Artist with local ties launching career
Artist Stephanie Revennaugh (center) received the Marilyn Newmark Memorial Grant from the National Sculpture Society. Pictured with her are Michel Langlais, NSS President and Amy Kann, NSS First Vice President. Contributed | Beacon
COSHOCTON – Stephanie Revennaugh stepped out in faith and took a chance on pursuing a career in art and now her work is nationally and internationally known.
“She was gifted since the time she could pick up a pencil,” said Sharon Revennaugh, Stephanie’s mother. “She also loved horses and had a natural talent for drawing them.”
Stephanie, who is now 43, went to Conesville Elementary School and spent her 10th grade year in Coshocton, but her parents, Sharon and Les, were missionaries so she graduated from a missionary school in Bolivia. She spent two years at a college in Kentucky and then decided to move out west to Colorado. It was while working with horses in Colorado that Stephanie realized she wouldn’t be truly happy unless she pursued her heart’s desire to become an artist.
Sharon said in 2010 Stephanie received a scholarship to study art in France, where she stayed for six months.
“That’s when she transitioned from a traditional lifestyle to one where she fully put herself in her artwork,” Sharon said. “I compare it to taking a leap off a cliff with no visible means of support, but her Dad and I told her we would do everything we could to help her.”
It was around this time that Stephanie also discovered she had a deep desire to sculpt. She then went to Scottsdale, Ariz. to study the topic and while there was invited to attend a two week session on sculpting in Montana.
“She packed her car and figured she would either be there for two weeks or forever,” Sharon said. “She now lives in Livingston, Mont.”
Stephanie creates horse sculptures and in 2011 she created her first five pieces, three of which tell her story. “Search” shows she was at a point in her life that she was trying to decide what she wanted to do and then realized it was sculpting. “Focus” depicts her attempts to block out other aspects of life and focus solely on her passion to create art. “Reach Recklessly” shows her desire to keep taking steps toward her goal.
“When she first took her pieces to the foundry to have them cast in bronze they asked her how long she’d been working,” Sharon said. “When she told them they were her first pieces they said they couldn’t be beginner’s pieces. They thought they looked more like a mature sculpture’s.”
Sharon explained that in fine arts sculptures decide how many additions of their pieces will be cast.
“Her number is 21 and there can be special additions but then they can decide to break the mold,” she said. “That’s what helps make them valuable because they will never be done again. She has two pieces now that are complete editions.”
Some of Stephanie’s art was displayed back home in Coshocton in 2012 at the Pomerene Center for the Arts. In 2014 she was invited to the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale, Ariz., which helped her work become known in the art community in the United States and overseas. Then in 2016 she had a piece accepted for the National Sculpture Society Annual Show. From that she then had a piece selected for the Marilyn Newmark Memorial Grant.
Marilyn Newmark bequest a substantial gift to the National Sculpture Society’s endowment; a portion of which was intended to fund an annual award of $5,000 recognizing a talented animal sculptor, to be given in perpetuity. This year, for the first time, the winner of the Newmark Grant will also receive a half-page ad in Fine Art Connoisseur magazine (value: $2,150) and a quarter page ad in Sculpture Review magazine (value: $650).
Three jurors are selected every year to review applications for the Marilyn Newmark Grant. This year’s jury of selection included notable animal sculptors Louise Peterson, George Bumann, and Robert Guelich who selected Stephanie for the award.
Stephanie now works out of her studio in Livingston, Mont., but recently traveled to New York to receive her award.
“This was huge for her, especially since she’s just been sculpting for six years,” Sharon said. “She’s already had people contacting her wanting to know about her art. It’s bringing her a whole new audience for her artwork. My message to parents would be if your children are talented in an area figure out a way together to make things happen for them.”
For more on Stephanie’s art, visit www.stephanierevennaughfineart.com.
Category: Arts & Entertainment
