Copyright Danielle KrcmarDanielle Krcmar, artist in residence at Babson, puts the finishing touches on a mosaic obelisk, “Things Worth Remembering,” at Boston’s historic Forest Hills Cemetery. Created from steel and cement, the obelisk is covered with found pieces of ceramics, many from South Boston’s Carson Beach, as well as donated personal memorabilia. An obelisk often is a formal commemorative monument, but this more informal sculpture, says Krcmar, serves to connect the past and present.
Resting Benches
Copyright Danielle KrcmarOne of three “Resting Benches” at Forest Hills Cemetery from a project on which Krcmar collaborated with artist Lisa Osborn. Krcmar says the Victorian-style beds offer a place to rest and create conversation.
Favorite Things
Copyright Danielle KrcmarVarious objects and tools, which Krcmar sculpted from modeled concrete, hang from a tree in Boston’s Forest Hills Cemetery. Krcmar created the project, “Favorite Things,” in 2003 for an exhibit entitled “Revisited.”
Jesus and the Little Children
Copyright Danielle KrcmarIn 2007, the Massachusetts architectural firm of Cram and Ferguson contacted Krcmar for a series of reliefs, 22 in all, for St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Among them was a half-circle bas-relief, shown here, over an exterior door of the church’s facade. “Jesus and the Little Children” was first sculpted in Plasticine and then cast in concrete. Says Krcmar, “The architectural firm reached out to me because I had taught figure sculpture at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.”
Jesus and the Little Children (Detail)
Copyright Danielle KrcmarDetail from “Jesus and the Little Children,” a bas-relief at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Tennessee.
Pentecost
Copyright Danielle Krcmar“Pentecost,” which depicts a dove and takes its name from the Christian holiday, is on the facade of St. John Neumann Catholic Church. “I needed to represent Pentecost in a manner that was as streamlined as possible but would still work with the overall French Romanesque influence of the building,” says Krcmar. “The dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, and the flames represent the presence of the Holy Spirit coming to the apostles.
Fragment House
Copyright Danielle KrcmarKrcmar created “Fragment House” in 2012 for the Dartmouth [Massachusetts] Natural Resources Trust. The welded-steel and beach-glass house is currently on display at Highfield Hall and Gardens, a historic site on Cape Cod in Falmouth. “Each fragment of beach glass, which I found at Carson Beach in Boston, was individually tied into a wire framework to create the walls,” says Krcmar.
Fragment House with Mary Pinard Poem
Copyright Danielle KrcmarA poem by Mary Pinard, professor of English at Babson, is etched in the window opposite the door of the beach-glass house. “I admire Mary’s poetry, especially ‘Song Net for an Estuary,’ 15 linked sonnets about her brother, who drowned in a tragic tugboat accident,” says Krcmar. “Because ‘Fragment House’ was commissioned as a project for the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, which is adjacent to an estuary, I was excited to respond to the site together with Mary.”
