Sculpture Garden: “Hold” Reception & Capstone with Alonso Sierralta

Join sculptor Alonso Sierralta for an outdoor reception event commemorating the installation of his sculpture, Hold, in the Anderson Center Sculpture Garden on Saturday, May 22 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. This event will also serve as a capstone showcase of artwork made by students in the Hispanic Outreach of Goodhue County afterschool program in artmaking workshops with Alonso as part of the Sculpture Garden Engagement Program. Light refreshments will be provided. Face coverings are required. Thanks to support from SEMAC, transportation to the Anderson Center for this event can be provided by contacting Adam at adam@andersoncenter.org or 651-388-2009 x4.

Alonso Sierralta moved from Chile to the United States when he was fourteen, and studied in Nebraska before settling in NE Minneapolis. He has an MFA from the University of Nebraska. He has received several awards, including a Next Step grant from the McKnight Foundation, and his work has been featured throughout MN and in numerous national shows. Sierralta has public work on display at Stevens Point Sculpture Park, in Stevens Point, WI, and at Silverwood Park, in St. Anthony, MN.

Entitled Hold, this new sculpture combines natural and man-made materials to channel Alonso’s experience of cultural transplantation into powerful metaphors for growth, challenge, pain and adaptation. The tension, contradiction, and contrast created by pairing organic materials with manufactured ones evokes the mixed emotions of optimism & fear that accompany giving up the familiar and provides an inclusive opportunity to examine the issue of immigration from a fresh & visually expressive perspective. Hold was installed on August 17, 2020 and is now on view!

Migration and moving from one place to another plays a large role in Sierralta’s sculptures, which he usually puts together using wood and resin while adding many natural and organic materials, such as seeds, grass, roots and other things. Among his favorite spots for finding sculpture materials is along the Mississippi Riverbanks. That use of natural materials, along with his interest in exploring form, shape and volume, draws comparisons to work done by artists such as David Nash & Richard Deacon.

The Sculpture Garden Engagement Program program aims to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of the arts for area youth through hands-on workshops & accompanying discussion with Alonso, a bilingual speaker and art professor for nearly two decades  By helping share the stories of area Latino high school students in art-making workshops through Hispanic Outreach of Goodhue County’s after school program, Alonso is celebrating & lifting up the voices of local youth while also creating opportunities for meaningful exchange across the community through his new piece in the Anderson Center Sculpture Garden.

ASL interpretation is available upon request. To request interpretation, please contact Stephanie at stephanie@andersoncenter.org or 651-388-2009 at least two weeks prior to the event.

The Sculpture Garden Engagement Program is made possible by a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. This activity is also made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.