CONWAY -- By the second week of her freshman year at the University of Central Arkansas, Kaitlin Carter was already hard at work.
But instead of the library, she hit the woods.
The 18-year-old spent Wednesday tying cut-down trees together and loading them into a truck. She and about 150 others are volunteering to help construct a public art project made out of sticks that will be featured at UCA starting this month.
"I'm a country girl, so my grandma made me do this with her all the time," said Carter, wearing garden gloves.
In a sweat-stained T-shirt and jeans splotched with dirt, Patrick Dougherty, 69, emerged from the dense brush behind her.
The internationally renowned artist will build the stick sculpture as part of the school's artist-in-residence program. For $20,000, it will be the third public art project supported by the university.
"Y'all are doing exactly what I had in mind," he said, pointing to the bundles of trees and twigs carpeting the ground.
Dougherty is known for weaving tree saplings and other natural materials together to create giant sculptures. To date, he has built more than 230 pieces across the country and abroad. France, Oregon, Hawaii and Korea are among some of his latest stops.
Dougherty's sculptures take about a month from start to finish, which includes gathering the wood, designing the sculpture and erecting it. Debugging the trees, stripping them of leaves and drilling holes into the ground to mimic their natural roots is also part of the process.
Each of Dougherty's sculptures is site-specific, reflecting the topography of the community it's built in. Some of the sculptures look like baskets, others like windswept huts.
The design for the sculpture at UCA is not complete yet, Dougherty said. The piece, which will debut Sept. 20 in front of the school's Baum Gallery, will feature wood from ash, persimmon and willow trees.
"The material creates an evocative feeling, one of hunting and gathering" said Dougherty, a North Carolina native.
Because his pieces are constructed entirely of natural materials, they are also vulnerable to the elements. While most last about two years, they are temporary by definition.
He built one in 2012 outside the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. It has already fallen down. But the cycle of life is central to his work, Dougherty said.
"We are all in transient situations," he said. "We hope for permanence, but we only get temporary."
Obtaining Dougherty for a piece at UCA has been in the works for two years. The university's artist-in-residence program and private donations paid his fee.
Gayle Seymour, associate dean of the college of fine arts and communication, said Dougherty's work is worth the high price tag.
"Sticks are a material everyone can relate to, especially Arkansans," she said. "We are the Natural State, after all."
Dougherty's stick creation follows a light-and-sound sculpture featured in Fayetteville last fall. Colorado-based artist Jen Lewin's pieces The Pool and The Chandelier Harp drew about 4,000 visitors to Conway last October.
Such public art installations are good for the whole community, including the university, the city and local businesses, said Barclay McConnell, director of the Baum Gallery.
Above all, the UCA art project is good for morale, she said.
"The volunteers come from different backgrounds and are of all different ages," she said. "They're not just building a sculpture; they're building bonds with each other."
Metro on 09/08/2014