To tell about Pern Smalley is to relate the origin and growth of the Sculpture Conservatory, where scores of aspiring sculptors took her classes, most of whom were consequently inspired, with Pern's urging, to join the roster of Texas Society of Sculptors.

The story of how she became hooked on three-dimensional art is typical Pern. She had enrolled in a painting class, but was displeased by the fact that "others were talking about Nixon. Well, being a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat," she said, "I didn¹t want to have to listen to that, so I just got up and walked across the hall to another class . . . which happened to be a class in sculpture." She soon realized that achieving a likeness in clay came very easily to her, and she took to it like a duck to water.

When asked for a quote, Greg Free, former head of the Elisabet Ney Museum Association, spoke of her outgoing and generous personality and the warmly welcoming atmosphere that prevailed in her classes. He summed it up with the now classic phrase, "She was the mother of all sculptors." Everyone who ever took a class with Pern gained something valuable in their attitude toward art and creativity. Even if they never acquired the skill to create a masterpiece, Pern led each one to take pride in creating the best piece of which he was capable. Her approach was hands-on and endlessly encouraging. It mattered not if you didn¹t know how to fit the eyelid beneath the eyebrow; Pern would help you get it right.

The first classes that she taught, about 1977, were held in the Elisabet Ney Museum itself, in the basement room. Now the office, this room was originally the dining room of the famous German-born sculptress's residence, until the mid 1980s, when the historic building was completely renovated.

Jim Fisher, formerly Museum Administrator with Austin's Parks and Recreation Department, filled me in with the history of that particular time. He himself took Pern's classes for a semester in 1977. He greatly admired her talent for "articulating the form" and declared that he "never saw a piece of hers that wasn't good."

A few years earlier in 1971, three serious sculptors had formed the Texas Society of Sculptors . . . Mary Paige Huey, Daniel Hawkins, and Mel Fowler. When Dan Hawkins began teaching at the Ney Sculpture Conservatory, interest in the study of sculpture grew, and the membership in TSOS grew as well, again, thanks to Pern's urging all students to join. In August of 1987, the Elisabet Ney Association was persuaded that increased enrollment called for help with the bookkeeping, and Pern's friend and sometime student Shirley Kivell was hired as director of the Conservatory. More teachers were added to the faculty as the years went by, making a wide variety of class offerings possible and attracting greater enrollment.

As for the Texas Society of Sculptors, its brave beginning was followed in the mid-1980s by a period of low tide. Membership declined, activities were curtailed, and only a handful of devotees continued to attend the meetings. But Pernella Smalley worked undaunted to keep that small group together. She and our late esteemed member Edna Conner, another wholeheartedly committed sculptor, would publish a one page newsletter each month, bidding the few actively participating members to meet for "bull sessions," often in Edna's house in Tarrytown or the home Pern shared with her husband, UT drama professor Webster Smalley. TSOS survived, and went on to become the strong, active group it is today.

And Pern kept on sculpting, always interested in depicting human character, through the medium of clay, always responsive to anyone who approached her for a portrait bust of husband, mother, child or grandchild. Many are those who remember her openheartedness, her helpfulness as a teacher, and her warmth and good humor as a friend.

This issue is dedicated to the memory of Pernella Smalley,
beloved artist and sculpture teacher in Austin. In this picture,
Pern enjoys a moment with the late sculptor and teacher Jon Formo at her retirement party in 1995.
Photo by Kelly Borsheim.

The late Pern Smalley, right, with sculpture model Allison Goldberg,
left, in November 1994. The clay portrait of Allison is by Pern's
former student Kelly Borsheim. This piece was Kelly's first effort as an
adult sculptor. Photo by Kelly Borsheim.

Above: Rodney Bohl's unfinished demonstration piece in limestone. This is a piece that he takes to various art shows, working on it a little at a time. Photo by Rodney Bohl.

Above: Christopher Robbins' booth at SculptFest 2005, featuring ceramic sculptures. Photo by Theresa Bayer.

Texas Oak

by Lorin Friesen

Herb Goldman's Solo Show

Images sent back to Earth from the Hubble Space Telescope inspired Herb to do a number of his recent sculptures. Herb's works communicate his reverence for forces of nature and astronomical phenomenon. Cosmic Incubator I represents the birth of stars, Cosmic Incubator II, the formation of nebula and Hurricane/Galaxy, the motion and energy of galaxies and hurricanes.

Above: Herb Goldman's "Cosmic Incubator II" in resin/bronze. 7' 6" w. Copyright 2002 Herb Goldman.

Bob Coffee Shows & Exhibits

Pogue Sculpture at Liberty Christian School

by Marti Pogue

R. David Mattiza Installs Life-Size Cougar Sculpture

by Theresa Mattiza

Kelly Borsheim Gives Sculpture Talk to Students

Above: Cedar Creek, Texas-based sculptor Kelly Borsheim speaks with students at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Dallas, Texas, about her life as an artist. Photo by art teacher Cindy Lewin, copyright 19 September 2005.