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Adventures in New York, Part Three

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The National Sculpture Society has an excellent events coordinator. And about fifty other people that work with them to put on a great conference. The Sculpture Celebration Conference of 2017 was no different. If you've been following, you've already heard about the first half of the conference. New York, a town bursting with energy, life, taxis, and pollution, set the stage for a great weekend at the Park Central Hotel.

Awards Ceremony, NSS Sculpture Conference
After we ate dinner, we all patiently anticipated the awards ceremony. Kind of weird, since we knew who the recipients were. But I was twisting my hair the whole time. The list of award winners included expert artists with impressive work, and Mike was the recipient of the Alex J. Ettl Award, for his notable body of work.

Awards Presentation, NSS Sculpture Conference; Alex J Ettl Grant
The award was presented by the President and Vice-President of the NSS, Michel Langlais and Amy Kann. Both of them were lovely, charismatic individuals full of life and a love for sculpture.

Michael Aaron Hall, recipient of the 2017 Alex J Ettl Grant
Mike went on stage receive his award. We were both truly humbled and amazed to be a party of this incredibly society.

Speaking as someone with no artistic talent, I am always impressed with artists of excellent caliber. I don't draw, but I see what goes into it. Talent is the beginning, yes, but it also takes hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Mike has been pouring his heart and soul into his works for a long time now, and I am just beginning to truly appreciate not only the work he does, but the work of other dedicated artists.

Sculpture Celebration Awards Dinner














We watched the rest of the awards ceremony before making the rounds to tell everyone good evening and take some photos. Mike probably had to smile for forty of them by the time the night was over. Good thing he's so photogenic. Some of the artists got together for "after parties" and cocktails, and we joined some sculptors until we decided we'd better make sure we talked to our kids before they fell asleep. The long, long day made it irresistible to fall asleep ourselves before long. 

Architecture at The Met
Sunday morning was cool and beautiful compared to the previous few days' weather. We had breakfast in the cafe again and walked to The Met for a last visit. It was a good thing we got there early, because a huge line formed behind us in a matter of minutes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art did not disappoint. 

The Met
I love that you can take photos in The Met. Okay, so we did set off one alarm when we leaned to close to a piece, but other than that our visit went off without a hitch. I found a marble by Houdon, one of my favorite sculptors, and Mike was able to see Ugolini and His Sons by Carpeaux. 

Mike standing with Carpeaux, The Met
We also managed to see more Saint-Gaudens, Daniel Chester French, a Cyrus Dallin, and much more. The museum also offers other kinds of exhibits, with Victorian furniture to hundreds-of-years old tea sets. Very few people be easily bored here. 

Central Park Zoo, with Langlais and Gary Lee Price
Our next adventure was at the Central Park Zoo, where sculptors were set up at different exhibits to sculpt the animals. Gary Price was busy creating sea lions, Paul Rhymer was sculpting ducks, and others did bears, monkeys, and wolves. They were all good, and it was fun to see their different approaches, especially when some of the models weren't very cooperative.

Sculpting bears and wolves
The demonstrations included pieces of clay the guests could use to create their own sculptures. The kids loved it, and so many of them stopped to participate. What a great way to involve and introduce the arts with young people! 

Now it was time to leave. So sad, yet I was getting anxious to get home. The taxi ride back to the airport was quiet but quick, and we finally boarded our flight around 5. We found out that the conference will be at Brookgreen Gardens next year, which was established by Anna Hyatt-Huntington. When asked if we would come, we both responded with a resounding, "We'll be there!" 


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