National Sculpture Society welcomed Harold Holzer, Donna Hassler and Jason Arkles for a series of talks.

Harold Holzer, winner of the 2015 Gilder-Lehrman Lincoln Prize, is one of the country’s leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era.  Holzer wrote Monument Man: The Life and Art of Daniel Chester French. The book is the first comprehensive biography of the sculptor and was released in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the public opening of Chesterwood, French’s country home and studio.

Donna Hassler, Executive Director of Chesterwood, spoke on the site’s history and the efforts of French’s daughter, Margaret French Cresson, to establish the estate as a historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Hassler also discussed the current events at the site, from tours to rotating exhibitions.

Jason Arkles, host of the popular podcast, The Sculptors Funeral, entitled his talk “Why Sculpture is Boring (again) and What We Might do About It.”  During his talk, he encouraged sculptors and sculpture organizations to strengthen the tie between those two disciplines.

All in all, it was an educational, thought provoking series.  A lovely way to spend a day.

Image on Sculpture News: Harold Holzer signing his book for NSS guests