Sculptor to talk about art

BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center will present a free talk by sculptor William Ransom on Thursday, December 2, at 7 pm via Zoom and Facebook Live. Ransom will discuss the BMAC exhibit “Keep Up/Hold Up.” Included in the exhibit are sculptures in which the literal tensions in the work - strips of wood held fast by metal clamps - are intended to reflect the artist’s experiences as a Black man in America.
The exhibit also addresses the killings of Black men by police. “Taser” is for Daunte Wright, age 20, who was killed when a Minneapolis police officer stopped him for an “obstructed view,” the air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. Philando Castile, age 32, is the subject of “88.” Castile was driving a 1997 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight when he was pulled over for a broken tail light and killed by a St. Anthony, MN, police officer. “Token” is for George Floyd, age 42, killed by Minneapolis police during an arrest after a clerk suspected him of passing counterfeit money.
Ransom grew up on a dairy farm in Vermont. He studied sculpture and architecture at Bennington College and received an M.F.A. in sculpture from Claremont Graduate University. After a decade in Los Angeles, Ransom returned with his family to Vermont, where he works as an artist and educator. He is a visiting faculty member at Bennington College for fall 2021 and a lecturer in the studio art department at Dartmouth College.
“William Ransom: Keep Up/Hold Up” is on view at BMAC through March 5, 2022. For more information call (802) 257-0124 or visit brattleboromuseum.org.