Mid-South Sculpture Alliance

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Mid-South Sculpture Alliance

Mid-South Sculpture Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the creation, awaren

MSA is an affiliate organization of the International Sculpture Center (ISC), serving the Mid-South region. Its membership is open to anyone, anywhere with an interest in and commitment to the field of sculpture - including sculptors, art educators, patrons, collectors, galleries, suppliers, architects, developers, journalists, critics, historians, curators and museums. Please visit our website, to learn more about joining MSA to receive all the benefits of membership including networking opportunities, education, exhibition opportunities, resources, exposure, and regional conferences and confabs.

09/22/2026

✨The MSA Board of Directors Pop-Up Exhibition is coming to Confab 2026!

Join us during the Confab Closing Celebration on Saturday, October 3 at 9 PM for a special pop-up exhibition featuring work by the MSA Board of Directors.

📍 Wingate Museum of Art
University of Central Arkansas
🎉 Part of the Confab 2026 Closing Celebration

Come celebrate, connect, and experience the work of the MSA Board as we close out an unforgettable Confab 2026!

09/16/2026

Please join us online Monday, September 21st at 4:30pm CST for a conversation with the artists involved in this year’s MSA 2026 Confab panel, Craft and New Technologies! 🎉

Learn more about their individual practices, how digital tools and traditional making processes overlap in their work, and the questions they hope to explore during the upcoming in-person panel!

This conversation will preview the Craft and New Technologies panel at the upcoming 2026 Confab taking place in Conway, Arkansas October 2–3. 📍

⭐️ Registration is NOW OPEN for confab!

09/14/2026

Join us as we celebrate this year’s talented scholarship recipients and their incredible work in Conway, AR October 2-3!

Dianne Komminsk Scholarship Winners Exhibition
📅 Saturday, October 3
🏆 Scholarship Presentations: 3:00 PM
🎉 Exhibition Opening: 4:30 PM
📍 Windgate Atrium - University of Central Arkansas

Come celebrate the artists, support emerging talent, and experience the creativity of the 2026 Dianne Komminsk Scholarship winners. We hope to see you there! ⭐️

09/09/2026

🔥 MSA Confab 2026 Demonstration: Exothermic Casting in Iron

This demonstration presents ExothermiCast, a mold-integrated aluminothermic iron casting process developed for sculpture fabrication.

In ExothermiCast, a 3D-printed PLA positive integrates the combustion chamber, sprue network, and sculpture geometry into a single form, which is then ceramic shell invested and subjected to a burnout cycle prior to casting. Iron is produced directly within the mold cavity through aluminothermic reduction of iron oxide, the same thermochemical reaction used in industrial thermite welding, eliminating the need for a conventional furnace or external metal source.
The process operates at approximately 2,500°C and yields cast iron components with geometry derived directly from the printed form.

Attendees will observe the complete process documentation, including 3D-printed casting unit construction, information about creating a ceramic shell slurry that doesn’t need to be stirred every 5 minutes, and a live aluminothermic casting event. Additional process documentation and material samples will be available for examination.

✨Instructor: Andy Huss
Andy Huss is a sculptor and educator based in Conway, Arkansas. After earning degrees in sculpture from Northern Michigan University and the University of Michigan, he studied under several sculptors before relocating to Arkansas. He has taught at multiple central Arkansas universities and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Art at the University of Central Arkansas. His work can be viewed at Boswell Mourot Fine Art in Little Rock and at husssculpture.com.

📍 University of Central Arkansas
📅 MSA Confab | October 2–3, 2026

Demonstrations are free to attend for Confab attendees!

MetalCasting Sculpture

09/07/2026

⭐️ MSA Confab 2026 Demonstration: High Shrinkage Paper + Sculptural Form

Join us during MSA Confab 2026 for a hands-on demonstration with sculptor Holly Laws, exploring the possibilities of handmade paper and pulp as a sculptural medium.

Holly will demonstrate techniques for creating dynamic three-dimensional forms using rigid, flexible, positive, and negative molds. The session will explore high-shrinkage pulps, wrapping wet sheets around linear armatures to create taut, translucent skins, and strategies for working with both natural warping and controlled restraint.

She’ll also share practical ways to adapt these techniques for artists and educators who don’t have access to a Hollander be**er.

✨ Instructor: Holly Laws
Holly Laws is a multidisciplinary sculptor and Associate Professor at the University of Central Arkansas. Her experimental practice combines traditional craft, specialized trades, and domestic labor with non-traditional materials and processes, including papermaking, leatherworking, crystal cultivation, scagliola, graphite, and reflective materials.

📍 University of Central Arkansas
📅 MSA Confab 2026 | October 2–3

Demonstrations are FREE for Confab attendees!

09/03/2026

✨ Presenting the 2026 MSA Master’s Award Recipient: Gene Sparling

Mid-South Sculpture Alliance is proud to honor Gene Sparling as the recipient of the 2026 MSA Master’s Award.

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and raised in Springfield, Missouri, Sparling has spent much of his life connected to the wilderness of the Ouachita Mountains. His deep appreciation for wild places, wildlife, and habitat conservation has remained a central part of his life and artistic practice.

Sparling began working with wood as a child, learning from his father, and has continued to develop his craft throughout his life. His work celebrates the unique character and natural beauty of each piece of wood, creating vessels, sculptures, and furniture that remain connected to their natural origins.

⭐️Join us for the Master’s Award Dinner on the evening of Saturday, October 3rd, during MSA Confab 2026 at the University of Central Arkansas.

More details and registration information coming soon!

09/02/2026

Deadline extended!!

OPEN CALL: 2026 MSA STUDENT POP-UP EXHIBITION

Are you a student artist looking for an opportunity to exhibit your work? The Mid-South Sculpture Alliance (MSA) is excited to announce the 2026 Student Pop-Up, a juried exhibition held in conjunction with MSA Confab 2026 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, AR! 🎓✨

🗿 Who can apply?
Student visual artists 18+ who are current or new MSA members.

🎨 What can you submit?
Up to 3 artworks — no theme or specific media required! We’re looking for innovative, thoughtful, process-driven, technically strong, and conceptually engaging sculpture.

📍 Location: Windgate Center for Fine & Performing Arts - University of Central Arkansas | Conway, AR

📅 Important Dates:
• Application deadline: September 6, 2026
***
• Artwork delivery: October 2 by 3 PM
• Exhibition: October 2–3, 2026
• Reception: Saturday, October 3
• Pickup: Sunday, October 4
***

✨ Application is FREE for MSA Student Members!
Not a member yet? You can apply for MSA membership when you submit your exhibition application.

👉 Apply on our website or link in bio!

08/31/2026

Come and see an outdoor sculpture exhibition coming to the University of Central Arkansas for MSA Confab! 🎉

The exhibition will be on view throughout campus, with an opening reception taking place during MSA Confab, October 2–3, 2026.

This exhibition is a collaboration between the Mid-South Sculpture Alliance and the Department of Art & Design at the University of Central Arkansas, bringing contemporary sculpture to Art Alley on the UCA campus in Conway, Arkansas.

We’re thrilled to celebrate these artists and create an opportunity for the UCA community, Confab attendees, and visitors to experience contemporary sculpture in an outdoor setting!

Exhibiting Artists:
Francis Akosah
Kurt Dyrhaug
Matthias Neumann
Nathan Pierce
Michael Warrick

We can’t wait to see these works in Conway! 🎉

08/11/2026

📣 OPEN CALL: 2026 MSA STUDENT POP-UP EXHIBITION 📣

Are you a student artist looking for an opportunity to exhibit your work? The Mid-South Sculpture Alliance (MSA) is excited to announce the 2026 Student Pop-Up, a juried exhibition held in conjunction with MSA Confab 2026 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, AR! 🎓✨

🗿 Who can apply?
Student visual artists 18+ who are current or new MSA members.

🎨 What can you submit?
Up to 3 artworks — no theme or specific media required! We’re looking for innovative, thoughtful, process-driven, technically strong, and conceptually engaging sculpture.

📍 Location: Windgate Center for Fine & Performing Arts - University of Central Arkansas | Conway, AR

📅 Important Dates:
• Application deadline: September 1, 2026
***
• Artwork delivery: October 2 by 3 PM
• Exhibition: October 2–3, 2026
• Reception: Saturday, October 3
• Pickup: Sunday, October 4
***

✨ Application is FREE for MSA Student Members!
Not a member yet? You can apply for MSA membership when you submit your exhibition application.

👉 Apply on our website or link in bio!

08/10/2026

Confab Workshop Spotlight: From Shape to Structure: Modular Geometry and Collective Form with Dick Esterle!

This workshop features “Space Chips,” Dick Esterle’s unique modular system of die-cut components made from recycled materials such as cardboard, cereal boxes, and other paperboard packaging. Participants will examine the geometric principles that underlie three-dimensional form, using triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons, and rhombi to construct a series of spatial models.

The workshop will begin with the five Platonic solids and expand into more complex configurations, including the rhombic dodecahedron and rhombic triacontahedron. Spherical and axial counterparts will also be presented as additional frameworks for understanding structure, pattern, and spatial organization.

The final portion of the workshop will shift from guided geometric assembly to collaborative sculptural development. Using the Space Chips system, participants will test form, connection, repetition, and scale while considering how humble recycled materials can serve as tools for structural inquiry, material experimentation, and sculptural thinking.

🗓 Friday, October 2
⏰ 1:30–4:30 PM
📍 University of Central Arkansas
💥 Registration information in link in bio

About Dick: Dick Esterle is a Pittsburgh-based artist and inventor whose work sits at the intersection of geometry, structure, and play. He is the creator of the world-famous Nobbly Wobbly ball as well as Icosa the Atomic Fidget Ball, Wimzle, Space Chips, and the Amazing Geometry Machine. His public installations include “more light” currently at the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum and “Scattered Light” at the New York Hall of Science 2014-2018. For the Gathering for Gardner he produced Waxing Gibbous with Jeannine Mosely and Kevin Box in 2012 and Cosmosis, 2010.
Esterle graduated with a degree in architecture in 1980 and moved to New York City, where early on he worked for architect Paul Rudolph and sculptor Isamu Noguchi. It was during this period that he discovered the Amazing Geometry Machine, setting him on an unexpected path into toy design and geometric sculpture.

Address

Knoxville, TN

Telephone

+18652471273

Website

http://www.midsouthsculpture.org/

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