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Four new sculptures coming to Tippet Rise

January 19, 2022

Snow-capped mountains, brittle branches, a sun dog on the horizon during a clear and crisp sunrise – winter is upon us in Montana. But we relish in the cold air, knowing that each snowfall provides Tippet Rise with the sustenance it needs to come back to life by summer. We have so much to look forward to this year. In addition to the return of live music and our seventh concert season, 2022 will also bring four new sculptures to the rolling foothills of Tippet Rise.

Installed throughout the ranch, a new series of works titled Folds (2022) by Ensamble Studio’s Débora Mesa and Antón García-Abril, creators of the phenomenal large-scale sculptural structures that adorn our rolling landscape (including the Beartooth Portal, the Inverted Portal, and the Domo), comprises 16 concrete hybrid art-seats, inspired by and cast from draped canvas. The organic shapes mimic armchairs, chaises lounges, benches, and even a loveseat – perhaps a welcome respite for hikers and bikers visiting our 13.25-mile trail system!

The installation of Mark di Suvero’s Whale’s Cry (1981-1983) marks the artist’s third monumental work to enter the Tippet Rise collection. According to the Paula Cooper Gallery, Whale’s Cry plays with the center of gravity, deftly balancing dense materials to allow graceful movement. It is a whale caught in the moment of breaching into another dimension, which is fitting considering it will be placed within a landscape that during the Cretaceous Era was a vast inland sea. We look forward to experiencing it in conversation with di Suvero’s other dynamic steel structures at the art center, including Beethoven’s Quartet and Proverb which use mobile elements such as a giant Moebius strip and a 60-foot protractor to comment on our attempts to measure dimensions we barely understand.

We are also thrilled to have a new contemporary artist represented in our collection – the internationally renowned Ai Weiwei. His work Iron Tree (2013) is a meditation on individualism within a larger society. The sculpture will stand on a rise, and from a distance will blend seamlessly into the landscape.

In July, Patrick Dougherty will return to the art center to reimagine his work, Daydreams. To help execute this project, our team will be collecting thousands of local willow branches, which Dougherty will then use during a three-week long residency to remake the exterior of the schoolhouse into a new and extraordinary tangle of sticks. We always delight in seeing children run in and out of Daydreams, hiding and seeking among the branches, and the child-like curiosity and sense of wonder it seems to inspire in visitors of all ages. What a gift to have the opportunity to experience this work anew.

We look forward to welcoming you to Tippet Rise this summer to experience these works in person!