During National Sculpture Society’s Sculpture Conference, several NSS members will speak about works in situ at Brookgreen Gardens. A highlight is a discussion by Kent Ullberg on Carl Milles’ The Fountain of the Muses. The sculpture, created in 1955 by the Swedish sculptor and former NSS Fellow, was commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the centerpiece for its public dining room. In 1982, Brookgreen Gardens acquired the work, where it soon became one of the most iconic works in the collection.

Kent Ullberg will speak on the inspiration he draws from The Fountain of the Muses and from Carl Milles. Ullberg states, “Milles was Sweden’s foremost sculptor. As a kid, I would see his sculpture all over Sweden and I dreamed of being a sculptor.  That was a pretty big dream for a kid from a poor fishing village. Later, as a young man enrolled in art school, I was fortunate enough to visit his studio. There was plaster of Paris and clay on the floor and I thought ‘if Milles can do it, I can do it.'”

Conference goers will also hear from NSS Fellows Anthony Antonios (Awakening), Richard Blake (Rita / Grandmother), Carter Jones (First Fish), Janice Mauro (The Source), Walter Matia (A Fool for Love), Louise Peterson (Bella and the Bug), Sandy Scott (Mallard Duet) and Rod Zullo (Ode to the West Wind II) about their works. Additionally, Gordon Alt, Executive Director of the John Cavanaugh Foundation, will speak on Cavanaugh’s Pas de Trois.

Don’t miss out on these talks or the entire spectacular weekend!

Image detail: Highsmith, Carol M, photographer. “The Fountain of the Muses” sculpture group, by Carl Mills, at Brookgreen Gardens, a vast complex of sculpture gardens, ecosystem trails, a wildlife preserve and a small zoo on four former rice plantations in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Murrells Inlet South Carolina, 2017. -06-26. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017880937/. (Accessed April 09, 2018.)