Viewfinder: The Sculpture Mile In Madison

For the past 10 years, thanks to the Hollycroft Foundation, Madison has been able to enjoy a rotating sculpture gallery of works created by nationally recognized artists on display for the public to enjoy at will and for free.  What more do you need to know?

If you would like a little more information, read on about our tour of The Sculpture Mile in Madison.

We took our Patch camera along on a docent led tour of The Sculpture Mile in Madison recently and learned a lot about sculpture and how to experience it.  We thought we were going to just “look” at the sculptures, but were pleasantly surprised when our docent, Madison resident Andrea Bradford, encouraged us to reach out an touch the pieces, to better absorb the nature of the materials used and get a sense of the surface textures. That opened a new door of perception for us and led us to think of Madison’s Sculpture Mile as kind of a “free petting zoo” for art, where we don’t have to fear getting bitten or worry about when the gates will close.

At first, it seemed a bit incongruous to see sculpture by nationally recognized artists displayed along the parking lot of a shopping plaza until we realized that this is where people come in their day to day lives and Hollycroft Foundation’s core mission is to bring art to people.

Andrea shared her knowledge of the various sculptors’ works, telling us how a given piece related to the other work done by the artist and frequently gave us background information on sculptor’s intent.  We learned that some pieces were created specifically for display along Madison’s Sculpture Mile and were inspired by Madison’s history and culture.

As part of our sculpture appreciation lesson, Andrea suggested viewing the pieces from all sides at various distances as sculpture is intended to be viewed. We followed that advice through our camera lens and share what we saw in today’s Viewfinder photos.

This year, Hollycroft Foundation is celebrating it’s 10^th anniversary of bringing sculpture to Madison and is looking for interest and support in developing a program for children and sculpture. You can learn more about The Sculpture Mile in Madison on the Hollycroft Foundation web site:

http://www.hollycroft.org/

In addition to the free docent led tours that leave the pavilion at Stop & Shop every Saturday at 11 a.m., appointments for group tours are also available.