big day.

a productive morning meeting with the upper administration at the National University of Costa Rica resulted in some terrific outcomes today. Most importantly I was honored to join the UNA faculty as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sculpture. To introduce myself to the students I was asked to serve as the key speaker at an annual event to welcome the students for the new year. I will focus my talk on the social relevance of sculpture, my artwork, and my Fulbright project.

As an extension of my warm welcome to UNA I was given a tremendous opportunity to create and exhibit a new body of sculpture in a solo exhibition as the selected artist for the opening of a new public museum in downtown Heredia. The new museum is in a renovated historic school building, directly across from the central park. Heredia’s park is the nerve center for the city, flanked by two major thoroughfares, surrounded by bustling shops, and only one block from the central market where everyone in the city buys their groceries.  Show dates are TBA, I will post them here.

The university has also offered the same museum space to host the exhibition for the much anticipated Stone Wood Iron International Sculpture Symposium, Event 1, Costa Rica, 2013 (SWISS). There are roughly 13 separate galleries in the building split between two floors. Each gallery is fitted with independent state of the art lighting, massive windows, and elegantly carved arched doorways. On both floors the galleries pour into a traditional open-air courtyard with thoughtfully designed tropical flowerbeds and a hand-cut stone floor. The courtyard has been retrofitted with a modern acoustic stage for presentations and performances, and the space is completely covered by a contemporary roofing system. The entire museum is beautiful beyond words, and I am humbled by the opportunity to show there twice in the same year. For those of you waiting on answers from us regarding SWISS, please be patient, it will all be worth waiting for.

I hope you enjoy these as much I do. I start work on new sculptures for my solo show next week.

view from the front of the building, currently still under renovation although near completion.

sneak peek of the promenade behind the construction walls in the photo above.

lower west hall. 1 of 4 in the building, each with independent gallery lighting.

blue gallery. 1 of 4 rooms this size on the lower floor. each with six windows and two large blank walls. independent gallery lighting.

large gallery, west wing. 1 of 2 in the building, all on second floor.

west balcony, facing east, large gallery to right.

balcony view of the courtyard, showing the stone floor, tropical plant beds, and acoustic stage.

keep up.
Stuart.