Building Big

with Nick Fagan & Mark Schentzel
SCULPTURE 686 001 | 3 credits | $200 Lab Fee
August 11 – 24, 2024

This class will focus on building large, sculptural structures in wood and metal. Cost effective and beginner friendly methods will be employed to empower students to overcome the intimidation that can accompany a wish to work large. Together, we will consider the steps required to complete a large sculpture including drafting, model making, fabrication, safety, and budgeting. We will draw inspiration from sculptures by Phyllida Barlow, view Robert Snyder’s1974 documentary The World of R. Buckminster Fuller, and readings will include Robert Smithson’s “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic”. After completing a small-scale balsa wood model, students can expect to complete one large-scale sculpture. This class will culminate in a presentation of monumental sculptures in the landscape.

Nick Fagan is a multimedia artist based in Cape Cod. He has exhibited work in a number of galleries and shows across the United States, most recently the Egg Collective in New York, Massey Klein Gallery in New York, Tops Gallery in Memphis, Tennessee as well as the Seattle art fair with FFT and Future Art Fair with ADA Gallery. He has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the MASS MoCA Studio Program and The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. His work has been featured or reviewed in a number of publications, including Burnaway, NPR, Divergents Magazine, New American Paintings, and The Rib. Awards include a Kennedy VSA Artists with Disabilities Award, and Foundation of Contemporary Art Grant. He received his MFA in sculpture from Ohio State University in 2017.

Nick Fagan, Love Hours, 2022, Install, Install

Mark Schentzel holds a BFA in Sculpture and Functional Art from Kendall College of Art and Design, He received the program’s sculpture excellence award. Mark appreciates the craft school experience, and has attended workshops at Ox Bow School for the Arts (MI), Penland School of Craft (NC), and Peters Valley Craft Education Center (NJ). He has over 25 years of welding and custom metal fabrication experience and is co-founder and co-owner of EA- Craftworks in Grand Rapids MI; a custom metal shop providing unique metal works to Michigan and surrounding areas. Mark’s large-scale public sculptures in Michigan and the Midwest carry notions of material identity, sustainability considerations, and infrastructure issues.

Mark Schentzel, Era Alter, steel, stainless steel, wood, 12 x 12 x12 ft.