Belvoir Castle Artist-in-residence

The Duchess of Rutland first welcomed award-winning sculptor Laury Dizengremel as artist-in-residence for the Belvoir Castle Estate in the autumn of 2010.

Since then, Laury has worked in a variety of ways to engage a number of stakeholders in the surrounding communities. In 2011 she conducted workshops in 15 schools in the three counties which surround Belvoir Castle (Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire), presenting a wider view of sculpture to over a thousand students in assemblies and engaging hundreds of them in hands-on sculpture activities which resulted in two large-scale collaborative works, "Belvoir Log Henge" and a "2012" tribute to the Olympics.

That year, Laury also initiated a UK wide sculpture competition for Fine Art students, inviting as judges the Duchess of Rutland, her Private Secretary Harvey Proctor and the director of Broomhill Sculpture Gardens, Rinus van de Sande as well as a local farmer. The students selected and a few other invited guest artists created 10 sculptures which were then located along the Grantham Canal's towpath between the bridges of Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir and Stenwith. The "3Rs: Reclaimed, Recycled, Raw" sculpture trail offered the local community a unique cultural experience (with views throughout to Belvoir Castle). It also afforded an opportunity for the artist-in-residence to engage local businesses and residents by asking for donations to make the artworks and to host the sculpture symposium participants for meals.

Altogether, along with the three sculpture portraits of Lady Violet, Lady Alice and Lady Eliza created for the Duke and the Duchess, Laury's artistic efforts in the community on behalf of the Belvoir Castle Estate have been and continue to be a positive addition to the area. Alongside her residency here at Belvoir Castle in 2011 Laury spent time working on new sculptures in China for a corporate client in the USA and a public artwork for Ulsan in South Korea, while in 2012 she visited China again as a special guest of Hebei province officials to create a public artwork in stainless steel entitled "Reflections of Zhangjiakou".

Laury worked recently on exciting projects such as a sculpture of Newton's Colour Wheel for the Gravity Fields Festival in Grantham, conducted more school workshops in the area, as well as working on another bust for the Manners family - that of the Duchess herself. She also created a lifesize willow horse, now sited on an area of the estate called Frog Hollow where the guns go for elevenses, and is currrently working on sculpting four more willow horses.

The artist-in-residence welcomes further requests for community workshops, as well as private students for master classes, after-school or school holiday workshops in her studio in Knipton. A special week-end or one week sculpture Master Class for a maximum of 10 participants at Belvoir Castle can be organised by request.

Laury is always happy to receive enquiries for private, corporate or public commissions. Recent ones include the busts of a chocolate cocker spaniel and of a black labrador for shoot guests of Belvoir Castle and the bust of a banking executive in London.

Her website: www.laurydizengremel.com

E-mail: ask@laurydizengremel.com

Direct telephone: 01476 879071

Mobile: 07725 555048