A Dream: 5 Community Totems

Pam Brewer and Community Artists
Clay, concrete, thin-set and Styrofoam

Partially funded by the NEA’s Challenge America Program Pam Brewer and 100 community artists.

About the Project

This year a new component the Rosen Outdoor Program: Building Sculpture, Building Community: Extending the Reach of the Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition is introduced. This special project, funded by the “Challenge America” program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), will add an exciting new dimension to the national juried sculpture competition that has been a cornerstone of Appalachian State University’s annual summer arts festival, An Appalachian Summer Festival, for the past 30 years.

Guiding the process is noted local sculptor Pam Brewer. The design concept for the sculpture consists of totem poles, constructed with mosaic, a medium Brewer feels is ideal for the project. “Through the use of totems,” she explains, “we create sculptural stacked forms, telling the story of who we are as community. The process of mosaic enables diverse parts of the community to explore themselves as part of a greater whole, and to collaborate on the completion of a sculpture, much like the act of creating a mosaic is about putting together disparate parts to complete a picture.”

Hank Foreman, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Arts Engagement notes: “We are thrilled to embark on this new venture, extending the reach of the Rosen Sculpture Program and providing community members with an opportunity to participate in the process of creating public art.”

Related: National Endowment for the Arts to Support Community Sculpture Project on Appalachian Campus

ZigZag Blues 03

Glenn Zweygardt
Alfred Station, NY
2021
126″ x 32″ x 16″

Maman

Adam Walls
Hope Mills, NC
2020

Trinity 2

Bob Doster
Lancaster, SC
2020-2021

Room

Sophia Dominici
Greensboro, NC
2022

Sentinel

Sentinel

Carl Billingsley
Ayden, NC
2022

Orion

David Sheldon
Etowah, NC
2020