SCULPTING OUTSIDE THE BOX
8TH International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition at USU Art Museum

The Eighth International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, currently on view at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art on the campus of Utah State University, has little to do with boxes or shoes. Organized triennially by the University of Hawaii, this traveling exhibition features 81 sculptures, selected from the 145 originally exhibited in Hawaii.

The diminutive artworks, arranged in the Museum’s spacious Upper Gallery, encourage visitors to think about comparisons and contrasts in the materials and forms, and the possible meanings.

“These artists have refined their personal creativity and expression into something smaller than a shoebox,“ said the Museum’s Education Curator, Jay Heuman. “With that specific size requirement, it is amazing to see the variety of forms and materials, from carved wood to metal, glass to clay, paper maché, and even human hair.”

Some artists produced playful artworks that appeal to the inner child, and others provide symbolic commentary about political and social trends. There is also a serious and somber facet, as several artists explore the fragility of human life.

“This exhibition, in and of our contemporary time, is rooted in traditional art-making practice,” explained Museum Director Victoria Rowe, “even though a majority of artists today are making artwork in large scale and by digital processes.”

The Eighth International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition is sponsored by the University of Hawaii Department of Art and supported by a grant from the Laila Art Fund, Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and the Watumull Grant for Museum Studies in the Arts. The touring schedule for other venues, in the United States and internationally, can be found at www.hawaii.edu/artgallery/shoebox/schedule2.html.

The exhibition remains on display at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art through August 1, 2004. For further information, please call Education Curator, Jay Heuman, at 435-797-0165.

Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, 650 North 1100 East, Logan, UT, 84322, (435) 797-0163, Fax (435) 797-3423, www.artmuseum.usu.edu. Summer hours: Tues., Thurs. & Fri.: 10:30 am - 4:30 pm; Wed.: 10:30 am - 7:00 pm; Sat.: noon - 4 pm; Closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays. Admission is free; Parking $4 (free after 3:45 pm). For more information or to schedule a tour of the Museum, please call (435) 797-0165. The Museum is accessible to persons with disabilities.