"Ker-Plunk" by Adam Walls of North Carolina. (Contributed photo)
BRISTOL, TN-VA -- The winners of Bristol's 2010 Art in Public Places Outdoor Sculpture Competition have been selected. The following sculptures will be installed Aug. 4, 2010:
• Ker-Plunk by Adam Walls, head of the sculpture program at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke. The artist's love of escapist fantasy was apparent in his drawings and paintings for several years. After taking a ceramics course, he found that fantasy could also exist in three-dimensional forms.
• Samuel's Altar by Shawn Morin, head of the sculpture program at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Morin frequently creates sculpture with Biblical themes, such as "Solomon's Temple" and "Gethsemane." He says, "Often times it is, in part, through our creative spirit that we are touched by and connected to our Creator and His Spirit."
• Topdisc by Carl Billingsley, who teaches sculpture at the School of Art & Design, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C. He spent his formative years in a variety of locations as his father, a sergeant in the field artillery, was transferred from post to post. Billingsley has permanent public sculptures throughout the U.S., as well as Norway, Israel, Estonia, Japan, China and Brazil.
• Tower of Babel by Cliff Tresner, director of the Sculpture Garden at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, a national outdoor exhibition space for artists; and director of the University's Bry Hall Gallery, bringing artists of all disciplines to campus for exhibitions and lectures.
• Volute by Dale L. McEntire, a member of Mountain Sculptors in Asheville, N.C., and Tri-State Sculptors. McEntire teaches painting at a community college and produces oil and pastel paintings as well as sculpture out of his studio in Saluda, N.C. His interest in the spiritual essence of nature can be seen in his use of color and form.
• Windsock by Wayne Trapp, who has been making and exhibiting sculpture for more than 40 years. From his studio in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Boone, N.C., he has created works for institutions such as the University of Virginia, Duke University, Ohio State, Grounds for Sculpture, the Mint Museum and Hunter Museum.
