MIDLAND The Museum of the Southwest celebrated the unveiling of the eighteenth piece of the campus’ sculpture garden this week with a beautiful new bronze addition titled, Prairie Dogs, by artist Katherine ‘KT’ Taylor.
“We are delighted to add this engaging piece to our campus,” remarked Mary Katherine Marshall, Sr. Director of Development & Communications for the Museum of the Southwest. “By adding to the public art in Midland, we are contributing to Midland’s identity and sense of community — much like these prairie dogs. Our guests enjoy the sense of belonging that comes with each visit to our campus and KT’s fusion of local texture to enliven this statue contributes to that sense of belonging.”
Museum members, friends, and guests gathered at the Museum of the Southwest on Tuesday for the unveiling of Prairie Dogs, a bronze 4-by-7-by-4 foot statue filled with tunnels, juvenile prairie dogs, pecan bugs, horned toads, rocks, grub worms, and you might even find a rattler or two if you look closely. Following the statue viewing, guests enjoyed hospitality and a lecture on KT’s adventures, inspiration, and processes for work.
“For this sculpture, Prairie Dogs, I used a technique I call texture swapping, exchanging one natural texture for another. If you take a closer look at my ‘pecan beetles,’ for instance; I’ve crafted them using pecan halves. And you can see another texture hinting at ‘corn on the cob,’” described KT at the lecture Tuesday evening.
A graduate of Trinity Episcopal School in Midland, KT was delighted to see not only family and friends, but her former art teacher in the audience as she shared the background on past and current sculpture projects as well as current projects.
Taylor splits her time in Texas, the Adirondack Mountains, and northern Spain where her foundry, Alfa Arte is located.
