Exhibitions at Gallery 555 & Sculpture Court -- Oakland Museum of California

January 16 - April 2, 2003
Shaping Possibility: Pacific Rim Sculptors Group Invitational
Artists Reception: January 16, 2003, 5 – 8pm
Gallery 555
555 City Center (at 12th & Clay), Oakland, CA
Lobby. Hours 7am - 6pm.

Oakland Museum of CA Sculpture Court
1111 Broadway
both located in downtown Oakland
Open and free to the public. BART, AC Transit and Wheelchair accessible.

Professional Services Exhibition Archive

Presented by the Oakland Museum of California Professional Services division

Jane B. Grimm, Bathing Beauties, Ceramic, 14" x 36" x 96"

In the entire United States, there exists only a handful of artist organizations dedicated solely to sculptors. Perhaps the most notable in the Bay Area is the Pacific Rim Sculptors Group, or PRSG, founded 15 years ago in San Francisco. To acknowledge this active group’s commitment to increasing public awareness of sculpture, The Oakland Museum of California has organized Shaping Possibility: Pacific Rim Sculptors Group Invitational at two downtown Oakland venues: Gallery 555 at 555 City Center and the Oakland Museum of California Sculpture Court at 1111 Broadway.

The PRSG artist members exhibited at Gallery 555 include Ed Clapp, Al Honig, Meadowsweet Dairy, Silvia Poloto and Susan Leibovitz Steinman. This venue at 555 City Center features 9 artworks, ranging from recycled material constructions to painted steel sculpture to site-specific installation.

At the nearby Sculpture Court, exhibited PRSG artists include Jerry Ross Barrish, Jane Grimm, Cynthia Handel, Margaret Herscher, Richard Knight and Nikki Schrager. This 1111 Broadway venue includes 12 sculptures, from playful ceramics to cast bronze figurative forms to organic mixed media objects.

Shaping Possibility: Pacific Rim Sculptors Group Invitational is a survey exhibition and purposefully, there is no intended theme. Rather, all the objects are featured here to incite new ways of looking and seeing. And in doing so, the assembled works prompt us to reconsider our perceptions, both of art and of the world around us.

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Al Honig, 1999, Singing Bird, manufactured objects, 62"h x 30"w x 16"d

The Pacific Rim Sculptors Group, or PRSG, was founded in 1988 by six Bay Area sculptors who wanted to establish a new forum for their peers. “There was this OE Gate Show, at Mark Hall Plaza in Oakland,” relates Gale Wagner, one of the founding members. “Twelve sculptors had commissions and it was after that when I thought we should stay in touch, meet more often. Six of us decided to keep meeting.” The six founding artists are Wagner, John Fick, Greg Wescott, Chuck Splady, Don Rich and Luigi Testa. As the group continued to grow throughout the 1990s, PRSG formalized its structure with a steering committee, a mailing list, a mission statement, by-laws and a newsletter.

Since its inception, the organization has grown to over 200 artist members throughout Northern and Central California. As defined by its mission statement, PRSG was formed to promote cultural vitality and artistic diversity in order to contribute to a healthy society. To that end, PRSG continues to support emerging, mid-career and established artists by providing a forum to exchange ideas, discuss issues of common concern and exhibit their work. Furthermore, PRSG members serve as advocates for sculpture by promoting public and private sculpture exhibits, education and outreach programs. An inclusive organization, PRSG welcomes all sculptors living or working on the Pacific Rim and encourages the steady development of their careers and their work.


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