Sculpture purchase rock solid

It started with a sledgehammer and a chainsaw and took 14 months of blood, sweat and tears to complete.

But soon this sculpture made by a local artist from locally sourced materials will call the Civic Square home.

Friends of the Orange Regional Gallery vice president, Michael Priest, said the group had been fundraising for years to acquire public art for Orange, and once they laid eyes on Duo by Senden Blackwood they knew they had to have it.

“We wanted something local and this piece will just add to the civic square immeasurably,” Mr Priest said.

Mr Blackwood created Duo with the intent it would be shared and enjoyed as public art should, and encouraged people to touch it, take photos with it and even sit inside the “loveseat”.

“When the gallery staff came out and checked the piece out, we then went and checked out where the piece was going to go, and my skin just prickled,” Mr Blackwood said.

“Like it was perfect”

It started out as an eight tonne block of granite, sourced from Eugowra, and after some “violent and dangerous” early work, Mr Blackwood sculpted it down to two tonnes of “weight and weightlessness … to create harmony through contrast”.

The piece costs $80,000 and the Friends, coupled with the fundraising efforts of the Orange Regional Arts Foundation are about $20,000 short of their fundraising target.

But the two groups are positive the goal will be reached.

Duo is expected to be installed in September ahead of the Orange Regional Museum opening.

Orange City Council’s Services Policy Committee Chair Cr Ron Gander said the acquisition will mark the 30^th Anniversary of Orange Regional Gallery.

“Orange already has a fantastic collection of public sculpture and it will be very exciting to have a new piece of public art in Civic Square. This cultural precinct is becoming an increasingly popular hub for the community, and this piece will add to the area’s appeal,” Cr Ron Gander said.

To donate to the fundraising efforts contact Orange Regional Gallery on 6393 8136.

SCULPTED: Friends of the Orange Regional Gallery vice president Michael Priest with artist Senden Blackwood at Mr Blackwood's Springside home.