Eustis Estate
Gifts of the Three Wise Women
JC Dellenbaugh
This tri-part sculpture is a feminist interpretation of the gifts of the Three Wise Men. Women around the world are undervalued, often treated as second-class citizens or even chattel.
We have learned during the pandemic that the gifts women bring are vital, even critical to the continuance of civilization. We nurture through Sustenance (breast feeding and the preparation of food), Life (which we bring forth from our bodies), and Wisdom (which we share with one another and pass down to future generations).
I have celebrated diversity and universality by depicting these women as arising from different areas of the globe—Polynesia, Africa, and the Mediterranean Basin—to highlight our sisterhood.
Biography
I was born in Albany, N.Y., in 1948. I received a bachelor’s in fine arts from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pen., in 1969, but only started modeling from life in 1976 at the Johnson Atelier in Princeton, N.J. I continued my studies at Rutgers University Camden with a course in bronze foundry practice. I learned the technique of direct stone carving with hand tools at the Princeton Art Association in 1980. In 2008 I attended marble/Marble XX in Colorado where I learned to carve with power tools. I currently work in my home studios in Glastonbury, Conn., and Center Harbor, N.H., and at the Carving Studio/Sculpture Center in West Rutland. Vt. I have been married to Geoff Dellenbaugh for 51 years.
My work has been part of many solo and juried exhibitions in New England, mid Atlantic region, and the upper Midwest. Internationally, my work has been included in exhibits in Canada and Russia. Over the past several years in CT my work has been chosen for the Nor’easter Exhibit at the New Britain Museum of American Art and CT Artists at the Slater Museum in Norwich.
I have won numerous awards in various venues over the past 40 plus years. To list a few: CT Women Artists Association, Society for CT Sculptors, the Philips Mill Art Association New Hope PA, and at the Salmagundi Club in NYC—the Liskin Award, the Isenberg Award, the DeBellis, and Richman Awards. I have also won the top award, the Montana Memorial Prize given by the Hudson River Art Association, Hastings-on-Hudson NY. In 2017, I was awarded the Gibbons Prize for Excellence in Sculpture by the New England Sculptors Association.
My work in is many private collections as well as publicly owned by Goodwin University in East Hartford CT, Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania, St. Paul’s Church in Chatham NJ, and Christ Church in Raleigh NC. Currently three sculptures are leased by the Golden Beech Institute in West Hartford CT.
I have been a participant in Sculpture Walks in Mason City IA, Newburyport MA (Best in Show Award), Mankato MN, Hopkins MN (Peoples’ Choice Award), Meredith NH, Franconia NH, Sioux Falls SD, and Eau Claire WI. In the fall of 2018 I was honored to be selected to demonstrate sculpture techniques in the studio of Daniel Chester French at his home, Chesterwood, in Stockbridge MA.