The 37th Annual Tri-State Sculptors Conference was big fun, even with the rain and threat of a hurricane! Folks traveled from NC, SC, VA, MD, and even MA to spend the weekend talking about and looking at sculpture. The conference kicked off with the gallery reception for Time, Movement, Balance & Space: Hanna Jubran and Jodi Hollnagel-Jubran. We had a good crowd for the first night. The gallery was packed.

Friday morning began with papermaking and patina workshops. Matt Egan and Heather Muise demonstrated pulling sheets to use for casting into plaster molds. Hanna Jubran showed various ways to apply patina, hot and cold. Meanwhile, Jim Gallucci gave a presentation on art as business and then our scholarship winners, Chris Morgan, Jai Woods, and Dalia Delanuez, gave presentations about their work.

In the afternoon, Justin Vorhis demonstrated blacksmithing techniques and then helped willing members forge. Afternoon presentations included Pat Wasserboehr, Felicia Dean, and Kathryn Cook speaking about their experiences with digital stone carving with the Digital Stone Project in Gramolazzo, Italy, and Melissa Walker, who taught us 20 ways to promote our art.

Friday night was the closing reception for the 37th Annual Tri-State Sculptors Members Exhibition. And, once again, we had a gallery full of people. The show included 40 sculptures by 23 of our members. It was a fantastic exhibition that really captured the variety of the Tri-State Sculptors.

Saturday dawned with some unexpected, and greatly appreciated, sunshine. The morning began with a panel discussing various ways to make a living as a sculptor. The panel included Andrew Etheridge, Jim Gallucci, Dumay Gorhan, Melissa Walker, and Patricia Wasserboehr. Outside, Justin Vorhis was lighting the forge again for a second demonstration. Justin stepped in when we found out two of our presenters couldn’t make it because of the weather. A big thanks to Justin. Morning lectures included a presentation on the making of the Wilmington Fallen Firefighter Memorial by Melissa Walker and a presentation by Tri-State Sculptors President Matt Amante on Chinese scholars’ rocks.

The afternoon was all about pouring metal. Carl Billingsley brought his self-built propane fired melting furnace and poured scratch molds that members carved. And there were more presentations going on as well. Maria Borghoff gave an interesting lecture on integrating contemplative practices into you life/work to help shape the brain. Jim Gallucci gave a presentation on the history of Tri-State.

And if that wasn’t enough, then Judy Pfaff gave her presentation. Judy talked about her work and her experiences as a sculptor over the past 40 years. It was interesting to see how her worked changed and hear her speak about her concepts. I think everyone enjoyed the lecture and having conversation with her at the dinner later that night.

All in all, I think the conference was a great success. Thanks to all that made it to Wilmington, despite the weather reports. And we missed those of you that couldn’t make it. Hope to see everyone next year!

-Andi Steele