The four women sculpted in Carrara marble stood silently under wraps for 15 years. These mythological figures of Abbott Pattison’s “The Caryatids” were among the 1,000 sculptures at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science awaiting a permanent showplace.
After extensive surface cleaning, “The Caryatids” in September joined the 23 pieces in the museum’s new Eykamp Sculpture Gallery. Weighing as much as a baby blue whale, “The Caryatids” glows in natural light, its serene faces gazing outside.
Art patrons Richard and Rita Eykamp and other funders underwrote this spacious new room — designed by Hafer and built by Core Contractors. Opened to the public in October, it gives the museum its first dedicated sculpture gallery.
“This beautiful space gives visitors another path to explore the museum,” Jennifer Evans Corn, the museum’s John Streetman Executive Director, says. “Its high ceiling and windows that overlook our sculpture garden and the Ohio River create an immersive experience.”
Cheyenne E. Miller, the Virginia G. Schroeder Curator of Art, chose works that enhance sculpture’s three-dimensional connection with viewers and reveal the breadth of the museum’s collection, including long-unseen works. “Sculpture is one of the most enduring forms of human expression, so we wanted works that spanned the millennia,” she says. “We present the evolution of sculptural practice, from ancient Rome to the present day.”
To keep things fresh, the museum will rotate the sculptures displayed and add works to the sculpture garden. The latest piece — Gino Miles’ bronze sculpture “Sisters” — soars 18 feet into the sky. It was donated by Anne-Merelie Murrell, a Los Angeles, California, entrepreneur and art collector, who commissioned it in 2009. Her gift resulted from the museum’s strong relationship with Miles, a Santa Fe, New Mexico, artist whose stainless-steel “Stargazer” has greeted museum visitors since 2021.
“Because I knew the museum was interested in building up their sculpture collection, we were able to make Ms. Murrell’s donation happen very quickly,” Miles says. He transported the sculpture from Connecticut to Evansville and directed its installation in the sculpture garden.
“We positioned ‘Sisters’ to be seen from the new gallery window and riverfront walkway and balance the sculpture garden’s other pieces,” Miller says.
