Sculpture & Art Metal by Lee Badger
Artist-Blacksmith's Statement:
I love metal. Steel is especially wonderful. It's fun to work and it works differently at different temperatures. It can take on beautiful textures and subtle colors. It has a rich, fascinating history, and new high-tech alloys, tools and techniques are emerging all the time.
The formal and serious side of art can come on too strong, so I like playful work that has fun and jiggles sensibilities in an amusing way.
I like to make things that people will want to touch - things that invite you to play and interact with shape, volume and patterns of space and light - even if just by looking or passing by.
Taking mute material from the ground and forging it into significant form is a wonderful and challenging adventure, one that for me is lasting a lifetime.
- Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• “2024 Sculpture in the Square” - Fort Collins, CO
• Stevens Point Sculpture Park, 2024-27 - Stevens Point, WI
- Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• Riverdale Park Public Art Initiative, Riverdale Park, MD
• River City Sculptures on Parade, Mason City, IA
• Kinetic Art Project: Wind, Water, Light, Cheyenne, WY
- Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• Art Around Town, Carbondale, CO
• Decatur Sculpture Tour, Decatur, IN
• CityArt Walking Sculpture Tour 2022, Mankato, MN
• Kinetic Art Project: Wind, Water, Light, Cheyenne, WY
• Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA -
Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• ArtSS in the Open, Sandy Springs, GA
• The Art Advocacy Program 3-D, Downtown, Loveland, CO
• CityArt Walking Sculpture Tour 2021, Mankato, MN
• Decatur Sculpture Tour, Decatur, IN
• Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA - Juried Exhibition: Sow Above, So Below, 2015 - Weathering steel, 96½ x 28 x 6 in. (HxWxD)
How Are You Feeling: Expressions of Uncertainty, Ice House Gallery, Berkeley Springs, WV
- Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• Riverdale Park Public Art Initiative, Riverdale Park, MD
• Decatur Sculpture Tour, Decatur, IN
• Sculpture Tour Eau Claire, Eau Clare, WI
• Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA - Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA
• Decatur Sculpture Tour, Decatur, IN
• Sculpture Tour Eau Claire, Eau Clare, WI
• Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA
• Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, Mineral Point, WI - Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA
• River City Sculptures on Parade, Mason City, IA
• Decatur Sculpture Tour, Decatur, IN
• Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA
• Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, Mineral Point, WI - Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA
• Art Walk in Elmwood Park, Roanoke, VA
• Decatur Sculpture Tour, Decatur, IN
• Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, Mineral Point, WI
- Commission: Tree of Life Logo Wall Sculpture, Forged steel, 72 x 60 x 4 in. (H x W x D)
Washington County Commission on Aging, Hagerstown, MD - Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, Mineral Point, WI
• Tamarack: The Best of West Virginia, Beckley, WV
• Piedmont Arts Council - ArtInPlace, Charlottesville, VA - Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• Port Huron Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, Port Huron, MI
• Ella Sharp Museum of Art 8th Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Jackson MI
• University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD
- Purchase Award: Waldgeist, Forged weathering steel, 28 x 24 x 12 in. (H x W x D)
River City Sculpture on Parade, Mason City, IA
- Juried Exhibition: Waldgeist II, 2012 - Forged weathering steel, 14 x 8 x 6 in. (H x W x D)
Metal and Fire: The Children of Vulcan, Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA
- Juried Exhibition: Sow Above, So Below, 2015 - Weathering steel, 96½ x 28 x 6 in. (HxWxD)
2015 West Virginia Juried Exhibition, David L. Dickirson Fine Arts Gallery, Beckley, WV
- Historic Preservation - Rehabilitation of kinetic ball machine sculpture:
" Newton’s Dream," 1990 by George Rhoads
Sir Issac’s Loft, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA
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Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• Art Trail Tecumseh, Tecumseh, MI
• Sculpture Tour Eau Claire, Eau Clare, WI
• River City Sculpture on Parade, Mason City, IA
• CityArt Walking Sculpture Tour 2014, Mankato, MN
• University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD
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Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD
• Castelgar SculpureWalk, Castelgar, BC
• University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls, SD
• Valparaiso Art Walk at Cumberland, Valparaiso, IN
• SculptureWalk 2013, Sioux Falls, SD
- Maryland Metals Award: Waldgeist II, 2012 - Forged weathering steel, 14 x 8 x 6 in. (H x W x D)
81st Cumberland Valley Artists Exhibition, Washington County Museum of Fine Art, Hagerstown, MD
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Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• 2012 Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Art and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA
• Valparaiso Art Walk at Cumberland, Valparaiso, IN
• University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls, SD
• Eau Claire Sculpture Tour 2012, Eau Claire, WI
• SculptureWalk 2012, Sioux Falls, SD
- Juried Exhibition: Waldgeist II, 2012 - Forged weathering steel, 14 x 8 x 6 in. (H x W x D)
Allied Artists of W. Va. 68th Annual Juried Exhibition, Parkersburg, WV
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Public Sculpture Exhibitions:
• City Art Walking Sculpture Tour 2011, Mankato, MN
• University of Toledo's 6th Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Toledo OH
• University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls, SD
- Best in Show II (Media other than bronze): Waldgeist I, Forged weathering steel, 28 x 24 x 12 in. (H x W x D)
SculptureWalk 2011, Sioux Falls, SD
- Purchase Award: Firefly, Forged and hot-worked steel, 57 x 31 x 6 in. (HxWxD)
University of Indianapolis Campus Sculpture Walk, Indianapolis, IN
- Juried Traveling Exhibition: Waldgeist I, Forged weathering steel, 28 x 24 x 12 in. (H x W x D)
West Virginia Art & Craft Guild 8th Biennial Competition Exhibition, Parkersburg, Wheeling, Beckley