ARTsites Sculptures Positioned Across Howard County

COLUMBIA, MD — Across Howard County, beautiful and thought-invoking pieces of art have been positioned for the public to observe and absorb as aprt of the Howard County Arts Council's ARTsites sculptures. Until next month, 12 varied pieces will remain on exhibit until the next batch of artwork replaces them.

• Title: Comet – Fire & Ice; Artist: Carl Billingsley; Location: Howard County Public School System Administrative Offices
• Title: Pluma Sculptura; Artist: Kirk Seese; Location: The Arc of Howard County
• Title: Magnify; Artist: Kirk Seese; Location: Columbia Association, Slayton House
• Title: Mosegaard; Artist: Karl Saar; Location: Howard County Library System, Central Branch
• Title: Orange Twist; Artist: Richard Pitts; Location: Howard County Center for the Arts
• Title: The Pleiades; Artist: Charles Pilkey; Location: Clarksville Commons
• Title: Futural Eyesoulation; Artist: Anthony Heinz May; Location: Howard Community College
• Title: Nebula; Artist: Hanna Jubran; Location: Gary J. Arthur Community Center
• Title: In the Morning; Artist: Cathrin Hoskinson; Location: Howard County General Hospital
• Title: Insect House; Artist: Elliott Hamilton; Location: James & Anne Robinson Nature Center
• Title: Labyrinth III; Artist: Jeff Chyatte; Location: Howard County Government, George Howard Building
• Title: Ordinary Person; Artist: Charlie Brouwer; Location: Corporate Office Properties Trust

Ordinary Person stands 11 feet tall and is made with black locust wood. Brouwer told Patch he began sculpting in the 1980s while he was in graduate school studying painting. Brouwer's preferred medium is wood.

"As my painting evolved, it became three-dimensional and once I graduated with my master’s degree in painting, I decided to get a degree in sculpting. Since my paintings were already taking on a sculpture feel, it was a natural transition," he explained.

The concept of public monuments has interested Brouwer for years since many of them take the form of sculptures.

"I used to give my students an assignment to make a model for a monument for something they feel should be memorialized. They would start with a toilet paper tube as the base and build it out with cardboard. I had done some sculptures that imitate memorials and several years ago, I thought, 'Why not make a sculpture about everybody?' This is what led me to the idea for ‘Ordinary Person.’ When I thought about the history of figures on columns and what they are usually doing, riding a horse or striking an authoritative pose, I realized an ordinary person would probably just sit down and have a look around," he said.

Brouwer told Patch it's been a "great honor" to have his sculpture selected to be on display.

"There is something very special about art in public spaces. It has the potential to engage everybody at every possible level. This includes those who find it by looking for it to those who just happen upon it. I think it’s really a wonderful thing for an artist to be able to display their art in public spaces. Public art programs, like ARTSite, make that possibility real. I can’t just put my art in public places, I need to have an invitation to do that. I love the Howard County ARTSite program and other programs around the country that have allowed me to display my work. ‘Ordinary Person’ has already been displayed in Atlanta, Ga., Book, North Carolina, and Danville, Va.

On Brouwer's home property in southwest Virginia, he has more than 30 different sculptures that can be viewed on the nine acres surrounding the home and studio, he said.