CAM Talk: From Clay to Bronze, The Making of the Seated Cat, by Robert Shure

Description

CAM welcomes sculptor Robert Shure for an engaging gallery talk on the Seated Cat, his newly installed bronze in the Museum’s renovated courtyard, an enlargement of Katherine Lane Weems’ iconic work of the same name and modeled in 1941. Shure will reflect on his past work with Weems, the artistic dialogue that emerged between their two cats, and the meticulous sculptural process behind creating this magnificent piece for CAM’s campus. It is a chance to hear directly from the artist about the history, craft, and character embodied in this contemplative feline form.

Upon graduating from college, owner Robert Shure became an assistant at the traditional sculpture studio of Arcangelo Cascieri and Adio di Biccari. From the early 1970s through the 1980s, Shure helped produce many of the public monuments, sculptures, memorials, and restorations completed at the Cascieri-di Biccari studio. He became involved in all the specialties of the sculpture studio, including designing monuments and portraits, creating armatures, mold-making, casting in plaster, creating and replicating architectural ornament, and conserving and restoring plaster, stone, and bronze. As Cascieri and di Biccari gradually retired, Shure continued the tradition of the sculpture studio. In 1990, Shure moved the Cascieri-di Biccari studio to Woburn, Massachusetts and renamed it Skylight Studios. It is one of the largest and most active studios of its type in the country. Robert is currently creating many significant public and private monuments and sculptures. He has accumulated over 40 years of hands-on experience in the field of sculpture. His expertise ranges from the design and creation of monumental sculpture in bronze and granite to the conservation and restoration of historical sculpture and architectural ornament. Robert works with a worldwide clientele of communities, institutions, committees, architects, and museums.