Portland, OR (PRWEB) October 25, 2007
Portland sculptor Carole Turner has been named as one of 3 finalists to represent the United States on the international tour of the Beijing Olympic Landscape Sculpture Collection, and she has just returned from the Sacramento exhibition opening ceremonies.
According to the IOC the tour that is circling the globe and is now making stops in the U.S. “aims to promote the activities linked to the Olympic games and strengthen cultural links, thus showing the world a new cultural image of China.”
The competition, initiated by the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee in 2005, and overseen by renowned artist and cultural ambassador, Xikun Yuan, is documented as “the largest solicitation for sculptures in Olympic history,” and has attracted more than 2400 design proposals from 90 countries. In keeping with the theme, “One World, One Dream,” the goal was to collect landscape sculptures from around the world. And in honor of the 29th Olympiad, 29 sculptures will ultimately be chosen for monumental display throughout the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games venues.
A panel of 17 judges from the U.K., Russia, Italy, Germany, Austria, South Korea and the U.S. chose 290 “Excellent Works” from five continents. Among these finalist designs were 10 Americans. Winning artists were notified and sent their design models to China. The sculptures were then reproduced in the appropriate materials (bronze, stainless steel, etc.) in triplicate to allow for simultaneous exhibitions first in China, then abroad.
After a 6 month tour of China, the judges narrowed the list to the current 110 finalists for the International Tour. Carole’s sculpture is one of 3 chosen from the U.S. These sculptures will compete for the 29 gold, silver and bronze medals to be awarded in a nationally televised ceremony in China in January 2008.
Carole’s award winning bronze sculpture, “Rhythmic Dancer,” captures the exuberance and Olympic dreams of a young gymnast mastering the ribbon dance. She was honored to present “Olympic Dream,” a study for her Olympic sculpture, to Professor Xikun Yuan, Director of the Organizing Committee for 2008 Olympic Landscape Sculpture Designs Contest during the opening ceremonies in Sacramento.
Asked for her impression of the Olympic competition, Ms. Turner said, “I am just in awe seeing all of these sculptures for the first time,” and “I am very thankful to Professor Yuan for inviting me to enter the competition. It has been an amazing experience.” She and several of the finalists have followed the tour together via email and she was happy to finally meet them in person. Another highlight was the many emails she received from people around the world, “mostly sculptors who have seen my sculpture in different countries or in the exhibition catalog. We have been told that millions of people have seen this collection; isn’t that incredible?”
“I love the theme of the Beijing Olympic Games – One World, One Dream. It’s a great theme — not only for these Olympics, but for our global community. So much time is spent focusing on our differences, when we share so many similarities.”
That theme is nothing new to Carole. In recent years she has spent time in Asia and Europe creating large sculptures in stone, and earlier this year she went to Russia to participate in a bronze sculpture symposium. While there her sculpture, “Same Sky,” was acquired by the Penza Art Museum as the first American work of art in its permanent collection. “Same Sky” carries the same message as “One World, One Dream.”
The international tour of the Beijing Olympic Landscape Sculpture Collection debuted in London, host city of the next edition of the Olympic Games in 2012. It has traveled to many cities that have already hosted the Games, such as Athens, Seoul, Tokyo, Barcelona, Sydney and Los Angeles, passing through other cities, including Dubai, Wellington and the Olympic Capital, Lausanne, with a stay in the Olympic Museum.
The next Olympic Sculpture Collection exhibition will held at the Navy Pier in Chicago, October 23 – November 3, and the last U.S. stop will be a much-anticipated exhibition at the United Nations in New York in December 2007.
For more information:
Carole Turner
http://www.turnerstudio.com
Beijing Olympic Sculpture News
http://www.beijingolympicsculpture.wordpress.com
International Olympic Committee
http://www.olympic.org
http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/beijing/full_story_uk.asp?id=2325
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U.S. Artist Carole Turner on Olympic Sculpture World Tour
