Get acquainted with some of our most misunderstood animals, the reptiles! Ranger Mike Walker from Huntington Beach State Park will introduce you to some of our scaly friends, including snakes, turtles, lizards, and alligators. Learn how these animals have far reaching impacts on our local ecosystems, including acting as bodyguards for wading bird chicks, helping marsh residents survive catastrophic droughts, and protecting you from vermin by acting as natural pest exterminators. What has a reptile done for you lately? A lot more than you realize! A few live animals will also be on hand. 

About the Speaker: 

A native of South Carolina, Mike Walker received his Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology at the University of South Carolina. He has occupied various positions with the South Carolina State Park System and is currently an Interpretive Park Ranger for Huntington Beach State Park. He oversees educational programs and resource management. Mike’s continuous pursuit of preserving and promoting South Carolina’s natural resources has led to the most satisfying career he could ask for.  

Join Brookgreen Gardens’ horticulturist, Gina Davis and Vice President of Horticulture and Conservation, Miles Arnott, for a tour of the Children’s Garden. Gina and Miles will discuss adding color to shady gardens, using tropicals in warm-season displays, and how to incorporate shrubs with varying flower times to ensure continual color in the garden. 

About the Speakers: 

Gina Davis is the Horticulturist in charge of the Children's Garden, Palmetto Garden, Passageway, Daylily Walk, Bob Jewel Garden, and the butterfly topiary at the zoo. She has a B.S. in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina.  She has worked at Brookgreen Gardens for 8 years and is training to be an arborist. 

Miles Arnott serves as the Vice President of Horticulture and Conservation at Brookgreen Gardens. He is responsible for the institution’s cultivated and natural landscapes and supervises the horticulture, landscape, and natural areas staff. He directs the horticultural development and maintenance of the Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington Sculpture Garden, and oversees the environmental stewardship of Brookgreen’s significant natural areas.

This workshop has been cancelled.

Animal Sculpting with Paul Rhymer.

This 4-day workshop will concentrate on sculpting animals from models and other reference. Anatomy, armatures and understanding how to interpret your reference will be our focus as we sculpt a subject. Models available will include several mammals, birds, and reptiles. Taxidermy, casts, and photos will be our models. $550 plus materials.

Paul Rhymer comes from a family of artists and has drawn and painted his whole life.  After receiving an Associate of Arts degree from a local college in 1984, he accepted a job at the Smithsonian Institution doing taxidermy and model-making and retired in 2010.  As a result of so much three-dimensional work in his museum job, his own personal artwork gradually began to transform from painting and drawing into sculpture.  Being an avid birder, waterfowl hunter, and taxidermist gives him constant anatomy and behavioural learning experiences that inspire his sculpture. 

Paul’s work has been exhibited in such prestigious art shows as the National Sculpture Society, the Society of Animal Artists, and Birds in Art. His wildlife sculpture is at the National Zoo, National Museum of Natural History, the Denver Zoo, Woodson Art Museum, Hiram Blauvelt Museum, and various public buildings, parks, and private collections throughout the U.S. Paul serves on the Board of Directors for the Society of Animal Artists and the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art. 

For registration information, click here.

Sculpting the Figure in Motion with Brittany Ryan.

Please join us for a five-day journey in sculpting the human form in motion. We will focus on how to best create a sense of believable movement and weight in your sculpture. We will talk about how to work with a model and the creation of props and supports for the pose. There will be lectures and demonstrations on anatomy, gesture, and composition. We will touch on some historical references and look at some contemporary figurative sculptors who make great use of motion in their work, both as a beautiful form and cultural content. $650 plus materials and model's fees.

Brittany Ryan was born in 1983 in San Diego, California. She received her formal education at the Laguna College of Art and Design. Graduating in 2005 with a BFA degree, majoring in Illustration and a minor in Sculpture. After working as an illustrator for two years, Brittany began work toward her MFA degree in drawing and painting at the same institution. In 2008 Brittany had the opportunity to study portrait painting at Florence Academy in Florence, Italy as part of her MFA program which graduated in the spring of 2010 with a MFA from Laguna College of Art and Design. Brittany has a strong relationship with local museums, and local, national, and international art associations. Recently Brittany was awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant, a prestigious award created to support the success and development of emerging representational artists.  In the spring of 2018, Brittany completed a three-year-long monumental sculpture project consisting of four walking figures at heroic scale cast in bronze. The sculptures are placed at the historic main campus of Laguna College of Art and Design. Brittany currently lives and works in Southern California, is periodically involved in group shows as well as being an instructor and sculpture department coordinator at Laguna College of Art + Design since 2014. 

For registration information, click here.

Beginning sculpting, with Bryan Rapp.

This course is especially tailored to beginners, but it is open to all levels. Students will learn about the different clays and tools available to us, as well as a brief introduction to mold-making and casting processes. Students will also learn how to build armatures and how to quickly rough-in and proportion human forms utilizing a live model. We will also tour the grounds and talk about Brookgreen’s collection and the artists represented. On the last day, we will create an alginate mold of our hands, as well as a plaster casting to take home with you. Students may bring in personal work to continue or start from scratch. $325 plus materials and model's fees.

Bryan Rapp is a figurative sculptor and the Director of the Wallace Master Sculptor Program at Brookgreen Gardens. From 2016 to 2019, Rapp was the first Artist-in-residence at Coastal Carolina University, where he taught all processes in the ancient clay to bronze tradition known as “Lost Wax” casting. In 2016 Rapp received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma, studying under the mentorship of sculptors Paul Moore, FNSS, and Sohail Shehada. Prior to graduate school, Rapp attended Muskingum University for Studio Art, and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for computer animation. From 2004 to 2006, Rapp worked with sculptor Alan Cottrill in his studio and foundry, Coopermill Bronzeworks, in Zanesville, Ohio, as a mold and wax tech, and assisted on numerous large commissions for Cottrill and his clients. Rapp has produced work for both private collectors and public commissions and has exhibited his work in several states.  

For registration information, click here.

Make Your Own Brookgreen Medal, with Heidi Wastweet.

A single-sided art medal is a bite-size project that can be done in five days. On the first day, Heidi Wastweet will take students around the grounds to take their own reference photos. Then there will be two-and-a-half days of sculpting and a day-and a half of mold-making and plaster casting. For an additional fee of $100 to cover the cost of casting, patina, and shipping, she will send your piece to a foundry and ship to you a finished bronze medal. Those who don’t want a bronze can take home a plaster cast. 

Heidi Wastweet is a leading American medalist and sculptor specializing in bas-relief bronzes. In conjunction with a wide variety of private mints she has produced over 1,000 coins, medals, tokens, and rare coin replicas since 1987. She was chief engraver for Sunshine Mint for 11 years and lead designer/sculptor for Global Mint for five years. In 2001, she opened her own studio, relocated from Idaho to Seattle in 2003, and then to the San Francisco Bay area in 2013. She serves as president of the American Medallic Sculpture Association and is former president and founder of Seattle Sculpture Guild as well as a member of the Federation Internationale de la Medaille. Her Work has been shown in Coin World and Coinage magazines and she exhibits her non-commissioned work with the National Sculpture Society in New York and the Bellevue Art Museum in Washington. She served two, four year terms on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee for the U.S. Mint in Washington, D.C. Medal and coin credits include a seven-coin set issued by the Sultanate of Darfur, Asian Hall of Fame Award Medal, the Dean’s Award for Seattle University School of Law, Alumnus Award Medal, the Dean’s Award for Seattle University School of Law, Alumnus Award for Stephen F. Austin University, Mayo Clinic Visiting Physicians Medal, Stanford University Alumni Medal, and Island Records Willie Nelson portrait. In addition to medallic art, she has also created public art including a commission for the University of Washington’s Medal of Honor Monument in Seattle and eight bronze relief panels for 12-foot high church doors at St. Paul’s in Pensacola, Florida. 

For registration information, click here.

Nature's Geometry: Sculpting the Figure in Planes with Rick Casali.

Sculpt the figure under the guidance of renowned sculptor Rick Casali. Artists will create a 24” standing nude in oil-based plastilina on a wire skeleton armature, working directly from the live model. Each day will feature several demos by Casali explaining the essential knowledge for making life-like figures with sound anatomy. Topics covered: “action” of pose, human proportions, geometric planes, gross anatomy, and the organic rhythms that tie it all together. Recommended for portrait painters, sculptors, wood carvers, students of drawing, and computer animators. All skill levels welcome. $650 plus materials and model's fees.

Rick Casali is a figurative artist based in Maryland. Both an oil painter and sculptor, Rick’s work expresses an appreciation for nature and his love of the figure. “It is the honest study of nature that leads one to beauty,” says Casali. His style embraces classicism, Impressionism, and elements of modern design, aiming to fuse the timeless geometry of the Greeks with a fresh Impressionistic vision of reality. Rick attended the Maryland Institute of College of Art in Baltimore, and then a close apprenticeship with renowned portrait artists Cedric and Joanette Egeli at their farm in Edgewater, MD. It was John Ebersberger who introduced Rick to the Egelis, and Rick credits John for opening his eyes to color and developing a command of drawing the portrait and figure. Casali has also studied extensively with sculptor Stephen Perkins, an expert in human construction and anatomy. Additional mentors include colorist George T. Thurmond and portrait artist Michael Shane Neal. 

For registration information, click here.

Animal Sculpture with Adam Matano

In this animal sculpture workshop, we will be making a sculpture in the studio as well as from life of one of the long horn cattle in the Plantation Animals exhibit. We will discuss proportion, animal anatomy, and how it functions. We will also apply it to making the armature as well as its influence on the forms that will be represented in the clay. As we get to know our model, we will learn how to apply his unique character and attitude to our sculpture. Each student will pick his own composition and pose for the sculpture. Rhythm and design will be emphasized as we progress our individual compositions. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. $650 plus materials fee.

Adam Matano is a contemporary representational artist specializing in sculpture. His work is an organically evolving process combining visceral reaction to life, his interest and admiration for the natural world and our relationship with it. The exploration of these ideas allows for psychologically dense, rhythmic artwork. Adam’s interest and involvement with nature and the arts began at a young age. Early in his career, he nurtured his musical interests, which now play an integral part in his overall aesthetic, its principles echoing in his sculptures. Most of Adam’s subjects are real life models that he has spent time with, through observation or interaction. Adam attained his BFA in sculpture at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Connecticut in 2010. Currently, Adam works and lives in Los Angeles, exhibiting his sculpture and teaching.  

For registration information, click here.

Developing the Sculptor's Eye with Simon Kogan, FNSS.

Action, energy, movement, and emotions in sculpture are not a dramatic mask or a symbolic gesture. These are parts of a hidden secret to discover and bring to life.

We will learn how to see in a model more than a tedious account of features and details. We will uncover hidden emotions in mundane poses and create unique, exciting sculptures. We will find whispering movement and turn it into pronounced action. We will see how motion and character are tied to anatomy and structure, and how they define both possibilities and limitations. Transforming a lump of clay into an exciting, powerful form is magic. I will help you develop an eye that uncovers these secrets. Students will work with a model, using the material of their choice (oil clay, water clay). $650 plus materials and model’s fee. 

Simon Kogan was born in Russia. He received 13 years of classical academic training in Moscow, including an MFA as well as an apprenticeship under renowned sculptor Isaac Brodsky. Since immigrating to the U.S. in 1991, he has steadily risen to national prominence as a sculptor whose widely acclaimed work - monumental to miniature - reflects a bold, yet poetic pursuit of the archetypal and renders an ethereal quality highly resonant with the viewer. A Fellow of the National Sculpture Society, Simon Kogan has long shared his artistic passion through the teaching of sculpture, painting, anatomy and drawing in the U.S. and abroad.

For registration information, click here.

 Animals in Bas-Relief with Rod Zullo, FNSS,

Students will learn to model an animal bas-relief in clay, then will make a mold and will cast it in a resin material. Coloring or patination techniques will also be taught. $650 plus materials fee. 

Rod Zullo was born in 1965 in Bucks County, PA. When he was five, his grandmother, a painter, encouraged his parents to send him to private art lessons with a well-known Bucks County impressionist. A consummate student of art, he continually searches for his own truth and language. For 20 years, Rod travelled throughout the world as a fisherman guide, from blue marlin to brook trout. He also wrote magazine articles for leading sporting publications. His travel abroad exposed him to a variety of art styles, mediums, and messages. By studying past and present masters, he has explored sculpture as a metaphor of the human condition. With the guidance and mentoring of sculptor Floyd T. DeWitt, Rod has learned to see beyond the literal and narrative to create work that is contemplative and expressive yet conscious of traditional fundamentals. His goal is to see the abstract forms in nature and express this in sculpture by marrying the components of discipline and creativity to express a concept rather than an image. He is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society. 

For registration information, click here