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Artist's
giant pots adorn campus
A
trio of striking ceramic vessels that grace the UM campus
are both a paean to the recuperative powers of art and a
son's tribute to his father.
The
three elegantly massive pots crafted by Great Falls native
David Pledge are anchored on the lawn next to UM's Skaggs
Building, where they stand sentinel over students and other
passersby, a visual respite in a landscape of brick and
concrete and grass. With classical shapes, vibrant earthtones
and whimsical markings, the salt-fired pots are round-bellied
and tall as a woman, taller still -- 11 1/2 feet -- on their
steel pedestals.
The
pieces evolved out of Montana's Percent for Art program,
which requires a fraction of the budget for state-funded
buildings to be spent on public art. When the Montana Arts
Council put out a call for submissions, Pledge had a vision.
He
had just completed his UM master's thesis show, which included
several large-scale pots.
"I got this mental image," Pledge said. "After
my thesis exhibit, it seemed natural to increase the size
further to a more architectural scale."
Pledge
has a history of taking calculated risks. A 1983 graduate
of Great Falls High School, he emerged from a youth he describes
as "misguided" into the responsibilities of marriage,
parenthood and work. In 1990, he enrolled in the art program
at Montana State University in Bozeman, earning his degree
in 1996. He then spent two intensive months as a resident
artist at Helena's famed Archie Bray Foundation for the
Ceramic Arts before moving to Missoula to enroll in UM's
master of fine arts program.
After years of working in various artistic media, he had
found his calling in ceramics.
"Going
to college changed my life," he said. "It turned
my life around. Finding something to be passionate about
really made a difference for me."
Still,
he battled constant doubt. Was he wasting his time chasing
art degrees? Would he be better off quitting school and
working full time?
"Sometimes
it seemed ridiculous -- I had a kid to support, bills to
pay -- but then I'd sell a pot and it would reaffirm what
I was doing. It's a vote of confidence."
His
pots now are in collections across the country. One of his
biggest fans is Maggie Mudd, director of UM's Museum of
Fine Arts. Pledge pots from the museum's permanent collection
adorn a number of UM offices.
"We
have bought quite a few of his things," Mudd said.
"He's immensely talented -- he has a feeling for clay
and the wheel that is just remarkable. He has as refined
an aesthetic as I've seen in a potter who throws in a traditional
vein, and yet he does something that is not traditional.
"There's a congruence of materials and concept,"
she added. "His ideas and his ability to work the material
are matched, which is really the definition of a masterwork.
All of it works together to produce exquisite pieces."
Pledge's work has been shown at the Archie Bray Foundation
and the Museum of the Rockies and will be in an upcoming
exhibit at Missoula's Sutton West Gallery. Last year, his
entry in the Strictly Functional Pottery National brought
home the Best of Show award.
He
humbly shares the credit with his mentors: Josh DeWeese,
director of the Archie Bray Foundation; UM art faculty members
Beth Lo and Stephen Connell; and UM Professor Emeritus Rudy
Autio.
Earning
his MFA degree in 1999, Pledge stuck around UM's art department
in order to create the pieces for the Skaggs Building, which
houses the School of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences.
The
committee that selected his work included the building's
architect and pharmacy school administrators.
"It
had broad public appeal," said Lori Morin, pharmacy
assistant dean for student affairs. "We liked the fact
that it was unique and different, and we had a small piece
[of Pledge's] in our office that we liked."
After
his proposal was selected, Pledge began the process of creating
the enormous pieces, which pushed the limits of traditional
pottery.
He
started by building custom "bats" -- circular
trays that fit on a potter's wheel -- reinforced to hold
350 pounds of clay. He made the pots themselves in "coils,"
sections of clay carefully joined to one another. The pots
were so heavy it took four men to move them.
"I
tried to make them as large as I could and still fit them
in the kiln," he said.
After
the first firing -- in a soda kiln Pledge built while in
school -- the pots were glazed and fired again before being
installed in spring 2000. They rest on rectangular steel
pedestals, which were powder-coated for an enamel-like finish,
and bolted into concrete slabs.
Reminiscent
of Japanese temples, Chinese porcelains and Greek urns,
the unusual sculptures are a captivating diversion from
the backdrop of brick buildings and Mount Sentinel. Although
he didn't plan the vessels' pharmaceutical symbolism or
the way their colors perfectly complement their surroundings,
he did envision their visual impact.
"Public
art is a mental break," Pledge said. "You're walking
along and it interrupts your thought process for a minute."
Reflecting
on the installation, he said it is an honor to have his
work so publicly displayed. And, he pointed out, it is another
layer in his family history, since both his parents also
graduated from UM. His mother, retired high school teacher
Vivian Pledge, still lives in Great Falls, and his father,
businessman W.J. "Bill" Pledge, died in 1990.
After
his father's death and his own painful divorce, pottery
became a refuge for Pledge. He threw himself into making
pots, he said, and because it got him through a tough time,
he felt he owed a debt to the field. With his majestic display
at UM, perhaps that debt has now been repaid.
"If
I had the option of dedicating it to someone, it would be
my dad," he said. "He died before this project
got going, but I thought about him a lot while I was working
on it."
Pledge
now is in the process of setting up a home studio in Missoula,
where he plans to stay for at least a few more years, until
his daughter, Ashley, graduates from high school. He pays
the bills with a combination of art, cooking and landscaping
jobs, and hopes he eventually will be able to focus full
time on pottery.
Mudd
awaits that day, too. "I really look forward to the
future of David Pledge because I think he's only just scratched
the surface of what he's going to be able to produce. Over
time I think we're going to hear a lot about him."
--Patia
Stephens
University Relations News Editor
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