When I heard about a giant sweater sculpture coming to the Museum as part of our Pop’d from the Panel exhibit, I did not know enough to have any feelings about it. When Sweater arrived and was stored in four giant pieces in the tennis court for a couple of weeks, I still didn’t have much of an opinion about it.  But when I saw it being “stitched” together on its wood and wire frame, I gradually became curious.

Finally, standing on our balcony, 13-feet tall in all its golden glory it was a joy to behold.  Like so many other things in the Museum, it made me smile. It made me ask “why”, “what for.” The answer is pure pleasure!

In the days it took sculptor, Suzanne Morlock, and her partner Glenn to install the sculpture with help of the Museum staff, they became part of our Museum “family.” That is another marvelous aspect of art, the way it draws people together.  Suzanne demonstrated for visitors how she knit the material –  4″ mylar strips from which sequins have been punched – into a sweater using  3″ PVS pipes as “needles.”

We the made a video of her demonstrating her technique to install near the sculpture, showing Suzanne in the act of knitting the airy and glittery mylar and describing how she used the same “knitting” technique with other recycled material for other creations.

I have loved having the sculpture here and it was always one of the “must see” things for me to show my guests. I loved showing them the stretched mylar so they can grasp a little of Suzanne’s vision of creating something out of “discards.”  The sculpture was due to leave when Pop’d from the Panel was de installed, so I was delighted that it was able to stay up through the end of April.

Not only will I miss Sweater, but drivers along West Steele Lane
will miss it when they look up and don’t see it glistening in the sun.

—Jean Schulz