The Phippen Museum, through a generous donation from the Kiwanis Club of Prescott and Skurja Artistic Images was able to offer a youth art workshop on Sculpture to 40 young people, ages 7 to 14, from all around northern Arizona. During the workshop they discussed the process that sculptors go through to create a cast bronze work of art. Then the students got to try there hand at the first steps in the process as they created a western themed sculpture out of modeling wax. After the workshop a panel of 5 judges rated each child's sculpture on three criterions: western theme, artistic interpretation, and quality of execution. After narrowing the decision down from 40 to 6 they choose the overall winner by secret ballot. 7-year old Dewey resident Jett Scarbrough was chosen as the overall winner. His sculpture of Southwestern plants and animals was cast in Bronze by Skurja Artistic Images. Jett is a second grader at Humboldt Elementary.
This sculpture workshop was part of the Phippen Museum's continuing series of Youth Art Workshops. These classes are meant to complement the Museum's exhibits and offer participants a more hands-on approach to the typical museum experience. The next Youth Art Workshop the Phippen Museum will present is a workshop for kids ages 10 and up called, Coiled Again! Native American Basket Weaving. This fun workshop will challenge young people to create there very own two-tone Native American coil baskets out of Yarn, raffia, twigs, and jute then decorate their baskets with Native American motifs inspired by the artworks in the Museum's current exhibit.
The Phippen Museum opened in 1984 and was named after Prescott resident and founding member of the Cowboy Artists of America, George Phippen. The Museum's mission is to preserve and exhibit museum quality Western art, and educate the public about the unique heritage, history, legends, and influence of the art of the American West. Museum admission is $5.00 for adults; $4.00 for seniors, students, and AAA members; children under twelve and Museum Members are free. The Museum is located just a few minutes north of downtown Prescott, at 4701 Highway 89 North. For additional information please call (928) 778-1385 or visit our website at www.phippenartmuseum.org.
Jett Scarbrough with his winning piece.