Holiday Newsletter

This letter was sent to our personal mailing list and posted here as an alternative viewing option:

It has been a number of years since our last holiday letter and we wanted to rekindle the tradition and send out Holiday Greetings, let you know that Georgia’s website has been updated with her latest work, and tell you about a few other things we have been involved with lately.  For more information and photos you can go to: www.georgiagerber.com.

Our new year’s resolution is to keep the “Latest News” section of the website updated regularly in the coming year. This is where you can find information and photos about work that has not yet made it onto the main website, new installations, and other items we think may be of interest. Access is from the home page of the main site, or you can go straight to it at: http://georgiagerber.blogspot.com/. If you would like to be notified whenever we post something new you can sign up on the right side of the page.

The Christmas Sculpture Project

Every Holiday Season since 1999 Georgia has created a small pewter sculpture. What began as Christmas gifts for family and friends turned into an annual fund raising project for local non-profits here on Whidbey Island, with about 50 collectors donating each year. This year we have partnered with the recently formed Whidbey Community Foundation and are accepting new collectors, starting with this year’s Christmas Owl Sculpture. For information about the project and how to become a collector visit: https://www.whidbeyfoundation.org/christmas-sculpture-fund/
(For more information see the previous posting below)

Osprey 2017 

(17"H x 24"L x 8"W)

Georgia’s most recent creation. 

Also known as a

“Sea Hawk”. 

Depicted  life-size.

Nestled Rabbits 2017

11”H x 16”W x 11”D

City Hall, Bothell, Washington

Installed just this month along with three beavers and an otter near an adjacent fountain, "City Kitty" is the nickname of a cat that lived in an old house that was torn down to build the new City Hall. City employees cared for him for a few years and he became an unofficial City mascot. His ashes are held within the sculpture, which is placed on his favorite perch - greeting visitors on the main staircase.

Winter Chickens

Laura Hudson

A real joy in our life is having our daughter and her family living just down the road from us. Her husband, Victor, has become our skilled and indispensable patinauer and after earning her MFA in Painting a few years ago, Laura has developed a wonderful style of depicting the farm animals that surround us here on our rural island. Best of all, for her to find time to paint we get to help care for our two year old grandson.You can view Laura’s work at: http://www.lauraghudson.com

 

The Crew
Virginia Keck, Victor Ramos, 

Georgia and Randy

We'll close here so we can keep this to a reasonable length. As always, if you prefer to not receive our occasional emails just let us know and you're off the list.

Wishing you a joyous Holiday Season and Happy 2018,
Georgia Gerber and Randy Hudson

www.georgiagerber.com
gerber@whidbey.com

Christmas Sculpture Project

In 1999 we started a tradition of creating small pewter castings of one of Georgia's sculptures as Christmas gifts for family and friends. It soon also became a charitable fund raising project as well, with a loyal following of generous collectors who have helped us assist many local organizations over the years. Due to increased need in our community, we decided to open it up to new collectors this year. To help make that possible we have partnered with the Whidbey Community Foundation.

https://www.whidbeyfoundation.org/

If you are interested in becoming a collector, visit the Foundation website above or follow the links in the article below.

Christmas Pewter Owl 2017 (2.75″ High x 3.4″ Wide x 3″ Deep)

Welcome to the 19th year of our Christmas Sculpture Project. What started out as Christmas gifts for family and friends long ago expanded into an annual fund-raising effort in support of local social service organizations here on South Whidbey. The project has helped make a difference in the lives of many people — particularly children since our main focus has been providing for organizations that assist families during the holiday season.

This year marks a turning point for the project. In order to make things simpler for us and our collectors we are partnering with the Whidbey Community Foundation (WCF). This arrangement allows the greatest possible portion of your donation to go directly to charitable organizations and assures that you receive proper IRS documentation of your contribution. It also creates an opportunity to invite more collectors into the project to better serve our community.

Your donation will be made to WCF, and we will work with them to decide where to direct the proceeds based on our experience from past years. If you would like your donation to go to a particular organization, or if you have any questions about this project, send us an email.

Donors to this Fund will receive this year’s Georgia Gerber Christmas Pewter Owl Sculpture. Minimum donation $200. If you would like more than one sculpture donate in multiples of $200.  Order your sculpture today.  You will receive an email confirmation which includes a statement for the IRS indicating that $140 of your contribution is tax-deductible. Please order by December 5 to ensure availability by Christmas.

Sculptures will be available for pick-up at Brackenwood Gallery in Langley beginning November 18. Bring a hard copy or digital image of your order confirmation if possible. You can also donate by check at the Gallery. If you live off the Island, Contact Us to arrange free shipping.

Our Traditional Request and Closing:

We remind you of the spirit of this project — it is an effort to raise money for a number of organizations, especially South Whidbey Good Cheer and The Holiday House, who provide so much help and support to our neighbors in need. For this project to be meaningful, your contribution must be in addition to what you would have donated otherwise. We are happy to have you as a collector, but we urge you to continue your usual generous support of Whidbey charitable and service organizations. Thanks for your support of this project. As your collection grows and adds to your Holiday traditions, it’s nice to know we have all helped make Christmas a lot merrier for a good many of our neighbors.

Happy Holidays,

Georgia Gerber Randy Hudson

Bothell City Hall Installation

On December 6, 2017 we installed four outdoor sculptures at the City Hall in Bothell, Washington. http://www.ci.bothell.wa.us/279/City-Hall . Around a fountain area are the "Mother Beaver with Pup", "Sitting Beaver", and "Standing Otter". Greeting visitors at the top of the main staircase to the Hall sits a one-of-a-kind likeness of “City Kitty”, the nickname of a cat that lived in an old house that was torn down to build the new City Hall.  He hung around throughout the construction period and then for a few years the City employees cared for him as he became the unofficial City Mascot. His ashes are held within the sculpture, which is placed on his favorite perch.

This commission was funded through the 1% for the Arts program. Thanks to the City for this opportunity. 

International Sculpture Day Honors and Other News

31 years after creating and installing the "Boy and Dog" in downtown Langley, Georgia was honored for her contributions to public art at a ceremony held at the park where the sculpture is located. The event was part of the International Sculpture Day celebration on April 22.

Good friend and long time supporter Pam Schell introduced Georgia. Sculpture Northwest President Wade Marlow represented his organization. Langley Mayor Tim Callison presented Georgia with the City's "Pin of Excellence", noting not only her achievements in the Arts, but also her ongoing role in the community and support of local non-profits. http://www.langleywa.org/

Other News and Photos  

 

Hip Hop has become a focal point of the Point Ruston Community on the Tacoma Waterfront. Originally installed on a trial basis, it has now been purchased and will remain as a permanent installation.
http://www.pointruston.com/

The University Village in Seattle commissioned an interactive sculpture to celebrate the completion of their expansion last Summer. The Village has been a great supporter of Georgia's, with this installation joining her "Coming Home" (Cows and Calves recalling the Dairy Farm era of the property) and "Water Frolic" ( A water feature sculpture with a squirting battle between a group of Frogs and Turtles).  https://uvillage.com/

The sculpting stage. The dimensions of the proposed site are replicated in the studio. Always a little dicey when working from architectural drawings but the bronze fit nicely.

Long time assistant Virginia Keck on site for the hectic installation day. The Fountain was being completed and the Sculpture installed at the same time - two days before the grand opening. The place was buzzing with finish workers. Made it.

The City of Camas, in Southwest Washington, has a burgeoning public art program. Here is Georgia with Arlo and her Springer Spaniel, installed in the fall of 2015. This year the city will be installing a series of 13 of Georgia's birds throughout downtown, creating a sculptural version of an urban bird watching tour.

"Leap Rabbits" was placed at Prairie Fire in Overland Park, Kansas, in 2014. The owners sent this photo to show how the sculptures have been received.