The Appalachian Summer Festival's annual Sculpture Walk will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 26, at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery, located in the lobby of Appalachian State University's Farthing Auditorium, Boone.

The winner of the 22nd Annual Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition will be announced. Nine artists from throughout the United States have been selected as finalists for this jurored competition.

Made possible by the generosity of longtime festival supporters Martin and Doris Rosen, the Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition is a national competition that continues a long-held tradition of showcasing the best in outdoor, contemporary American sculpture on the campus of ASU. The exhibition is curated by the university's celebrated Turchin Center for the Visual Arts (TCVA), and annually features finalists' works situated in outdoor, public settings across the university campus. Each year, a leading expert in the field of contemporary sculpture is invited to juror the competition.

Finalists for the 2008-09 competition are:

n Glenn Zweygardt, Alfred Station, N.Y. "Council Columns," steel, stainless steel, cast glass, bronze and enameled steel

n Hanna Jubran, Grimesland, "Earth, Fire and Wind," painted steel

n Sharon Collings Licata, Columbia, S.C., "Getting Back on the Totem," limestone

n Jon Mehlferber, Bristol, Va., "Maya II," concrete

n Duke Oursler, Statesboro, Ga., "Mute," steel

n Peter Frantz, Tyrone, Pa., "Repeating Ourselves to the Stars," root, steel and video

n Shawn Skabelund, Flagstaff, Ariz., "Brassing Out: Site-Specific Work," steel, wood, brass and pinesap

n Cathrin Hoskinson, New York, N.Y. "Tree and Sky," aluminum cut and painted

n Bill Vielehr, Boulder, Colo., "Tubular Text," cast and prefabricated manganese bronze and stainless steel

To preview each work, visit www.rosensculpture.org/exhibition.php4?competitionsid=22.

About the Juror

The 2008-09 competition and exhibition juror is Sarah Clark-Langager, curator of the renowned Outdoor Sculpture Collection and director of the Western Gallery at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, since 1988. Before joining Western, she was involved on both coasts in educational and curatorial roles at such museums as Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.), Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, N.Y.), Seattle Art Museum and Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute (Utica, N.Y.). Specializing in 20th century and contemporary art, Clark-Langager also advises many institutions initiating public art collections and policy.

The Western Gallery is a center for the display, discussion and exchange of ideas on critical issues in contemporary art from the region and from the national and international art scene. Exhibits, which offer a variety of artistic styles in many different mediums, change frequently.

About the Competition

Established in 1987 by Martin and Doris Rosen, the Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition serves as a highlight of An Appalachian Summer Festival, ASU's multi-disciplinary summer arts festival, and has gained an international reputation for featuring a remarkable array of contemporary sculpture. The commitment of Martin and Doris Rosen to the financial support and stewardship of the visual and performing arts at ASU is a long-standing tradition.

Over the years, the Rosens have ensured that ASU -- and Boone -- are home to artistic achievement of national merit. In October 1999, on the occasion of the Rosens' 50th wedding anniversary, their children established the Martin and Doris Rosen Scholarship to assist rising junior or senior art majors at the university. The Rosens have given much of themselves over the years to ensure the arts become established as integral to both the university and the larger Boone community.

The 22nd Annual Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition is an integral part of An Appalachian Summer Festival. Presented annually by ASU's Office of Arts & Cultural Programs, the festival is attended by more than 26,000 people. One of the nation's most innovative and highly regarded regional, multidisciplinary arts festivals, the celebration features the finest in music, dance, theater, visual arts and film programming.

Also featured are a multitude of educational events, including workshops for children and adults, lectures and seminars. The festival is committed to showcasing American talent, commissioning new works and building new audiences for the fine arts. For many years, the Appalachian Summer Festival has been named one of the "Top 20 Events in the Southeast" by the Southeast Tourism Society.

For more information and maps for self-guided tours of the sculpture sites, call (828) 262-3017, or visit www.rosensculpture.org. Guided tours for groups also are available upon request. The exhibition will be on display through March 1.

For additional details about the Turchin Center or the upcoming exhibition program, call (828) 262-3017 or visit www.tcva.org.