Sculpture Space & Michael Ferris, Jr Sculpture

Utica, NY -- For Agata Olek Oleksiak, the residency at Sculpture Space in 2005 came at a great time in her artistic path.

"They gave me kind of a chance to have this great space and work somewhere for two months without thinking about anything else," said the artist, who goes by Olek. "I think they opened possibilities for me."

For Wennie Huang, one of Sculpture Space's 2007 resident artists, from the physical size of the studios to the ability to focus on her work without the distraction of her family duties, "the residency provided me with the opportunity to explore," she said.

For the past 35 years, that has been the mission of Sculpture Space: To allow artists the time and space to focus on the act of creation and experimentation.

Executive Director Sydney Waller described the founding of Sculpture Space in 1976 as "this eureka moment" for its founders, members of the Kirkland Art Center, "Artists never (have) enough space."

She said in the early days, there wasn't a lot of "administrative activity" - the studio primarily belonged to a single artist, and if another artist needed studio space, he or she could rent the space.

Sylvia deSwaan, a local photographer and visual artist, came onboard as the executive director in 1979 as part of a government-funded, professional training program. "I took it provisionally, thinking, 'I'm not sure I would like to do it,'" she said.

She stayed until 1995. "It was the pioneer era of Sculpture Space," deSwaan said. During deSwaan's tenure as executive director, one of Sculpture Space's major accomplishments was purchasing its building, the former Utica Steam Engine & Boiler Works plant at 12 Gates St. in Utica.

"Once we bought the building, it was possible to start applying for funding to upgrade it," deSwaan said. "We had a leaking roof. We had a really dangerous electrical system. There were a lot of things that needed critical, critical upgrades."

Those upgrades were made; funded, in part, by a MacArthur Grant the organization received in the early 1990s.

"When we got that grant, the next efforts were to do the next stage of building improvements and to continue attracting important artists or artists who had promise to become important artists," deSwaan said.With the physical space in shape, Gina Murtagh, who served as executive director from 1995 to 2003, was able to focus on board development, as well as "building up the actual program and how the artists were served."

Murtagh oversaw the development of a five-year plan, extending funding to all the artists in residence (previously only eight artists per year were funded), and making some improvements to the artists' housing situation.

Murtagh said Waller has been able to build on what was achieved in the past, as well as implement new initiatives - especially raising the public profile of the organization. "Right now our board of directors is in the middle of envisioning next steps," Waller said.

Last year, the organization was able to purchase a home for the artists-in-residence. She said there has been discussion about also having a separate structure with exhibition space and offices - "but maybe that's too grown up," Waller joked; after all, she said, Sculpture Space is only 35 years old.