Even by Denver Botanic Gardens standards, “Stickwork” is elaborate.
The site-specific sculpture, which is being constructed at the Chatfield Farms location in Littleton for an April 27 opening, follows years of attention-getting exhibitions at the Garden’s Littleton and Denver locations, including work from modern-art icon Alexander Calder and glassblower Dale Chihuly.
Patrick Dougherty’s “Stickwork,” however, is something different. The Oklahoma-born, North Carolina-raised artist weaves flexible saplings into “complex and whimsical architectural forms” that “remain on view until they naturally fall apart,” according to a Botanic Gardens press statement.
So how long do they last? Some have stayed up for years, the Gardens said, and putting them together is no easy task.
Staff and volunteers have been helping put “Stickwork” together over the last three weeks using willow saplings and branches sourced from various spots in Colorado — including Chatfield Farms. (Gardens officials assure us the saplings, which also include local chokecherry, are “sustainably harvested.”)
Visitors can get up close with the massive sculpture — the viewing of which is included in the price of general admission — and even walk through it in a grassy clearing near the Earl J. Sinnamon Visitor Center and the Deer Creek Stables, according to the press statement.
Two days before it opens to the public, Doughtery will also visit the Chatfield location for a talk and book signing. People interested in a preview of his work can register for the 6 p.m. event on Thursday, April 25, which costs $16 for members and $18 for the general public, at botanicgardens.org. The event includes a self-guided “sneak peek” of “Stickwork.”
The gardens will also offer a workshop based around the exhibit called “Weaving Works of Wonder.” The 9:30 a.m. event on Saturday, June 29 invites families to tour the sculpture before weaving their own natural materials to create small-scale outdoor ornaments ($10-$17 per person).
Dougherty has made more than 250 site-specific installations at museums, botanic gardens and outdoor spaces, the museum said. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.; the Mint Museum in North Carolina; the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany (France) and the American Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.
If you go
“Stickwork: Sculpture by Patrick Dougherty.” Site-specific installation at Denver Botanic Gardens’ Chatfield Farms, 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Rd. in Littleton. Opens April 27, with daily viewing 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Included with general admission: $5-$8 per vehicle; $15-$30 for buses. 720-865-3500 or botanicgardens.org
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