In 2002 ODwyer initiated and directed the Lough Boora International Sculpture Symposium in a disused peat harvesting site in Ireland. The sculpture symposium led to the development of Sculpture in the Parklands, a 50 acre sculpture park that has commissioned over 25 site specific installations. ODwyer, as artistic director and curator from 2002 until 2011, directed the development of the arts and education programmes that won four national awards and received critical acclaim in Ireland, England, USA, China, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. For more detailed information see: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevin-ODwyer-MetalsmithSculptor/365315270211454

Alan Counihan Over the course of twenty-five years the exploration of places, their communities and their histories has been consistently central to this artists creative practice. Through works that have engaged not only with the materiality of those places but also with resonances of human habitation and experience he has sought to realize site-specific responses primarily through the medium of sculpture and three dimensional forms in public and private spaces or public and private landscapes in both Ireland and the U.S.A. Counihans practice engages with the human relationship to nature and to landscape, with how the latter is inhabited, remembered or imagined. He has had several solo exhibitions of studio based works over the years and has been the recipient of many grants and awards, including, twice, the Pollock-Krasner Award. In 2012 he published Townlands: a habitation a creative exploration of an Irish rural landscape and its communities. Essays from his years on the Blasket Islands on Irelands Atlantic coast were recently published in Archipelago 8 (2013). For more detailed information see www.alancounihan.net

Jaakko Pernu Jaakko Pernu is a Finnish sculptor and environmental artist living in the city of Oulu. He has been working with natural materials since 1988 creating large scale installations from tree branches and tree trunks found on site, expertly woven together, responding to the landscape. Many of Pernus works derive their inspiration from his early life, growing up in rural Eastern Finland. As a child, Pernu helped his father construct wooden boats. He observed his fathers technique of manipulating wood to create sweeping, elegant shapes, and this is evident in his distinct environmental sculptures. Jaakko has created many public works around Europe and Canada including Oulu Museum of Art, Kotka Sculpture Park and Art Museum (Finland), Arte Sella (Italy) Vancouver Convention Centre, Canada, Concord Park Place (Canada) and Fortum, (Moscow). Sculpture in the Wild International Sculpture Symposium will present the first opportunity for Jaakko to create a large-scale sculpture installation in the United States. For more detailed information see: www.environmentalart.net/pernu/

JRN RNNAU JRN RNNAU has created site-specific, environmental sculptures in public spaces for more than 30 years. His sculptures are in the permanent collections of Krakamarken (Denmark), TICKON (Denmark), Sculpture in the Parklands (Ireland) and Sti for ye, (Norway) environmental sculpture parks. He has represented Denmark at the Sculpture by the Sea (Australia) public art symposiums and exhibitions since 2008. The artist has two ongoing sculptural & conceptual projects: Winterheart and The Invisible City. His gallery work is represented in Danish and international museums, and he has received numerous prizes for his experimental work with art and nature. Jorns works primarily with trees, discovering and responding to their nature, origin and history, and a chainsaw serves as his Stradivarius! Jorn is a member of the Danish Artists Society. For more detailed information see: www.ronnau.dk/

Steven Siegel Steven Siegel creates public art and site-specific installations in natural and urban contexts that reinvent the role of sculpture for an eco-conscious planet. Connecting art-making and environmental processes, He builds impressive sculptures out of large quantities of pre, or postconsumer materials that reflect the deposit and decay cycle that underlines the making of the land. Siegels works prompt dialogue about society, landscape, and form all with an eye for natures processes. Steven has participated in symposia and site specific installations since the 1980s. He has worked in Italy, Germany, England, Korea, Canada and the United States. His work is in the permanent collections of North Carolina Museum of Art, Arte Stella (Italy), Grounds for Sculpture (USA), Woodson Art Museum (USA), DeCordova Museum (USA), University of Wyoming Museum of Art (USA), Chemin dArt (France) and Tickon (Denmark) For more detailed information see: www.stevensiegel.net/