Art And Love Are Celebrated At Kingsbrae Garden, Sculpturally

Online, June 14, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Love wins over all at the third annual National Sculpture Competition at Kingsbrae Garden launched on June 9, 2011 with youthful enthusiasm and creativity. The $10,000 first prize winner is Domenico Di Guglielmo of Montreal for his abstract Circle of Love, inspired, he says, "by couples that I met or read about; couples that evolve and grow together throughout the years. My fascination with these couples is in the ability for the two to act as one and yet retain and respect each other's individuality. I want to emphasize that one great entity is formed from two distinct individuals through the use of one physical unit with positive forms and negative spaces. It is constructed of fibreglass cloth, polyester resin, polystyrene foam, newsprint and wall paper paste (papier mâche). The image was cut from a large block of polyester foam. Then the image was first covered with two layers of papier mâche and then with three layers of fibreglass cloth drenched with polyester resin."

Second prize of $5,000 went to Jeff Watson(Longueuil QC) for Papillon, an abstract butterfly in Vermont marble, "evok[ing] the tranquility, peacefulness and lightness of being that can be experienced in a garden environment". Dave Hind (Brantford ON) earned Honourable mention for Little Root, inspired by his and his daughter Tula's hands, holding a tree root together. Hind said, "Little Root is a celebration of sharing, of passing from one to another... accepting that one by one, all will be grown over, die back, rest, bud, bloom". Hind's sculpture is entirely constructed of reclaimed metal and wood.

The twelve new sculptures from across Canada are on exhibit until October 8, 2011 in the Kingsbrae Sculpture Garden; previous years' winners are also on display around the 27-acre site.

Others in the competition are: Jantje Blokhuis-Mulder, Lydia Fife and Geoff Slater of St. Andrews NB; Hans Blokpeol of Ottawa ON; Mark Breckenridge of Bluevale ON; Sylvie Daviault and Bozena Happach of Montreal QC; Don Pell of Bellevue SK and Veit Weber of Nortondale NB. Weber, who did attend, said this, after the ceremony: "It is so wonderful that Kingsbrae Garden has a tradition of supporting the Arts, particularly large sculptures. May there be many more years to come". Kingsbrae Garden echoes that enthusiasm completely, as a substantial body of Canadian sculptures by emerging and established sculptors grows annually at the Garden.

An exuberant crowd of 140 school children from area schools participated in workshops with six local artists: copper 'etching', painting, drawing, pottery, felting and paper collages. The artists who donated their time to make this a field trip to remember (deemed "the best field trip ever" by more than one participant) were: June Cable, felting; Sarah Dougherty, copper; Cedar Sky, drawing; Courtenay Lord, painting; Helen Stanley, pottery and Chantal Vincent, paper collage. The students, from grades three to five, from St George, St Stephen, St Andrews and Back Bay were fully engaged and on their best behaviour, enjoying the workshops, the alpacas, Children's Fantasy Garden and the sculptures, as well as a hot dog barbecue and made to order ice cream sundaes. The public was invited to partake, with a donation to the Food Bank. A mini-mountain of foodstuffs and $206.72 was raised for the Charlotte County Food Bank. The funds raised will be matched by a Kraft Foods Canada promotion-the Kraft Hunger Challenge Matching Program, to help feed hungry families and individuals across Canada.

Cyril Lunney, of CTV/ATV Breakfast Television (Halifax for the Atlantic Provinces) was right in with the children, making a copper 'sculpture' that he hopes, tongue in cheek, to enter in next year's competition. He and his crew enjoyed the day, filming extensively around the Garden, for future broadcast on the show.

One of the children, who is home schooled, attended with the St Andrews Vincent Massey Elementary School classes. His mother, Carrie Web wrote, "Thank you so much! Robert had such a fantastic time. He insists on taking me very soon to Kingsbrae Garden. The workshop was a big hit, plus the gardens, loved the animals & thoroughly enjoyed the food. He also thought it was great to see Cyril, who we watch on Breakfast TV !"

Children and families enjoy the Garden, with alpacas and other animals, treasure hunts, croquet and bocce ball, and a Children's Fantasy Garden, with four playhouses and a climbable castle. Scheduled daily activities (July and August): Live Ladybug Release at 10:30 am and afternoon children's programs in the Fantasy Garden, 1:30 pm (all free with admission).
By popular demand, one can now visit the Kingsbrae Garden Cafe, Gift Shop & Art Gallery without paying admission to the Garden itself. Cafe access does not include the Sculpture Garden or other features about the 27-acre grounds, but is limited to the Cafe building only, entering through the Visitors Centre. Check-in with Garden staff is required for Cafe admission.

Another offer, new for 2011: the Charlotte County Good Neighbours program grants free Garden admission to Charlotte County residents, when bringing one or more paying guests to visit its 27 magnificent acres of themed gardens, including over 50,000 perennials, shrubs & trees, many breathtaking vistas, alpacas, peacocks, genuine Dutch windmill (1/3 scale), dozens of sculptures and fountains throughout the grounds.

The licensed Kingsbrae Garden Cafe, Gift Shop & Art Gallery provide a fine finish-or start-to your visit, with splendid garden views. The Garden Cafe has a fresh menu, with all food prepared in our kitchen: seafood, salads, soups, sandwiches, entrees and delicious desserts. The Garden Gift Shop features garden-related kitchen ware, accessories, jewellery, bags, books and children's items.

A vivid collection of floral works by Mary Young is on exhibit at the Art Gallery, running until July 13th. From July 15 to October 8, an exciting multi-media Folk Art exhibit is presented at the Garden, by various artists.

Kingsbrae Garden is open daily from 9am to 6pm. The Garden Cafe, Gift Shop & Art Gallery are open 10am to 5 pm (until 6, July & August), seven days a week. The Kingsbrae Garden Plant Centre is also open daily, from 9:30am to 5:30pm. For more information or reservations, visit www.kingsbraegarden.com or call (506) 529-3335, ext 1 or 866-566-8687, toll-free in North America.

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