Sandy Graves
Sandy Graves’ sculptures have been featured in periodicals like the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Public commissions include a portrait of the founder of the Lowell Whitman School, a life-size student for the Scottsbluff Public School Foundation and a piece for the Steamboat Springs Chamber of Commerce. Sandy is also one of the founding members of the Artists’ Gallery of Steamboat Springs with 26 other members.
Sandy was born in Denver, Colorado, and grew up in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. She first displayed her work in county fairs as a 4-H member. Continuing her education, mostly at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, she worked in many different mediums, but sculpture was always a favorite and came naturally to her.
After graduating from CSU in 1993 with a degree in Fine Arts and a concentration in sculpture, Sandy began work as a high school art teacher in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She continued in that field for 16 years, devoting her other hours to her own art.
The artist cast and sold her first bronze in 1993, and the rest is history. She has continued to work in the medium both realistically and abstractly.
Artist’s Statement:
“I see bronze sculpture as being a friendly and beautiful medium. I enjoy watching the public interact with art. In sculpture, viewers can walk around it, touch it and become part of the artistic expression in a very personal way.
I chose art education as an occupation because I love interacting with people and have focused on the figure as my sculptural subject for the same reason. The figure is special because people react to it in such an instantaneous and personal way. I hope to remind viewers of special moments and memories of our human experience. Recently, I have been working in the abstract with horses being the subject. It is a familiar subject for me as I owned and rode horses as a young girl. They have always been in my art.”
