Grounds for Sculpture and "Oil and Marble" by Stephanie Storey

Art aficionados take notice! We're finally heading to the Grounds for Sculpture! (I know so many of you have been waiting patiently for this!) Grounds For Sculpture is a museum, sculpture garden, and arboretum where art and nature are always at play. We're pairing our visit with the best seller "Oil and Marble" by Stephanie Storey.

FIRST PAY FIRST GO! Once there is a waitlist everyone who has not paid will be moved to NOT GOING until paid so long as spots remain.

THE ACTIVITY: Grounds for Sculpture https://www.groundsforsculpture.org/about/

Outdoors, nearly 300 contemporary sculptures are sited across 42 landscaped acres. Indoors, temporary exhibitions from established and emerging artists are featured in six galleries. Engaging and educational programs for all ages are offered year-round, and may include lectures from top minds, hands-on workshops, tours, concerts, and performances.

More than 700 artists have had their work on view here. The collection contains sculpture by 150 artists, including Clement Meadmore, Anthony Caro, Beverly Pepper, Kiki Smith, George Segal, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Isaac Witkin, Joyce J. Scott, Willie Cole, and founder Seward Johnson. Many sculptors attribute their roots here, and each year, more artists are offered the unique opportunity to create new site-specific work for the galleries or outdoors.

FEE: $1 PLUS the GfS fee below (the $1 is to support the bookclub (meetup charges me a fee to use the site)) (This event says $1 but you must pay the applicable amount below based on which category you fit into)

Here is the GfS fee schedule (includes the $1 book club support fee):
GfS MEMBERS $1 • Reservations Required (If you are a member or have a free ticket, please let me know (I'll reserve your spot when I reserve the others).
Adult (18+ Years) $19
Senior (65+ Years) $16
Active Military / Veteran (Id Required) $16
Healthcare worker (Id Required) $16

HOW TO PAY: FIRST PAY FIRST GO! Once there is a waitlist everyone who has not paid will be moved to NOT GOING until paid so long as spots remain.
Venmo - @audrey- Heller1
PayPal - https://www.paypal.me/AudreyBug (use friends and family or there is an extra fee - add another $1)

FOOD and WATER: Bring water and bag lunch or cash to buy food from Rat's Restaurant https://www.groundsforsculpture.org/visit/dining/ We'll gather somewhere on the grounds for lunch and book discussion.

Health and Safety are your own responsibility.

THE BOOK: Oil and Marble by Stephanie Storey

From 1501—1505, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti both lived and worked in Florence. Leonardo was a charming, handsome fifty year-old at the peak of his career. Michelangelo was a temperamental sculptor in his mid-twenties, desperate to make a name for himself.

Michelangelo is a virtual unknown when he returns to Florence and wins the commission to carve what will become one of the most famous sculptures of all time: David. Even though his impoverished family shuns him for being an artist, he is desperate to support them. Living at the foot of his misshapen block of marble, Michelangelo struggles until the stone finally begins to speak. Working against an impossible deadline, he begins his feverish carving.

Meanwhile, Leonardo’s life is falling apart: he loses the hoped-for David commission; he can’t seem to finish any project; he is obsessed with his ungainly flying machine; he almost dies in war; his engineering designs disastrously fail; and he is haunted by a woman he has seen in the market—a merchant’s wife, whom he is finally commissioned to paint. Her name is Lisa, and she becomes his muse.

Leonardo despises Michelangelo for his youth and lack of sophistication. Michelangelo both loathes and worships Leonardo’s genius.

Oil and Marble is the story of their nearly forgotten rivalry. Storey brings early 16th-century Florence alive.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25898723-oil-and-marble

• Audrey