Aluminum pour to highlight Sculpture Trails event Saturday in eastern Greene

Posted by De Tai

International Trade & Business

Aug 6, 2015

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The 7th Annual Sculpture Trails Aluminum Pour is slated for this weekend in rural Solsberry. The unique hands-on event will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sculpture Trails Outdoor Museum. Two and a half miles of walking trails are adorned with 40 large sculptures crafted by artists from around the world. There's no charge for anyone wanting to just enjoy the art and the spring weather. For $15 you can actually design and pour your own miniature gallery-ready relief sculpture piece, according to the show director/artist Gerard Masse, a Greene County native, who now operates a studio in Lexington, Ky. The event is open to all ages, and will be held rain or shine, Masse told the Greene County Daily World. Gerard's dad, Gerry Masse, founded the sculpture park and the Old Tobacco Barn on his property on County Road 560N in Beech Creek Township.

"Anybody can come and show up and they can check out all the sculptures on the property. There are almost 40 of them out there. Every year we try to add a few," Gerard Masse said. He explained a "scratch block" can be purchased that is crafted with a nail or a carving tool to any design desired. Masse calls it a wonderful learning experience. "Once you design it we'll be pouring metal at least every hour and we'll fill up the molds. Then we'll have all of our artists who have volunteer to help that day," he added. "You can get as detailed or simplified as you like. We have artists that will be helping at each stage." The elder Masse, who has lived on the Greene County property since 1980 and been retired from Otis Elevator in Bloomington since 2000, said his interest in arts was heighten by the success of his son, Gerard, who graduated from Eastern Greene High School in 1993 and then the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis. The younger Masse went on to receive his Master's degree in art from the University of Kentucky. He operates Tuska Studio -- a bronze foundry -- in Lexington, Ky.

His dad founded the park as a way to host other artists who wanted to display their works in a unique public forum. Gerard Masse said the Greene County community has embraced the sculpture art project over the years. "We have had just wonderful support from the community," Masse said. "We didn't realize this was going to be something that keeps growing and growing. ... We are all very excited about it." He continued, "We are all taken back by the community support and the anxiousness of the artists. For some reason, they just keep coming out and building pieces for us and adding to the collection," he said. "It's absolutely amazing. The property is just absolutely beautiful. The rolling hills, the valleys and the fields are not very typical of what people think of Indiana -- a flat cornfield -- but it's really beautiful and all of the artists get there and see what's going on and they really want to put a piece in there and help the property move forward. It's pretty crazy how the artists have responded. Sandwiches and soups will be sold at the event by Catherine Sparks from her One Drop Shop.

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