Sculpture- Move One Place On – Alice in Wonderland

PRESS RELEASE- TIMELY EVENT Nov 2-4 2017 

Houston Sculptor Gets “Curious” at The Texas Art Education Conference.
It will be a Wonderland adventure at this year’s Texas Art Education (TAEA) Conference at Moody Gardens. The TAEA committee selected Houston, Texas Sculptor, and author Bridgette Mongeon as the 2017 keynote speaker. Many in Texas know the work of Mongeon. It can be seen in her numerous commissions of children, and in her Grambling Tiger and Prairie View Panther mascots. Her work extends to such distances as the sculpture of Neil Armstrong designated for Russia. And hits home in her recent commission of beloved jazz singer Norma Zenteno, and the whimsical sculpture of Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter Tea Party soon to be installed at Evelyn’s Park in Bellaire, Texas.

 “Texas Art Education Association selected Bridgette Mongeon as our Conference Keynote speaker because, not only is she an advocate of STEAM, she encourages everyone to be ‘Curiouser and Curiouser.’ She motivates artists to reach their creative potential and to inspire students to obtain the same.” States Suzanne Greene, TAEA  President.

 STEAM is based on the educational initiative focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) but adds an essential Art component that helps to create a dialogue, explore, and present, while encouraging critical thinking. Mongeon has been introducing adults and children to the features of STEAM for years. Her recent book “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling” is groundbreaking and features work of artists from all over the world. In the book, Mongeon describes how artists push the limits and use digital technology combined with fine art. The book was a number one new release on Amazon, is required reading in some higher education classes, and has become a part of the permanent collection in such libraries as the Hirsch Library — Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas and the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York.

Mongeon uses a combination of digital and traditional sculpture in her own Houston, Texas studio. “In the creating of ‘Move One Place On,’ we used this combination in spades, or should we say ‘hearts,'” States Mongeon. You could say that Alice and her friends grew big and small in Mongeon’s studio, not with elixirs and mushrooms, but with technology.

 Creating incredible pieces of art is important to Mongeon but being able to add an educational element to any project inspires her just as much as the art. She finds ways to do that with anything she creates. She documents most of her work in online blogs for clients. The more historical or educational the project, the better the educational elements. Individuals are learning about space exploration from her blog of Neil Armstrong and United in Space. They learned about the history of the newsboy in her sculpture and blog of the Newsboy for the Texas Press Association, and about the influence of seeing-eye dogs for the blind in her recent commission of John Turner and his seeing eye dog created for Frisco Texas. For Mongeon, every project is an opportunity to educate.

 “Just because I completed the sculpture of the Mad Hatter’s tea party titled ‘Move One Place On,’ it does not mean that the education and the experiments and pushing of the boundaries of the technology are over,” States Mongeon.

Mongeon enjoyed hiding 150 elements in the bronze in honor of the 150th anniversary of the endearing story of Alice in Wonderland . She created a Wonderland Detective Series and free downloadable detective books where people can document their findings. The intrigue of finding the elements is not just for children but is enjoyed by adults and families as well. Mongeon is working on a series of YouTube videos that will help individuals learn about the hidden items as well as the literature and the elements of STEAM. She is also creating a curriculum that parents and traditional education and homeschools can use.

 The future technology with her Alice project is also fascinating. She had each of the monumental clay pieces digitally scanned in her studio by Smart Geometrics. Scanning art was an intriguing opportunity for Smart Geometrics who usually creates 3D scans of such things as oil refineries. Mongeon will be reducing these scans, working on them in the computer, and collaborating with 3DSYSTEMS to recreate the sculptures in 3D printed miniatures—exact replicas of the monumental sculpture, but as a small limited edition bronzes.

Some of her vendors will be coming to the conference and will display how they have scanned hidden object, reduced the scans for 3D printing, so that the artist can create miniature collectibles. Finally, once the foundry installs the sculpture at Evelyn’s Park, Smart Geometrics has offered to come back into the park and 3D scan the entire area. This 3D scan can be used to create a virtual reality of the whole scene. That way, anyone in the world can visit “Move One Place On.” Mongeon also hopes to collaborate with a gaming company that can take the virtual reality and create it into an online educational resource. For Mongeon, the educational opportunities are indeed a curious adventure.

TAEA conference scheduled for November 2-4 2017 at Moody Gardens is open to art teachers and members of the Texas Art Education Association members.

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Form More information on this press release please contact
Jessica Brown- Assistant
Or Bridgette Mongeon
Bridgette@creativesculpture.com
713-540-3201 c

Today, after dealing with days of Harvey and surviving, then driving the dirt laden freeways down to the George R. Brown Convention Center to see what needed to be done, and then traveling side streets to the grocery store that is just yards away from the bayou that is no longer a threat and within its banks, I sat in my van and wept.

I wept for my elation for being safe. Though there are still those in other parts of Houston, who are being rescued. I wept for seeing all I saw today and how so many people were helping so many other people. I wept in gratitude; I wept from what might be exhaustion. I wept because I survived and that I lost nothing and so many others have and will. I wept because I’m taking my wine and my shrimp home and sitting in my house and eating and drinking that tonight. I wept because I will bring bags of freezer items home that I will place them in my freezer after I take out the many blocks of ice I made before the storm. I wept as I remembered the dazed look on the women still in her pj’s who just got to the GRB and kept saying, “My ceiling caved in, my ceiling caved in, it is all gone.” as her very mature ten-year-old son held her one 1/2-year-old. I directed her to the blankets and clothing, took her name in case I can find a place for her to go. Maybe I wept for her.

Is this survivors remorse? I don’t think it is technically survivors remorse, as that definition means I feel guilty for being alive. I don’t feel guilty for being alive; My heart is overflowing with gratitude.

I feel like I’m in a fog, kind of like I did when my mom died, and I would look at people differently. I would look at someone and think, you could have died, we could have died. You have your home; you are in a grocery store buying food from shelves, and not waiting in life at a rescue center. These are such opposites my brain can’t adjust; it can’t take it all in. I’m watching strangers greet each other with things like, “Is your home livable?” and “Did you lose everything?” There is not one person in this city who has not either lost their home or had a close friend or family member who has lost their home. Most will recover, some homes are a total loss. Most people are smiling- if they are not still in shock.

“Is your home livable?”

Our city and individuals are wounded. We are all in a daze and shock, and it is not over. I can’t believe I came home to turn on the news and hear about missiles and to learn we are now waiting for a chemical plant to blow up in Crosby, Texas. Yes, it will blow up, it is just a matter of time, and they have no idea what that will do to our air quality. I can’t comprehend this. Maybe I will have to leave my home. I may have survived the rain, winds, and flood, but not a chemical explosion with compromised air. Survival continues, don’t let your guard down yet. Maybe I’ll save the wine and celebrate another night.