ABILENE, Texas — Public art provides thought-provoking interactions and discussions.
This year, the Abilene Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition is celebrating 42 years of public art by adding four new pieces to their display.
No other community-based art organization in Texas has run as long as this one.
The sculptures will be introduced on North 1 Street starting Sept. 16 and they will be available to the public for the next two years.
All of the artists are from cities in Texas and their sculptures are titled as such: "Red Running Dog" by Abilene artist Anthony Huff, "Talk of Camels and Needles" by Tyler artist Dewane Hughes, "The Day Gertrude Flew the Coop" by Texas artist Glory Hartsfield and "Fallen" by Nacogdoches artist Jeffie Brewer.
The celebration will also include other local artists and the weekend of events will begin 5 p.m. Friday with the reception for "Souls" by artist Robbie Barber at Abilene Christian University.
At 5:45 p.m. there will be another reception for "Material Culture," an exhibition by Anna Mavromatis at the Grace Museum.
The following day (Sept. 17), a sculpture titled "Variations on a Theme III" by Russell Jacques will be on display outdoors at McMurray University by the Amy Graves Ryan Fine Arts Center.
At 5:45, a reception for "The Letter 'T' stands for..." by Felice Contreras will take place at Hardin-Simmons University at the Ira M. Taylor Memorial Gallery.
To end the night, there will be an outdoor exhibition called "Outliers" at 6:45 p.m. where six artists will be honored for their collaborative work.
The artists are Robbie Barber, Jeffie Brewer, Andy Dom Emmons, Anthony Huff, Dewane Hughes and Glory Hatsfield, all Texas natives.
Each of the various pieces for the exhibits are chosen carefully and the display is being organized by The Abilene Cultural Affairs Council's Outdoor Exhibition alongside the City of Abilene Community Services Department, McMurray, Hardin-Simmons university, Abilene Christian University, The Grace Museum and the Center for Contemporary Arts.
