Sculptures Rock Westmont Gardens

Five stone artworks grace Westmont’s campus this fall in the “Donald Davis Sculpture Garden,” Reynolds Gallery’s third annual exhibition of outdoor sculpture. On display near the gallery and Voskuyl Library through Dec. 19, the exhibition includes new and selected works. A public reception with the artist, local sculptor Donald Davis, will be held at the gallery Thursday, Sept. 25, 4-6 p.m.

The works on display exemplify Davis’s oeuvre of large stone sculptures. Often exploring ideas of human-made structures in tension with nature, his work is influenced by ancient Roman architecture and by the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Three large sculptures are situated in front of the gallery. “Hanging Vessel” combines stone with wood and metal, while “Reflection Disk,” which has been featured in the State of the Arts exhibition downtown, uses yellow stones that are polished on one side and rough on the other. “Grow,” a vertical composition made from a single stone, also explores several textures and patterns. A smaller sculpture inside the gallery, “Communiqué,” exhibits a monumental feel in a miniaturized form. “Porta Rosa,” installed near Westmont’s library, combines three different colors and textures of stone, transitioning from geometric shapes at the base to more organic, fluted forms that push the upper boundaries of the work.

A California native, Davis earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and has been a working sculptor for more than 30 years. His work appears in numerous private and corporate collections throughout the United States and abroad, including the California Polytechnic Institute in San Luis Obispo, the Cate School in Carpinteria, and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in Oslo, Norway.

Previous artists featured in the Sculpture Garden series include Ken Bortolazzo and Ed Inks. This is the first such exhibition to extend from the gallery to the rest of campus.

A concurrent exhibition, “Language Skills: The Art of the Expanded Print,” featuring new work by Martha Ensign Johnson, is on display in Reynolds Gallery through Oct. 25.

The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. For directions to campus, visit the college Web site at www.westmont.edu. For more information, contact (805) 565-7140 or nprice@westmont.edu.

Artist Donald Davis offers a video tour of his sculpture garden for Santa Barbara's Channel 21