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Opening Reception for David L. Smith, August 4th

Join us on August 4th to welcome David L. Smith, with his found-object sculptures.

Raised in Southern California, David live in Minnesota for a short time while he worked toward his BS in Art Education before he moved to Siren, Wisconsin in 1979 to teach art. David taught art to  K-12 students for 20+ years in Siren. During that time he earned his  MFA in Sculpture  and taught several intro level classes at the University of Minnesota / Duluth. He says "after retirement I missed teaching children, went through a depression, sought therapy, and started my own work in sculpture in my own little shop."

David describes his work as  “found object sculpture with influences of folk art, surrealism, and outsider art." The pictures he shared evoke a sense of travel and movement. Some of the objects he incorporates are from second hand stores. The "old" objects give a sense of history to his work. David also uses pieces of instruments, giving a sense of creation, as well as some of his own woodwork. The instruments and fine woodwork  are a  good contrast to the used objects.

The opening reception for the show, titled Time Funnel, will be from 4-6pm on August 4th, with an artist's talk at 5pm. The show will be up through the month of August so if you can't make it Friday you still have an opportunity to see it.

After the reception, starting at 7pm, we will hold our monthly First Friday CoffeeHouse. All are welcome to attend, the cost is $3 / person, $7 / family (read more).

Artist's Statement

My work would probably be classified as found object sculpture with influences of folk art, surrealism, and outsider art. I like to repurpose objects from the past and put them into a new environment. The pieces that I do are like entries into a journal of my life. It's my way of communicating with others-what I think about and feel. It's this combination of woodworking and objects that I seek from second hand stores, that that help me tell stories ranging from serious to humorous. I feel my strong point is playing with items that fit together like a puzzle. My favorite art quote is Picasso's statement saying when he was a child he could draw like an adult and spent the rest of his life trying to draw like a child. So in par, I feel teaching children has brought me where I am today and that Jesus has given me this time to experiment.