Gary Colson

Gary Colson is a retired art teacher, who lives in Culpeper VA with his wife Cindy. In Gary’s first five years of teaching he carved over seventy sculptures in stone and wood. He accepted the commission for the Outer Banks Totem in 2006. Gary’s experience includes two other commissioned stone sculptures. The Outer Banks Totem is his third commission and by far the largest. During Gary’s creative process for the Outer Banks Totem he traveled to the historic Italian village of Pietrasanta, Italy for a six-week sabbatical in November 2008. Gary studied marble carving by timeless artisans and observed their secret processes in Pietrasanta. This small village is where Michelangelo quarried his stone.   His absence required Gary to compress three summers of caving into 18 months. Gary lists his influences as Frederick Hart and Constantine Seferlis. Hart and Seferlis were artistic contributors to the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.   Gary’s creative talents will long be remembered by all those who visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina and come to see the Outer Banks Totem.

Education

1995 – 1999     Master of Interdisciplinary Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

1988                 B.A., Studio Art, Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA

Teaching Experience

1997 – Present Art Teacher, Liberty High School, Fauquier County, VA

Summers               Sculpture Instructor, Lord Fairfax Community College,

2003- 2005             Middletown, VA

Summers Art Instructor, The Governor’s School for the Visual &

1994 – 2000 Performing Arts, University of Richmond, VA