Sculptures Galore Grace One of Canada's Top Ten Public Gardens

Online, October 29, 2010 (Newswire.com) - From across Canada the applications poured in for the third annual National Sculpture Competition at Kingsbrae Garden. From the submissions in stone, metal, wood, glass, ceramic and man-made fibres, fifteen were selected as finalists for the 2011 contest, with substantial cash prizes for the top two sculptures. These will join the winners of previous years' competitions in the Sculpture Garden at the magnificent 27-acre public garden in the bijoux seaside resort town of St Andrews by-the-Sea, New Brunswick. Natural grasses and wildflowers augmented with ingenious plantings and creative waterworks form a wonderful backdrop for the varied works of art.

The opening ceremony and prize awards will take place in early June, after Kingsbrae Garden opens for the season, May 20, 2011. All but the winning sculptures will then be available for purchase to the public or friends of the Garden, but will stay on site all season until mid-October, with tens of thousands of Garden visitors voting for the People's Choice award. The 2011 slate was to have been twelve, but with such excellent and numerous submissions, fifteen were accepted. Amongst the successful applicants, ten are new to the competition and hail from Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick: Jantje Blokhuis-Mulder, Hans Blokpeol, James Buxton, Sylvie Daviault, Domenico Di Guglielmo, Lydia Fife, Dave Hind, Geoff Slater, Heidi Turner and Jeff Watson.

Returning artists are Mark Breckenridge (First prize winner in 2010 for 'Eagle'; People's Choice winner for 'Silver Maple' in 2009), Bozena Happach (Honourable mention for 'Windy Day' in 2009, now in KG permanent collection) and Veit Webber. Also, artists familiar to KG, Don Pell and Gerard Kelly, have followed the trail westward that many maritimers have trod; fortunately, they have not forgotten their east coast roots and will be in the contest next year. Don Pell had a solo exhibit of 28 sculptures at Kingsbrae Garden in 2005, seven of which remain in the KG collection. Kingsbrae Garden is proud to be a showcase for Canadian artists.

Flora and fauna are represented with panache and ingenuity in the 2011 competition. Subjects vary from the familiar NB provincial bird, the chickadee ('July Morning'; 'super-sized' approximately ten-fold), through other subjects from terrestrial, avian, insect and marine life: 'Dragonfly', 'Papillon' (Butterfly), 'Proud Bird', fish, 'Moose' and whales ('Cetacean Madonna & Child'); also the human form and abstracts.

Several of the installations are quite large and will be assembled on site in late May or early June; all sculptures must be in place the week before the opening day. Many of the artists take the opportunity to be on hand for the ceremony, with hopes of accepting the $10,000 first prize or $5,000 second prize in person. It is a perfect opportunity for Garden visitors, staff and members to mingle with the sculptors, winkling out their thoughts on art, the KG competition and installations that are quickly establishing the largest outdoor sculpture exhibit of its kind in Canada. Added to the winning sculptures, which become the property of Kingsbrae Garden, enhancing the natural and horticultural beauty of the garden, there are numerous works which have been donated by the artists, as well as others bought by friends and benefactors-more than two dozen sculptures and fountains add a welcome flash of artistry and, frequently, whimsy to the various themed gardens with over 50,000 perennials, shrubs and trees that make up this stupendous wonder of nature, hand in gnarled hand with a troupe of diligent gardeners, designers and artists.

The exhibit will be on view all season, from early June to October 8, 2011. KG is open daily, 9am to 6pm from mid-May to October.

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Maureen McIlwain, Marketing Director, Kingsbrae Garden
phone: 506-469-1024 or 866-566-8687, ext 2
website: www.kingsbraegarden.com
email: [email protected]
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