October 14, 2007

Today we attended the unveiling of my niece Jordan's sculpture, "Incomplete". Jordan entered a competition held by the Sioux Empire Arts Council's for the Sioux Falls SculptureWalk earlier this year. As part of the competition she sculpted and submitted a scale model of her proposed work, and it won her first place. That entitled her to construct a full-size work and have it displayed on the SculptureWalk, and to a $1,000 scholarship prize. I think I speak for the whole family in saying that we're all very proud of Jordan's accomplishment!

Below is the announcement from the Sioux Empire Arts Council website, and below that is a set of thumbnails of the photos I took at the event

Student Mentoring: SculptureWalk 2007 Awards Announced The 2007 student sculpture model has been chosen to be constructed for installation in front of the Horse Barn Arts Center as part of the citywide SculptureWalk event in May, 2007. The Sioux Empire Arts Council holds this annual competition, now in its fourth year, pairing practicing professional artists with high school-age student artists. Using guidance from the adult artist mentor, students bring their artistic vision to life in a model that they hope will be chosen to be created as a full-size work. The winning work, "Incomplete" created by O'Gorman High School junior Jordan Thornton along with her artist mentor, Edward Thompson, will be installed as a full-sized sculpture in front of the Horse Barn in May 2007. In addition, Jordan will receive a $1,000 scholarship to a post-secondary program of her choosing. Both second and third-place awards for the SculptureWalk project went to Andrew Henkel, senior at Lincoln High School, and artist mentor, Arne Bortnem, for their interactive pieces "Model of a Mind" and "Pull My Finger". Henkel was given art gifts from the Sioux Empire Arts Council. Funding for this project is provided by a grant from Xcel Energy Foundation. Student/Artist Mentor Pairs — 2007 Student Mentoring Mike DeYoung (Washington High School), and Romy Klessen Paige Dumdie (Roosevelt High School), and Lori Ann Hallstrom Andrew Henkel(Lincoln High School), and Arne Bortnem Chelsea Pray (Washington High School), and Andrew Barney Jesse Rydell (O'Gorman High School), and Darwin Wolf Jordan Thornton (O'Gorman High School), and Edward Thompson

Student SculptureWalk Models Incomplete Jordan Thornton (O'Gorman HS) Edward Thompson (Artist Mentor) First Place Model of a Mind Andrew Henkel (Lincoln HS) Arne Bortnem (Artist Mentor) Second Place Pull My Finger Andrew Henkel (Lincoln HS) Arne Bortnem (Artist Mentor) Third Place

The unveiling event was held at the Horse Barn Arts Center, located at Falls Park in Sioux Falls. It was hosted by the Sioux Empire Arts Council as part of their Artist Reception and Awards Ceremony. A very good friend of ours, Stacey McMahan serves as president of the Society, and it was very cool to see her presiding over the unveiling!

Clicking on one of the thumbnails will open a slightly larger image. A link is provided on each of the pages to either download the full-size 3 megapixel image or view it in your browser window. Email me if you have any difficulties with the images. Enjoy!

Dave