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Photo by John Eaton
Dave Driskell of Wellsboro is shown with Deco IIa, a sculpture created by his mother, Lucile.

Now on display in the front window at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro is Deco IIa, a sculpture by Lucile Driskell.

Her son, Dave Driskell of Sadie Green Sales fame, owns Deco IIa. “My mother had two shows at the Gmeiner Art and Cultural Center in Wellsboro prior to passing away so she was an artist who was known in this area,” he said.

“Amy Welch, the Deane Center’s executive director had heard about her work and wanted to take a look. When I suggested that she display one of the sculptures, Amy was thrilled by the idea and we decided to make it happen,” Dave said. “It hasn’t been decided how long Deco IIa will remain on display, but at some point we may switch it for another of my mother’s sculptures,” he noted.

“Some of the sculptures will remain with different members of the Driskell family and close friends, but the majority are for sale,” he said.

Deco IIa represents one of Lucile’s classical abstractions with curves and spirals in wood and aluminum in a vivid color finish and moveable arms and joints that offer the opportunity to position it in several different ways to view it. The curves and spirals anticipate how daylight and artificial light will create different shades and tints through this sculpture as well as around it. Lucile was exceptional in the way she used empty space and implied lines, inviting people to gaze into the interior of the sculpture along its flowing lines and enticing forms. Her work replicates the energy and momentum of dynamic movement.

For more than 50 years, from the 1960s until her death at the age of 92 on Jan. 16, 2017 in Wellsboro, Driskell had a long, productive career as an artist. Her work includes paintings, painted reliefs, prints and sculptures.

A native of New York, Driskell was a graduate of Finch College in Manhattan. She took additional courses at La Jolla Museum of Art in California and lived in Italy for seven years working closely with a foundry and a stone sculpture studio in Pietrasanta, on the coast of northern Tuscany. She also studied printmaking with Michael Ponce de Leon at the Arts Student League in New York, where she was a life member.

Driskell’s lengthy and notable resume, includes exhibiting in solo, group and juried shows, frequently in New York City and Philadelphia. In addition to many private collectors, her work is in the permanent collection of the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia and in the corporate collections of Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo), Exxon Mobil Corporation, Hoffman-LaRoche, Macy’s and Subaru.

Diane Eaton
dianetn@ptd.net
(570) 724-3800