Landscape Lounger

Nancy Selvage
Lincoln, Massachusetts
2021
Stainless steel

Nancy Selvage is sculptor who uses layers of perforated metal to animate surface and fracture light. She says, “I create sculptures that respond to the intersection of spatial context and human engagement. Therefore, I am inspired by the significance of each individual site and project. The design of this bench responds to the setting as well as its function. The bench echoes the undulating curves of the Art Complex Museum’s roof line and the organic forms of the tree trunks.  It also evokes the relaxed gesture of lounging and accommodates companionship.”

Nancy Selvage received a BA in Art History from Wellesley College and an MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University. She has created public art for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority; City of Lowell, MA; Bristol Community College, Fall River, MA; City of Cambridge, MA; Keene State College, NH; the National Park Service, Grand Canyon, AZ; and the North Carolina Zoo, Ashboro, NC.

“Please Approach the Bench” Exhibit

When renovations to the museum and its grounds were planned in 2020, it was decided by the designers and museum staff to include artist-made benches in the newly landscaped, “Woodland Path” sculpture garden. A call to artists was sent out and 25 artists from all six New England states sent proposals for outdoor seating. Curatorial staff and director Charles Weyerhaeuser voted on their favorites, and five benches were chosen. The artists each received a stipend to design, build, and loan their bench for a three-year period, after which the artist can offer them to the museum or take them back. Selvage’s bench was one of the five chosen.