Speaking
A Family of Speakers
Speaker Sheet- Three Generations of Writers
There are a lot of exciting things happening in my life. One big one is in this post. Somehow, this year, the lives of my daughter, granddaughter, and myself have converged, and we have all published books and are doing speaking gigs together. The venues range from conferences, women’s groups to literary evenings. Chris and I also love doing workshops. Here is a bit about the three of us and our specialties.
If you are interested in having us come to your school fair, women’s group, convention, let us know what mix of speakers you would like. Be a part of a special event where three generations of female writers, who are passionate about creativity, outdoor activities, and Texas State Parks, come together. We value your input. Let us know if you’d like us to mix and match our presentations or if you prefer us to present as a family. Have one come or all three.
Bridgette Mongeon
Mom and Grandma
Bridgette is a well-known master sculptor, writer, and speaker. She is also the admin and creator of Houston Women’s Hiking, an outdoor group that inspires and encourages women, with over 17,000 women strong. When she is not creating, she is in the woods. Bridgette has a new memoir coming out in Fall of 2024 titled “One Foot In Front Of The Other: Art, Hiking, and Healing” Publisher—Market Creativity. She also contributes to Issa’s book “See You In the Woods: Fun Adventures for Kids,” as well as the author of “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling,” Publisher—Elsevier. For a complete list of publications, visit her website. There are numerous podcasts, television coverage and other media featuring Bridgette that are also listed on her website. Also Follow her on Instagram @Bridgette Mongeon.
Topics: Sculpting, Marketing in the Arts, Creativity, Sculpting the deceased, Outdoors, Houston Women’s Hiking, Emotional health, STEAM and STEM education, Empowering Women, Lewis Carroll and Alice In Wonderland, Emotional Health for Children.
Christina (Chris) Sizemore
Daughter & Mother
Chris is a writer, marketing guru and designer. She owns and operates Market Creativity, a marketing agency specializing in branding and brand communication. She is the writer and creator of Texas State Parks Journal: An Interactive Record of Your Journey Through Texas State Parks and Hiking Journal: Track How Far You’ve Come.
Chris is an ambassador for our Texas State Parks and all outdoor spaces. She enjoys encouraging others to preserve our beautiful world and loves to talk about the influence of women on nature and our Texas State Park. Christina is the coadmin of Houston Women’s Hiking. When she is not outdoors, she works creatively through her marketing company. She and her family are a Kids Who Explore Explor Family and she is an executive team member of Houston Moms.
Inspiring others into emotional health is also a part of her journey. She writes about these topics and more on her blog www.StrogerThanFire.com and her podcast Stronger Than. You can find her on Instagram at @StrongerThanFire.
She was also cohost of Inspirations Generation Podcast with her mom and grandmother 2012-2018.
Topics: Outdoors, Marketing, Emotional health, Women in conservation and state parks
Issa Sizemore
Daughter & Granddaughter
Author of the up-and-coming book See You In the Woods: Fun Adventures for Kids, which she completed in 2023 at the age of 10 and is currently being illustrated by her mom Chris. Issa has been working on her book for three years with her grandma, Bridgette Mongeon, as part of her home-schooling. She is a science nerd and hopes to be a marine biologist when she grows up. Her family has a goal to camp in all 89 Texas State Parks. On her family camping adventures, she has had some incredible experiences. She shares her stories of travels, adventures, and activities with readers when she speaks. Her book will be out on Amazon in Fall 2024.
With her lectures, she brings a table full of nature and science examples to share with attendees.
Topics: Outdoor Activities, Literature for kids, Writing activities for children, Nature, Science
Fill out our contact form and tell us about your meeting, convention or conference. We would love to be a part of your learning and inspiration.
Texas Art Educators Conference Moody Gardens- Go With STEAM!
I was so honored to be asked to be the keynote speaker at the Texas Art Educators Conference (TAEA) in Moody Gardens, Galveston, Texas. My goal was to show others how art can and should be integrated into science, technology engineering, art, and math. Just before the lecture, I added a slide about my lecture at the 150th-anniversary celebration of Lewis and Carroll, where I spoke about my Alice in Wonderland sculpture project to be installed in Evelyn’s Park in 2018. In that lecture, I also talked about STEAM education. STEAM education is based on an educational initiative that focuses on STEM. STEM focuses on encouraging students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. These are areas of focus that needed encouragement because there are many jobs needing to be filled, but it is hard to keep students motivated in these disciplines. STEAM adds the Art element. When at the 2015 Lewis Carroll conference someone came up to me and was very upset that I added the A to STEM. The comment startled me. It was the first time I had ever had to defend the “A”.
My motto developed for TAEA was,
“Defend the “A” and go with STEAM!”
In fact, at the book signing, I signed many of my books with that same quote. It was my motto for TAEA 2017, and I’m carrying it forward.
I absolutely loved the group at TAEA. The excitement and positive comments that I received from so many about how I am incorporating STEAM with the Alice In Wonderland Project was encouraging. We are not done. Stay tuned for the virtual tour, and the educational game created from that virtual or augmented reality.
PLEASE if you like the keynote or attended my workshop and have comments I would appreciate it if you could send them to me along with your title and name. By making these public I can procure further engagements and this helps me to defend your “A.”
CONTACT ME If you have any questions or need information please feel free to contact me. I would love to know how teachers are using STEAM.
www.digitalsculpting.net My website on my book and digital technology
www.creativesculpture.com My fine art website.
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bridgettemongeon
Twitter https://twitter.com/sculptorwriter
Finding Alice Sculpture Page on Facebook
COVETED THIMBLE INVITATION WINNER!
During the conference I took names and offered the Coveted Thimble Invitation- this entitles the receiver to bring a friend to have lunch with me at the sculpture. Congratulations to Shane Skinner the TAEA Winner!
RESOURCES AND NOTES FROM THE KEYNOTE
Many of these are listed in the back of the book.
Many of these resources are found in my book 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling. For those of you who purchased the book at the conference, Thank you. If you have not purchased it at the show you can find it on Amazon. PLEASE- Amazon reviews matter. You don’t have to purchase the book from Amazon to review. I’d greatly appreciate your reviews.
The book has a corresponding website. It can be found at digital sculpting.net
- SymbioticA is the program at the University of Western Australia that combines scientists and artists. The podcast with Oron Catts on the art called Victimless Leather can be listened to on the book’s website.
- Joris Laarman is the artist that created Dragon Bench
- Bruce Beasley is a pioneer using digital technology in fine art.
- Leanor Caraballo created Object Breast Cancer – an artist’s work make a change in how cancer is researched.
- Robert Lazzarini morphed skull and telephone booth. An artist morphs work digital and recreates it using technology.
- Mary Neubauer creates art with code
- Nathalie Mibach weaves data into art
- Bathsheba Grossman Is another pioneer in 3D printing and make math into art.
- Erwin Hauer with the help of Enrique Rosada– Are recreating the deteriating panels of Erwin’s work created in the 50’s using 3D tech.
- Captured Dimensions- Dallas company that does photogrammetry with a booth and captured my granddaughter.
- 123D Catch- Photogrammetry with your phone. Please be aware of the fine print. They will own your 3D model. When searching for their URL i discovered that they have discontinued all of their free software including catch. This article has some other free options, but I have never tried them.
- Saving Mes Aynak A race against time to save a 5,000-year-old archaeological site in Afghanistan threatened by a Chinese state-owned copper mine. The video can now be seen on Netflix. 3D scanning subject.
- CyArk– Digitally preserving architectural heritage. They have a varied amount of educational material on scanning and 3D.
- Smithsonian 3D has a variety of educational material on 3D scanning artifacts.
- Olivier Van Herbt – 3D printing in ceramic. There are many free resources on how to build your own 3D printer for ceramic.
- Synappsys Digital Services– CNC ( Computer Numerically Controlled Milling.) See the process in the TAE video above.
- Shapeways and i.materailise These are two companies that offering 3D printing from files in a variety of materials.. They also list some free software to get one started on creating. ( Check the book for the different software to fix files for 3D Printing. )
- TXRX Makerspace in Houston is offers 3D Printers for Houston schools to purchase with a trade in program if they break.
- Smart Geometrics came in and scanned the sculpture “Move One Place On” to reduce it down. They will be back in the park to scan the entire area to create a virtual or augmented reality. I’m still looking for a gaming company to take that and make it into an educational resource.
- Utah Teapot. This is the tea pot that the Mad Hatter holds. Want to see a video about this famous tea pot and what it has to do with 3D technology?
RESOURCES FROM MY WORKSHOP- Please follow this link
OTHER RESOURCES- Alice In Wonderland
- Free printable of the Wonderland Detective Book. Use this with students to help find the 150 hidden items in the sculpture. I will be creating a series of YouTube videos to help teachers.
- Free printable of dodecahedron and a triangle with Alice in Wonderland images and sayings. Use this in conjunction with the books Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass. This also helps to open up a conversation about the math and geometry behind 3D Technology.
FREE OR INEXPENSIVE GEMS HAT ENCOURAGE INDIVIDUALS TO PLAY WITH MATH
- Knot Plot Helps to visualize knots http://www.knotplot.com
- Surface Evolver Visualizes minimal surfaces http://www.susqu.edu/brakke/evolver/evolver.html
- TopMod A topological mesh modeler http://www.viz.tamu.edu/faculty/ergun/research/topology
- SeifertView Visualization of Seifert Surfaces http://www.win.tue.nl/~vanwijk/seifertview/
- Excellent tutorials on geometry and computation http://www.christopherwhitelaw.us/?p=567
SOFTWARE
- Blender Free- open source 3D Modeling, animating and much more http://www.blender.org
- Sculptris Free http://pixologic.com/sculptris Hard surface and organic.
- Daz Studio 3D Posing program- Free http://www.daz3d.com
OTHER FUN STUFF
- JWEEL Free browser based jewelry design program https://www.jweel.com/en/
- Learn Code for Art Processing 2 http://processing.org/
- Kids learn to create with code https://www.tynker.com/
- Provides the leading curriculum for K-12 computer science https://code.org/
Visiting the Bellaire Library
I had fun at the library. My favorite part was meeting Ms. Teas. For those of you who don’t know, the park is placed on the land where Teas nursery used to sit. A long time ago, when I was first starting to sculpt, I had a line of gift items that I called Dandelions and doodlebugs. I sold them at the nursery and would come and sculpt in their gift area to bring attention to the pieces. I guess I have come full circle. I love to hear about the history of the place, the houses, and the teas. Mrs. Teas was the fan of the day. I think people enjoyed the adventure. Can’t wait for the next one. I’m so glad we could meet.
Posted onJuly 15, 2017CategoriesUncategorized
Keynote Speaker At The Texas Art Education Association Conference
I am thrilled to be chosen as the keynote speaker for the Texas Art Education Association conference to be held November 2017 at Moody Gardens Galveston.
Throughout my career as an artist and a writer it is as important to me to share information and create a learning experience through the creation of my art as it is for me to create the art itself. At the 56th annual conference I will be speaking about the educational initiative title STEAM. I’ll share how others have used , Science, Technology, Engineering Art and Math in an interdisciplinary learning experience and how I have done that in my own studio.
Of course the Alice in Wonderland project title “Move One Place On” has the STEAM education in spades.
I’m delighted to be presenting and can’t wait for November.
Speaker Seeks Additional Venues in California July 2016- 3D Technology and Fine Art.
Sculptor Bridgette Mongeon has been on a curious adventure. She has a new book about 3D Technology in Fine art. The book has been a number one new release on Amazon. She also has and a new commission of a monumental Sculpture of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party where she is using many of the processes she writes about in her book.
She is coming to California for a book signing at SIGGRAPH, a computer graphics conference and is seeking a few other venues to share her fascinating topic and book titled “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning Sculpting, and Milling.”
Ms. Mongeon’s introduces attendees to the wonders of technology in fine art:
* 3D Scanning for digital preservation of art.
* See the work of some of the 80 different artists around the world that Mongeon shares in her book, and hear about their processes.
* Learn about advances in digital technology as it pertains to such things as medicine, engineering, and art.
* Watch how Mongeon creates the monumental scene of the Mad Hatter tea party using 3D scanning, sculpting, milling, and 3D . Learn about some of the inventive ways she is hiding 150 messages in the scene.
This lecture is perfect for
* Fine artists interested in learning more about digital processes
* Makers using 3D printing, scanning and milling
* Educators wanting to know more about STEAM education- using Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math.
Mongeon will be at SIGGRAPH in the Anaheim California area July 24 and 27. She is seeking speaking/ book signing opportunities for the week of the 24th while in the area.
If you are interested, please contact the artist through her website.
Recent Speaking Engagements
National Sculpture Society
3D Printing World Expo
Penn State
Crucible
Young Women in Math and Science
Recent World Wide press on Mongeon’s work
*Bridgette has been listed as on of the 25 influential women in 3D printing.
*She receives national attention for her work with 3D and fine art.
*Her recent work of the Mad Hatter Tea Party continues to gain momentum and attention.
* Houston PBS created a segment about the Bridgette Mongeon as artist.
* Street Stories CW 39 came in and did a segment on the Mad Hatter Project.
* KHOU Houston gave Alice her debut. Several segments aired live and then later on in the day.
Alice in Wonderland and Technology in Kenmore West High School
Last week I returned to my hometown in Western New York, searching for familiarities of crunchy colored leaves, chestnuts, and savoring tastes of Concord grapes. Amid the streets and on the deep porches I hear voices of childhood that fill my heart.
I feel sorry for those who can’t “go home” and experience this. One can return home many times, but returning to your high school as a featured presenter gave me that curious feeling that Alice must have had as she jumped down the rabbit hole.
Someone commented on a picture that I snapped and posted of the halls of Kenmore West High School, “Looks like a scene from Alice in Wonderland.” This comment seems very fitting as at this point in my career as an artist, for my reputation is growing with Alice.
I have been commissioned to create a monumental sculpture of Alice In Wonderlands Mad Hatter Tea Party. It has been a milestone few months as articles are coming out of Italy about my project, and I’m receiving emails from Prague and China, and last week an article was printed in French. If jumping down that rabbit hole was not exciting enough, my first solo book 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
I use much of the same technology that I wrote about in the book to creating Alice and her friends. In fact, I’m pushing the use of those technologies to new heights as I plan on making this Alice project my next book project.
I didn’t want just to visit Kenmore West. My hopes were to inspire the students. My career and life are typically interdisciplinary. I am a sculptor but, as I describe in my book, the technology that I use, is used also by many different areas such as science, architecture, engineering, industrial design and more. It is interesting, I would not consider myself a “math” person, but indirectly I work with math every day in the underlying geometry of my work. I knew my lecture would be cross-disciplinary. 3d Technology does that. Also, the sculpture is the art component and with Alice, the lecture even includes a twist of literature. I desire to promote these interdisciplinary studies in education. I was glad to see that Superintendent is Dawn Mirand could see these possibilities.
I also had ulterior motives in my return to Ken West. I have had such great milestones in my life. There have been terrific accomplishments, from sculpting entertainers like B. B. King to being commissioned to create a sculpture of Neil Armstrong for Russia. I graduated with one of the first MFA degrees that incorporated digital technology in Fine art. I have been contributing author on several books, the co-author on Digital Sculpting with Mudbox: Essential Tools and Techniques for Artists
and now flying solo with 3D Technology In Fine Art and Craft, and have four new books including a novel the works. I have spoken at large prestigious conferences in technology and education, but the one life accomplishment I cannot claim is that I never graduated from Kenmore West. One day I will use the details of that part of my life in a young adult novel. But for reasons beyond my control, I left Ken West in 10th grade, a high school drop out, and cannot “officially” call it “my home.” Though, as of this trip, I am adopting it as my own. I shared a smidgen of that story with the kids, including how the adults at Ken West were stellar in their help in that very difficult part of my life. I figure students are talked at enough in school, I hope that my story can somehow give them courage and fortitude in their difficulties. I wish I could have focused more on options, and opportunities- in my lecture instead of just talking about technology but that is a different lecture entirely.
In my life as a professional, I embrace helping others to follow their passion and look for ways to help. A motivational speaker for those in the arts, taking on interns and apprentices and recently creating a long distance mentoring program for students are a few of the ways I satisfy that desire to help. It seemed only fitting that I create a special opportunity for some of the students of Kenmore West. This is how Dave Rigolski, my host and the art and technology teacher at Kenmore West and I accomplished that.
In the scene of the Hatter’s tea party, I will need tea cups. I had planned on 3d scanning my grandmother’s tea ups, 3D printing them, enhancing the cups if necessary and using them in the scene. Mr. Rigolski’s class is working with 3D sculpting and 3D printing. I sent him a digital file of a teacup with the challenge to the students to help me recreate the cup to put in the bronze sculpture. Three students seem to have taken on the challenge. I’m happy to say they are all young women. I’m very passionate and supportive of tech girls!
I was thrilled that the maker space Buffalo Lab in The Foundry sent Rob Peters to assist the school with the 3D files. This entire project is a true collaboration.
I’ll be talking more about the students progress in up and coming posts and on also on the finding Alice’s sculpture Facebook page where I am documenting the project. .
If my visit was not exciting enough, another important element for me in this engagement was the book dedication.
My book dedication states:
I would like to dedicate this book to those many pioneers who have gone before me and encouraged individuals to merge traditional and digital technologies to create incredible fine artwork.I’d also like to dedicate this book to Mike de la Flor, who said,
“Maybe you should look at digital sculpting.”To Debbie Lloyd, who is one of my favorite art teachers. And to all of
the art teachers who spend countless hours sharing their passion and being advocates for learners, especially those who break new ground with new tools and techniques.
Debbie Lloyd was my art teacher at Kenmore West, she went on to be one of my closest friends, and we still see each other upon my returns to Buffalo. She was also one of those stellar individuals that helped me through that difficult time. I was so proud to present her with the book at the lecture. She had no idea. I only cried one tear or two maybe, but I held it together.
I also donated a book to the library of Kenmore West, I also donated a book to the Kenmore Library as well as the North Tonawanda Library. To my delight, the Albright-Knox where I first was exposed to art as a child also received my book in their collection.
After the lecture, some of the students examined the 3D prints that I brought to show. I visited them in their computer lab and saw their excitement over learning Mudbox.
It was a delightful and incredible experience with Ken West. I do hope there are other opportunities to help in the future.
From my lecture at Penn State to my visit with Kenmore West and Buffalo Lab it was an exciting and rewarding journey to the North. I can’t wait to see the final tea cup from a Kenmore west student and place it in the scene.
My hope is that one day one of my bronzes will be in my home town, until that time, I hope my books and visit inspire others, and I’ll be looking for other ways to share.
Thanks also to:
Kenmore West Art Teachers Amy Veltri, Patti Wallace and Darryl Swanson for introducing themselves and their students. Keep up the good work! The book is also dedicated to you.
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A recent article from the Ken Ton Bee
If you want to see what the Alice project is all about, check out this video.
Headed to My Home Town To Speak- I’m So Excited
As my recent posts have said, I’m headed up north to speak. I’m especially excited that I will be speaking at my high school- Kenmore West, in Kenmore, New York. I have even found a way for the art students of that high school to get involved with the new monumental bronze sculpture of the Mad Hatter tea party. I am working on this in Texas, it is receiving world wide attention. It will be great to have the students of Kenmore West involved.
They will be creating one of the tea cups on the table. Actually they will be helping me to bring to life my grandmother’s antique tea cup that I scanned using the Next Engine Laser Scanner. More on that later.
I’ll also be speaking at Penn State September 28th at 7:00 and then my last gig in Buffalo is at the Buffalo Lab on the first of October to speak and have a book signing. October 1st. 7:00. Here is the press release that is coming out of The Foundry, Buffalo Lab and Ken Ton School district. They did a great job on collaborating. Penn State- Behrend has also done a great job. Thanks to you all.
PRESS RELEASE
Artist/Author Behind Highly Anticipated “Alice in Wonderland” Sculpture to Provide Engaging Educational Experience at Kenmore West High School and Buffalo Lab
The world is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” and a nationally known artist, sculptor and author is bringing local students and artists into the celebration with her work on a one-of-a-kind monumental bronze sculpture capturing the iconic Mad Hatter’s tea party.
Bridgette Mongeon, a native of the Ken-Ton area, has been commissioned by the Rubenstein Foundation in Texas to create a monumental sculpture that will include an eight-foot-tall Mad Hatter, Alice, and March Hare in attendance. There will also be plenty of space for children and adults to join the characters at the table for a picnic and the most curious of dining experiences.
On Sept. 30, during a visit to Western New York, Mongeon will engage art students at Kenmore West High School in a cross-curricular educational experience that combines art, literature, technology, engineering, math and science. She has also been invited as a guest lecturer for adults interested in learning and jumping down the rabbit hole of art and technology during a visit to the Buffalo Lab, a community workshop space at The Foundry, located at 298 Northampton St., Buffalo, NY 14208, beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1.
Mongeon combines both traditional sculpting processes with cutting edge computer and printing technology. A key part of her work is 3D modeling and 3D printing, an important subject for today’s art students at Kenmore West High School who benefit from the school’s advanced art programs and imaging technology.
Students in art teacher David Rogalski’s classes at Kenmore West will also have the chance to contribute toward the highly anticipated sculpture. Students will use 3D scans of antique teacups and tackle the extremely challenging task of enhancing the intricate decorative floral designs in a 3D environment using a software program called Mudbox. The sculptures will then be 3D printed and added to the scene before Mongeon sends the sculpture to Shidoni Foundry in New Mexico for bronze casting.
Mongeon is known for her bronze sculptures of children, as well as entertainers such as B. B. King, Willie Nelson and Bill Monroe. She has been commissioned to create school mascots such as the larger-than-life Prairie View Panther for Texas’ Prairie View A&M University and a 15-foot tiger for Grambling State University in Grambling, La. She will also soon be creating a sculpture of Neil Armstrong commissioned by Kindness Without Limits Education as a gift to Russia.
Mongeon’s work on the tea party sculpture coincides with the release of her new book, “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling.” In the book, she describes the digital and traditional processes that she and other artists all over the world are using in their art. She will incorporate these same processes in her sculpture of the Mad Hatter scene, using tools such as the Next Engine 3D Laser Scanner and digital sculpting programs such as Mudbox and ZBrush.
“You could say that Alice no longer needs mushrooms, cakes or elixirs to grow,” Mongeon said. “These tools help me generate a digital model that can then be crafted using computer numerically controlled (CNC) milling machines. Alice and her friends grow to eight feet tall with technology. I then carve on the large foam pieces, adding a fine layer of clay and more detail before making molds that will be shipped to Shidoni Foundry.”
The installation and unveiling of this sculpture in Evelyn’s Park in Bellaire, Texas, a suburb of Houston, is scheduled for late 2016. Guests can try to find more than 150 hidden elements, including characters such as Humpty Dumpty and the White Queen, which will be carefully and covertly positioned throughout the scene. Many of these smaller items the artist will create using these digital tools. The highly anticipated sculpture is expected to make the park a tourism destination for visitors of Houston and lovers of the works of Lewis Carroll.
Just as in the story, the sculpture titled “Move One Place On” beckons visitors to change places upon their visit. Mongeon hopes visitors will develop a tradition of shouting the proclamation and change places at the bronze table as they visit the sculpture.
The sculpture has additional connections to Western New York. The likeness of the artist’s mother, the late Barbara Ingersoll, was used for the hidden White Queen. For much of her life, Ingersoll was involved with a ministry that helped hurting women in Western New York and Canada. Also, the inspiration for the Hatter comes from another family member, the late Jack Rzadkiewicz, a postal worker and Buffalo native. Finally, the likeness of the artist’s adult daughter, Christina Sizemore, who lives in Houston but works for Western New York’s Feel Rite Fresh Markets, was used for Alice.
“I love to have this personal and intimate family connection in the piece,” Mongeon said.
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IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE
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MEDIA ADVISORY:
Nationally known sculptor, artist, And author will be guest lecturer at ken-west/Buffalo Lab, Providing an engaging educational experience tied to highly anticipated Monumental “alice in wonderland” tea party sculpture
When & Where: 8 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30 in the Kenmore West High School Auditorium, 33 Highland Parkway, Buffalo, NY 14223, and 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1 at Buffalo Lab in The Foundry, 298 Northampton St., Buffalo, NY 14208.
Who: Bridgette Mongeon, a Western New York area native and nationally known sculptor, artist and author. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” the Rubenstein Foundation of Texas has commissioned Mongeon to create a monumental sculpture of the Mad Hatter’s tea party for Evelyn’s Park in Bellaire, Texas. The sculpture will include an eight-foot Mad Hatter, Alice, and March Hare, and provide seating for children and adults to join the characters at the table. The highly anticipated sculpture is expected to make the park a destination for tourist and lovers of the endearing works of Lewis Carroll. Mongeon sculpts traditionally and incorporates cutting-edge digital technology that she wrote about in her recently released book “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling.”
What: Mongeon will engage Ken-West art students in a cross-curricular educational experience that ties directly into their work on topics such as digital modeling and 3D printing. Students will have the chance to contribute by assisting with the decorative 3D floral patterns on a tea cup that will be a part of the bronze table setting at the Hatter’s tea party Mongeon will also speak and engage artists at Buffalo Lab at The Foundry the following day.
Why: Mongeon and her sculpture have many ties to the area. The inspiration for some of the characters come from family members who have lived their entire lives in Buffalo. She is returning to educate and inspire. She will enhance the educational experience of students in Ken-Ton’s advanced art programs and provide examples of how topics such as 3D digital modeling are used in the profession. In addition to talking about traditional sculpting techniques, she will also give students the chance to play a role in a one-of-a-kind, internationally known sculpture that is poised to become a tourist destination.
Speaking in Erie PA and Western New York
I’m headed up to the north next week. Won’t you join me?
SPEAKING SCHEDULE
Monday Sept 28. 7:00 p.m. I’m scheduled to speak at PennState Behrend, and I am delighted to share my new book 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
Wed Sept 30. 8:00 a.m. I’ll be headed to my home town of Buffalo New York and not only speaking to my high school, but the kids are helping me with one of the tea cups that will be made into a bronze and placed on the table of the monumental sculpture of the Mad Hatter Tea Party that I am creating. They will be using 3D technology and 3D printing to achieve this. I’m delighted to have this participation and make this art into a learning experience. Here is a press release for the Buffalo Trip.
Thursday Sept 31. 7:00 p.m. I wanted to have a place in Buffalo to present to the grown ups. On Thursday I’ll be at the maker space called Buffalo Lab 7-9 298 Northampton St, Buffalo NY 14208 inside The Foundry. How fun to have a book signing and a special lecture in my home town.
Please help me pass the word by posting this to your Facebook and other social media accounts
Visual Arts Alliance Invites All To Come on a “Curious Adventure”
Speaker at the Houston
Visual Arts Alliance meeting.
The Visual Arts Alliance– Houston Invites all to Come on a “Curious Adventure”
It will be a curious lecture at the Visual Arts Alliance on Saturday August first. Houston, Texas sculptor Bridgette Mongeon is the featured speaker, and she will be bringing a few of her friends from Alice In Wonderland.
Bridgette is the author of a new book coming out this September —a “#1 New Release” on Amazon. The book titled 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
Though Bridgette is a traditional sculptor, she will be talking about how she uses digital tools in creating some of her sculptures. She will display how technology is changing the traditional process of bronze casting. Attendees will see art that artists can now create that, up until this point in technology, could never be create before. She will also share her progress on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
You will be sworn to secrecy as she divulges some of the secrets about some of the 150 elements that she is hiding in the Mad Hatter Tea Party scene created in honor of the 150th anniversary of the beloved story of Alice in Wonderland.
She’s delighted to exhibit the work of artists from all over the world who she features in her book and that are pushing the limits of the technology. It is an inspiring lecture that is bound to leave artists scratching their heads while wondering about the possibilities and saying,
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” ( White Queen reminds Alice in the story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”.)
So if you are a curious artist, a lover of Alice In Wonderland stories, or interested in entering a new world of all sorts of possibilities join Bridgette and the Visual Arts Alliance as they jump down the rabbit hole, Saturday, August 1 at 9:45 at the Print Museum 1324 Clay St. in Montrose.
For more information about the Artist
visit her website at http://www.creativesculpture.com
To be a part of the Alice in Wonderland Sculpture
visit the Finding Alice Page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FindingAliceSculpture
And to find out more about the book and listen to online podcasts from the artists, visit the book’s website at http://www.digitalsculpting.net
If you would like a “teaser” about the Alice project, checkout this YouTube video.
I Need A Couple Of Women To Help
I’m looking for about 3 volunteers, women, with I pads that can help at a young women’s conference titled Expanding Your Horizons in Science and Mathematics. This conference is for junior high girls.
You would be downloading 123D catch and working with a group of girls to scan a couple of things during the two presentations. The date is February 22nd. There are two sessions beginning just after lunch, each about 50 minutes long. We will not be scanning the entire time. There will be a general introduction to 3D technology and the last part we will be scanning. If you are interested, please contact me ASAP. I want to meet everyone before hand, will do something fun at my studio- say Wed. evening of next week. At that time we can get to know one another and be sure we all know the software.