Sculptures donated to Fossil Discovery Center
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Rochelle Noblett, executive director of the Madera County Arts Council, and local sculpter Jose Guadalupe Garcia are joined by Dillon Gudgel, left, of the Fossil Discovery Center upon delivering two of Garcia’s sculptures to the center.
An anonymous donor who spotted sculptures of a sabertooth cat and a wolf at the Circle Gallery bought the artworks for the Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County.
These true-to-life sculptures were created by Jose Guadalupe Garcia. According to Garcia, he is very proud to have two of his many sculptures donated and displayed at the Fossil Discovery Center. Linda Cole, of the Fossil Center, said “We are very proud to receive them. They are perfect. The sabertooth cat is so life like and abstract. He has all of the qualities of what he’s supposed to be.”
Garcia had been sculpting eight years without selling any of his work. Then he met Rochelle Noblett, executive director of the Madera County Arts Council.
Noblett met Garcia after someone from Code Enforcement called to say a complaint had been filed that he had too many sculptures in his front yard. She went by to see what the problem was and instead saw how talented he was. After seeing his work, she had Garcia bring as many sculptures as he could fit into the Art Gallery, which is run by the arts council. He has sold six pieces in the two months he’s partnered with Rochelle and the arts council.
One of the pieces Garcia had sculpted could not fit through the door of the gallery, so it was put on display at the Madera County Library. The library is having a “Name The Dragon” contest for kids to try to figure out a suitable name for his sculpture.
“I put my heart in every piece I make,-” Garcia said. Garcia expressed that whenever he sells his sculptures, it is hard to let them go. In the end, every sale is worth it for Garcia.
