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May Day mayday mayday mayday

Nancy Selvage exhibition at Boston Sculptors Gallery

May 9 – June 9, 2024 11 am – 5 pm Wed-Sun Boston Sculptors Gallery, 486 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 617 482-7781

Artist reception: Saturday, May 11, 2-5 Artist talk: 3 pm

Featuring recent work of animated sculptural forms, I simultaneously embrace the creative energy of Spring and recoil from the devastating horror emanating from the daily news. This complex emotional state is reflected in the duality of the May Day exhibition title (spring festival / universal distress call) and in the spatial rupture of the gallery installation. 

fabrication materials: perforated metal, paint, photography, ceramics, mirror, polycarbonate

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STEP UP

Step Up and add your pledge to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet

TAPPED IN: Moving Hearts and Minds Through Art and Science https://theumbrellaarts.org/Tapped-Inbrings together ten artist-scientist pairs to offer fresh perspectives on climate change, CO2 mitigation and action. I collaborated with Josh Goldman, project leader of Greener Grazing, who works towards minimizing methane emission from cattle production by researching and growing a specific type of seaweed that reduces by 95% the copious amounts of methane that cattle normally burp if small amounts of the seaweed are added to their diet.My response to his mission was “If cattle can change their diet to reduce greenhouse gases, so can we.” Step Up and pledge to reduce your diet’s carbon footprint on my carbon footprint sculpture.

AT THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER, CONCORD, MA UNTIL JUNE 8, 2024

Tufts Lecture: Sculpture Made in Response to Environmental Concerns

Nancy Selvage engages herself and others in an exploratory process by altering and concentrating the experience of space and substance in her sculptural installations. This artwork is often created in response to environmental concerns. Her illustrated presentation will explore the expressive development and impact of these concerns on her art practice. Included will be a preview of the art project she is designing for the new Green Line Extension station at College Avenue/Tufts.

Sculpture Made in Response to Environmental Concerns

HOCH CUNNINGHAM ENVIRONMENTAL LECTURES
The Environmental Studies Program is excited to announce that our Lecture Series, formerly known as “Environmental Studies Lunch & Learn” has been renamed “Hoch Cunningham Environmental Lectures”. This lecture series is made possible thanks to the generosity of Daphne Hoch-Cunningham J82, A18P and Roland Hoch A85, A19P.

Check out other lectures in the series

Finally after seven years….

This landmark for the City of Lowell’s Hamilton Canal District celebrates the hydro energy that powered the historic mills of Lowell, America’s first great industrial city.

Hydro creates a playful interactive experience for children to explore the journey of water flowing and swirling through a “turbine” gateway that confidently strides forward to greet and embrace the public.

Commissioned by the Cultural Organization of Lowell for the City of Lowell

Funding:
Parker Foundation
New England Foundation for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
Nancy Donahue
Anonymous
TRC Companies

Artist: Nancy Selvage
Model making assistants: Nathalie Royston, Avery Kallas, and Pablo Iriarte
Structural engineer: Daniel Bonardi
Foundation installation: Fran Glavin/ Samsom Concrete
Fabrication: Paul Amaral’s Amaral Custom Fabrication crew, especially master welder, Gene Silva

Pyro at Fuller Craft Museum

Sculptural light Pyro is part of the exhibition “Take It Outside: Works from the Boston Sculptors Gallery” on view until Oct. 27th at the Fuller Craft Museum.

  • Pyro installed in one of Fuller Crafts’ outdoor pools
  • Pyro seen through Zwart string installation
  • Side view with fountains
  • Sunset illuminating Pyro

It’s grown! Hydro is moving towards completion

Legs connect to the Gateway, benches appear, and flowing swirls shoot off the ends. The Utopian Park Sculpture for the City of Lowell is taking shape. Commissioned by the Cultural Organization of Lowell (COOL).

  • Hydro’s flowing spiral takes shape.
  • Bench for the south leg compete.
  • New large barrel rollers allow for the pipes to be shaped in all 3 dimensions.
  • Gene and Tyler rivet a seam.
  • All the pieces coming together.
  • Large lift lets workers get all the way to the top. 1/4 scale model in foreground.

Hyrdo in process

A large scale commission for the city of Lowell. Check out the process of getting a large piece of public art made, from model and consultations, to the the full scale piece under construction at the awesome fabricator, Amaral Custom Fabrications.

Below see a rendering of what the finished piece will look like. Full size images on click.

  • Building the Gateway 1/4 scale model. It takes a lot of hands. 1/8 scale model in foreground
  • Consulting with the structural engineer
  • Legs for the 1/4 scale model
  • Starting on the legs of the model
  • Finishing the gateway model at the fabricators
  • Nancy Selvage consulting with the fabricators at Amaral Custom Fabrications, full model in foreground
  • Gateway 1/4 scale model and full size together
  • The support pipes getting shaped to fit those curves
  • The Gateway comes together

As the signature landmark of the Hamilton Canal District, the City of Lowell’s centerpiece redevelopment initiative, this large-scale sculpture celebrates the hydro energy that powered mills at this site in the first great industrial city in America. Sited where historic canals converge, the Utopian Park sculpture will be a highly visible beacon for Lowell’s Arts and Culture District.  The sculptural forms express the feeling of water flowing through a turbine and invite all to explore the journey.