This is the office of sculptor and Assistant Professor of ArtMary Jo Anderson. Casts of body parts lay around her office like ahorror show homage. The strong smell of ceramic and the sight ofwell-maintained dreadlocks emenate from the hallway. The works, aswell as the mood of Anderson and other sculptors, inspires them tosculpt.
"It's the total package," Anderson said. "It uses everything.[It's] never boring, ever." She also said that being a sculptor isa lifestyle.
Materials are not the only concerns a sculptor has to figure in."Bronze casting is extremely expensive, [for] steel you needequipment, and clay is even cheaper," said Professor of Art KentonHall.
On the syllabi for Hall's sculpting classes, Hall gave a $20 to$900 price range, since, according to Hall, a project's costsdepend on what the artist wants to do. Hall estimates $40 per cubicfoot for stone and about $9 for a bag of plastic resin.
Patrick Foley, 22, a fifth-year senior, said that he only spentabout $100 on sculpting supplies versus $300 for his paintingclass.
"There is a burning idea that is not going to leave your minduntil you push it through," said Foley.
"Sculpting is not easy work," said Anderson. "You have to knowwhat you're doing."�����
She said that there is a huge misconception that everything andanything is art. The contemporary trend is to go "dumpster diving"to find objects in order to create a masterpiece.
"Nothing without a good thought is a good product," Andersonsaid. "If your thought is mediocre, your art is mediocre."
Anderson and Foley said they suggest researching and interactingwith other artists. Anderson recommends students who are interestedto look up French artist Marcel Duchamp. Anderson said she creditsDuchamp as the artist who brough sculpting into the 20thcentury.
Foley said for aspiring sculptors to get out books on otherartists and read to see what they have done. He said do not copyoff of someone else's work, but get an idea of what good artis.
The art department at Ball State focuses on the contemporaryissues of sculpting, Hall said.
"We teach you it's just not the object you're working with,"Hall said, "it's the space around it."
Anderson is doing just that in a sculpture Foley is assisting,"Cycling." Anderson is in the midst of work on this sculpture,which will be placed in the new Rotary Park on the CardinalGreenway next summer.
This sculpture will act like a time capsule for students atWashington-Carver Elementary, Anderson said. Students will placewishes inside hollow batons that are held by linking hands. In 50years, the capsule will be reopened to see if those wishes havecome true. Anderson said this piece is a gift she had wanted togive for some time.
As for Foley's independent work, he currently has a sculpture ondisplay in the Atrium Gallery Courtyard. Foley said that thisundulating sculpture is based on a mobius strip, reaffirming thestrong influence of mathematics in his work. The courtyard is to beset up specifically as a sculpture court, but is unsure of furtherplans, Foley said.
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