By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — In its fourth year, the Salisbury Sculpture Show has helped transform downtown Salisbury into an arts community, a Greensboro sculptor says.
When organizers began planning for a sculpture show five years ago, “things were pretty slow downtown,” said Jim Gallucci, who helped the city create the project and has two pieces displayed this year.
Since then, the arts district has grown, with more artists moving to Salisbury every year, he said.
Downtown currently hosts 13 art, music and dance studios, as well as multiple galleries.
Gallucci said the presence of sculpture in downtown Salisbury and the growth of the city’s arts district have an indirect correlation.
“It’s making available cultural opportunities,” he said. “When you see art in a town, you look at that town differently. You go back and re-examine it. That’s all any town wants, to say ‘Look at me, I’m a great place to live.’ ”
Artists and contractors on Friday completed installation of the 17-piece 2012 Salisbury Sculpture Show. Paid for by private donations and grants, the show features 15 pieces downtown and two at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.
It runs through the end of the year.
Pieces are chosen from an open application process, and the work represents a range of sculptural styles and materials. Lynn Raker, a city planner and landscape architect, oversees the project and places each sculpture in a site to best complement the piece and its setting.
The city will offer a brochure with a walking tour of locations. The Post will publish a map in April.
Gallucci’s installations are “Cotton Column” at the Trolley Barn and “Oak Leaf Horizon” at the intersection of Fulton and Innes streets, St. John’s Lutheran Church corner park.
Researchers have studied sculpture shows in Michigan, discovering the projects can help turn around towns and small cities, Gallucci said.
“That’s the power of art,” he said. “We are just rediscovering it.”
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.

2012 Salisbury Sculpture Show

“Currently Nesting” by Jeannette Brossart of Durham at Rowan Public Library
“A Little Less Than Meets the Eye” by Bill Wood of Fairfax, Va., at library lawn
“Stranger in a Strange Land” by Pilkey at library front entrance
“FigureScape III” by Robert Coon of Vero Beach, Fla., at Salisbury Police Department
“Unit” by Jason Emory of Asheville at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
“Articulated Balance” by Graham Erisman of Greenville at RCCC
“Oak Leaf Horizon” by Jim Gallucci of Greensboro at St. John’s Church corner park
“Cotton Column” by Gallucci at Trolley Barn
“Carnival #6” by Don Green of Winston-Salem at Visitor’s Center
“The Cycle” by Hanna Jubran of Grimesland at VantageSouth Bank
“Evolve” by Mark Krucke of Garner at Easy Street
“Night Lotus” by Dale McEntire of Saluda at brick planter at Liberty and Main streets
“Winged Gourd” by Susan Moffatt of Chapel Hill at Farmers Market
“Cherokee” by Charles Pilkey of Mint Hill at Rowan Museum side yard 
“Needles Eye” by Jim Weitzel of Forest City at Magnolia Park next to Rowan County Administration Building
“Amber Gateway” by Glenn Zweygardt of Alfred Station, N.Y. at First Bank