Sculpture Garden

Scroll down to learn more about the many sculptures surrounding our historic building.

Big Red House & Silver Structural House

Robert Harrison
Big Red House & Silver Structural House, 2023
Located between both doors on the north side, off of 1st Avenue North

“The two latest additions to the PGSMOA Sculpture Garden are sited on the north side of the historic high school. I was fortunate to win a public art competition in 1993 for Gibson Gateway which graces the south side of the PGSMOA building. When asked where I might consider placing a new sculpture for the grounds I honed in on the north side of the building, hoping to bring renewed interest and focus to the fabulous architecture of the old high school, and it’s two entrances framed by historic stone columns and arches.

I have been working with the iconic image of a universal house form for the past four decades. The focus on the universal house form connects both my large scale outdoor and museum installation work with my studio activity. I enjoy working on smaller studio works, typically during the winter months and then shift my activity to large scale outdoor activity in the form of commissions and installations in the summer months. One body of work plays off the other. Ideas that come in the studio occasionally are transformed to my large-scale work and visa versa. I am as intrigued with a small hand-held object as a large scale outdoor architectural sculpture.

I typically begin working on a large-scale outdoor sculpture with scale drawings, often followed with scale models. I choose to draw with pencil and paper and make the balsa wood models by hand. I enjoy this part of the planning process which gives me the information I need to work up a budget and timeframe for the sculpture. I chose to work with powder coated steel and aluminum tubing for these two sculptures taking into consideration durability and low maintenance aspects.

I was fortunate to find a very talented young fabricator to work with in Helena, MT for this project. Colton Schluter of Schluter’s Metal Artwork and Welding proved to be excellent to work with and a skilled fabricator. He has a tremendous skillset for a young welder and an excellent shop for fabrication with modern tools along with a powder coating shop.” - Robert Harrison, 2023

UNTITLED

Theodore Waddell
Untitled, n.d.

Ted Waddell's sculpture Untitled is a large uni-body, hollow, cor-ten steel, nonobjective sculpture.  Cor-ten steel has a natural patinization process that creates a thin rust-colored patina over time when exposed to natural elements.  This patina is entirely intentional and actually protects the steel beneath from further oxidation.  Depending on the shape of a sculpture made of cor-ten steel the patina will vary in color and intensity in places where water may naturally run or pool.  Untitled has gentle swooping sections where water naturally runs down to create beautiful patterns in the patina. 

SUMMER OF ‘88

Mike Hollern
Summer of ‘88, 2021
72” H x 30.5” w x 14.5” D
Located near north main entrance off of 1st Ave N.

Mike Hollern is known for his ability to incorporate metal sculptures with and around Montanan pine trees, junipers, and other living forms of foliage. The Summer of ‘88 reflects the fires that consumed over 1.2 million acres of Yellowstone’s forests from June to November of that year. The oval center provides the viewer with the artist’s interpretation of an aerial view of the 1988 fires. Wildfires are key elements to the natural ecosystem; they provide clearance and nutrients for new growth. This piece can be viewed as a reminder of strength, hope and endurance.

WATER FOUNTAIN

Mike Hollern
Water Fountain
60” H x 240” W x 120” D
Stone garden with metal pipes that form the water fountain, terracotta planter with tribute to Joe Wolff, succulents, juniper and seasonal foliage.

Located near north main entrance off of 1st Ave N.

Mike Hollern, a native and life long resident of Great Falls, was commissioned by Beth Wolff to create a memorial sculpture in honor of her husband, Joe Wolff, a long time well respected educator in Great Falls. Constructed this summer, the memorial features a series of tiered welded metal pipes that conduct a flow of water. The artist constructed a rock mound interspersed with foliage on which the water feature rests.

TWO SISTERS

Lisa Easton
Two Sisters, 2002

Shonkinite (native Montana granite) and stainless steel
Located on the west side of Gibson Gateway in sculpture garden.

Two Sisters is a sculpture by Great Falls artist Lisa Easton that incorporates a shaped granite slab with a stainless steel band running along the top, a separate bowl-shaped stainless steel piece, and two concrete benches with stainless steel wire adornments.  The sculpture was a gift of the Lewis and Clark Elementary School in 1998. 

"This work is intended to suggest themes of change, growth and transformation and perhaps to evoke mediation on these themes. Two separate sculptural elements are engaged in relationship. The large of the two "sisters" represents action or causation, movement or change through learning, growth, death, or other transformative life events. The smaller, basin-like "sister" represents the integration of change, a process resulting in acceptance, stillness, learnedness, sustenance- a positive, informed state. The piece might be regarded as a sculptural rendering of such constantly occurring cycles and the opportunities they represent. Materials and textures were selected with these ideas in mind but also are intended to celebrate nature as we know her in Montana. The sculpture will register and respond to natural occurrences such as daylight, moonlight, rain, snow, falling leaves, etc. It demonstrates a collaborative relationship between nature and artist. The participation of 4th and 5th grade students from Lewis and Clark Elementary School was inspirational and appropriate to the themes of growth, learning and transformation that interest me. For me, their small rock sculptures render the work visually and emotionally complete." -Lisa Easton Great Falls, Montana September, 2002

GIBSON GATEWAY

Robert Harrison
Gibson Gateway, 1993

PGSMOA held a statewide competition for the work which Harrison won. This unmistakable sculpture has become one of the most beloved works of art at The Square, and deservedly so. Robert Harrison created a wonderful architectural piece that is not only contemporary in its design but also reflects and co-exists perfectly with the decade old building that towers behind it.

PRAIRIE TOPS

Richard Swanson
Prairie Tops, 2001
Powder Coated Aluminum Funded by Meadowlark Fund and Miriam and Joe Sample with contributions from Save Prairie Tops, Great Falls.

Located in the southwest corner of the Museum lawn Swanson's Prairie Tops convey the artist's love of dance and sculpture in a whimsical and playful manner. The three tops appear to dance their way over the undulating hills of the prairie reminding us of the spinning games we played as children.

TORO

Manel Alvarez
Toro, 2015

Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art  Permanent Collection, gift of the artist and Pacific Steel.

Spanish artist Manel Alvarez creates sculptures that are a culmination of his creativity, focus, intensity and discipline. These traits are synthesized when he forms each unique work of art  that feature often abstract and minimalist design qualities.  He is skilled as a draftsman creating sculptures that focus light, line and energy on each plane in a way that utilizes shadow and background for affect.  The viewer experiences the weightlessness of each individual sculpture despite the heaviness of the hard materials he uses.  Alvarez states, “Inspiration is a myth.  Hard work alone leads to the creation of art!”  Perhaps the bull represents a bridge between Alvarez home in northern Spain and his wife’s hometown of Great Falls. 

Manel Alvarez was born in Catalonia, Spain in 1945 and studied art at the San Juan Busco School where he began creating sculptures in wood. He later studied in Milan, Italy where he was introduced to marble and began to develop his own distinct style. He remained in Italy for 14 years and exhibited his work in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain and Iran. His work has also been shown in Mexico, Brazil, Israel, San Francisco, New York and in 2015, PGSMOA in Great Falls, Montana.