Who: The Georgia Museum of Art sponsors sculptor Doug Makemson
What: The Georgia Museum of Art is sponsoring sculptor Doug Makemson at the Winterville Marigold Festival 2009.
When: Saturday, May 16, 2009, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Where: City of Winterville, 125 North Church Street, Winterville, Ga. 30683
Winterville, located only 15 minutes east of Athens, will host daylong events and entertainment on May 16. Most of the activity will be around the city hall and Pittard Park. On display will be three of Makemson’s large animal sculptures. GMOA Preparator Lanora Pierce has been working with the festival event planners and the sculptor.
Makemson grew up in Rockford, Ill., and Commerce, Ga., and graduated from the University of Georgia. His experience in a UGA ceramics class inspired him to begin sculpting. After graduation, Makemson traveled to Mexico in the 1970s to teach brickmaking and pottery to Tzeltal Indians and focused on farming activities in Georgia in the 1980s. In 1994, he resumed metal sculpting, and the Georgia Museum of Art hosted his first museum exhibition consisting of ten large outdoor sculptures in 2000. Makemson’s sculptures are typically representational and are made from steel, stainless steel, copper and brass. For more information, see Makemson’s Web site at http://www.makesculpture.com/index.html.
“Doug was a rock star the other day installing his large metal sculpture via crane by the old train bed at the Winterville depot,” said Pierce. “After the trains stopped running years ago the rails were removed and what was left was a large, flat, open lawn that ran alongside Main Street. That open area made the perfect spot for an outdoor sculpture exhibition. Doug is the first artist invited by the city to install his work there. His work is particularly well-suited since kids go nuts for it and the public library right across the lawn will have a lot of kid and family traffic during their summer programs. Doug’s sculpture will be there until August.”