Local artist prepares for St. Joseph Sculpture Walk

By Kyle Schmidt

Another installation of a yearlong art exhibition in St. Joseph is approaching, and one local sculptor is gearing up to hopefully have a piece featured once again.

The application period for the 2024-25 St. Joseph Sculpture Walk is open through March 4, 2024. Jacob Burmood’s sculpture “Cloud Column” stands on South Eighth Street as part of the 2023-24 Sculpture Walk, and he’s hopeful that a new piece of his will be accepted for this year’s exhibition as well.

“Ever since I moved to St. Joseph, I felt that being a part of the artistic community was important. And a big part of that is the outdoor sculpture walk that they do,” Burmood said. “So I made that piece specifically, I actually applied with it, like I’m doing this year, with a piece that wasn’t finished yet. The work I make takes so long to fabricate that lots of times it’ll be sold by the time I finish it. So I didn’t have anything available, but I want it to be in the show.”

Burmood has worked on sculptures ever since he was little. He has sculptures across the country, including Arrowhead Stadium, Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, a privately installed work in California and pieces installed in North and South Carolina and downtown Lawrence, Kansas.

This year for the sculpture walk, Burmood is working on a new concept.

“One thing that I’ve been interested in lately is the drape and flow of fabric and, capturing that as another ephemeral kind of movement that typically, you think of sculpture as being something that’s like, hard and permanent,” Burmood said. “But I’m really interested in softness too. And fabric is one way that I can kind of talk about that.”

While actual fabric would not stay in good condition outside, Burmood is getting creative.

“It’s got to be transformed into another material. So I’ve been draping fabric and trying to capture the way that gravity tugs at it and creates folds,” Burmood said. “I’m basically just trying to take the actual material and transform it into either cold cast aluminum and I’m also casting stuff in a foundry, so I’m casting bronze and hot cast aluminum. This is, the material is a blend of resin and atomized aluminum powder. So it’s kind of like an alchemical blend of plastic and metal.”

Teresa Fankhauser, executive director of the Allied Arts Council, said she is always a fan of the diverse pieces.

“It’s so hard. Every time I see a sculptor I’ll say, ‘You had my favorite,’ and then I’ll see another sculpture and I’ll go, ‘No, that’s my favorite,’” Fankhauser said. “Each piece has its own uniqueness and that’s what I like about our sculpture walk.”

Artists can sign up for this event and find the application at https://stjoearts.org/file_download/inline/1886e690-ebe0-46e1-9913-bc607003f1c5.

The deadline to submit applications is March 4, 2024. The exhibit will open in June 2024 and run through May 2025.