Sunapee Mandala, (sculpture).

Sunapee Mandala, (sculpture).

Birch, Emile A., 1947- , sculptor.

Harris, Marie, assistant.

Rock of Ages Corporation, contractor.

John Swenson Granite Company, contractor.

Sunapee Mandala, (sculpture).

Commissioned Feb. 1, 1986. Copyrighted Aug. 1, 1986. Dedicated Aug. 5, 1986.

Digital Reference:

Cast clay, cast concrete circles reinforced with rebar, painted beige, and gray New Hampshire granite.

(On bottom back of granite upright, incised:) EMILE BIRCH. SCULPTOR/MARIE HARRIS. POET (On upper back of granite upright, incised:) LEAVE YOUR SHADOW HERE/ON THE LONG MEMORY OF ROCK/THAT YOU MAY NUMBER AMONG/THE FRIENDS OF THIS PLANET:/WE ARE ONE/IN SUMMER WOODS/OVERFLOWING WITH WINGS,/IN THE FIRES KINDLED/BY ORANGE LILY STRUCK/AGAINST FERN FLINT,/ONE WITH THE MUSIC OF WIND/PLAYED ON ICY BIRCH BONES/AND THE PROMISE POLLEN SPELLS/ACROSS THE WATERY MIRRORS/OF OUR FUTURE signed

An abstract cobalt blue relief of six New Hampshire wild animals each separate but entwined in a circular mandala implying motion. The relief is set within a large beige concrete circle that is mirrored by another circle set in front of it. The circles are separated by a horizontal beam and flanked by two upright beams.

Abstract -- Geometric

Allegory -- Place -- Sunapee

Allegory -- Place -- New Hampshire

Animal -- Cougar

Animal -- Wildcat

Animal -- Rabbit

Literature -- Harris

Outdoor Sculpture -- New Hampshire -- Newbury

Coadministered by New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Division of the Arts, 40 North Main Street, Concord, New Hampshire, 03301

Coadministered by State of New Hampshire, Division of Parks & Recreation, 172 Pembroke Road, P. O. Box 1856, Concord, New Hampshire 03302

Located Mount Sunapee State Park, Near the small pond adjacent to the main parking area, Newbury, New Hampshire

The sculpture was commissioned to commemorate Sunapee State Park's 50th anniversary and the long involvement of the arts at the Park. The sculpture cost $10,000 and was funded by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts' Percent for Art Program, the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation, the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Foundation, and Lake Sunapee Business Association. It was dedicated at the 53rd Annual Craftsmen's Fair. IAS files contain detailed dimensions and transcription of nearby plaque. IAS files also contain a related excerpt from "Art in Unexpected Places," Concord, NH: Percent for Art Collection, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, 1989, pg. 7-8, 78-79, 82, 88, 102-103; and related articles from: New Hampshire Profiles Magazine (August 1986); the Granite State Vacationer (Concord, NH), Aug. 1, 1986, pg. 1, 42; and a related editorial from the Manchester Union Leader (Manchester, NH), April 20, 1986. IAS files contain related photographs and captions from The Manchester Union Leader (Manchester, NH), July 22, 1986, pg. 5 and Aug. 7, 1986, pg. 1.; a related photograph and caption from Artsheaf, 3 (September 1986): pg 1; and other related information.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New Hampshire survey, 1993.

Lawrence, Rebecca, L., ed., "Art in Unexpected Places," Concord, NH: Percent for Art Collection, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, 1989, pg. 78.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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