Category

Press

New from Carpenter Press: Model Home, Poems

By | Press

Model Home, Jay’s second collection of poetry will soon be available.  Here’s what respected authors are saying: “As you visit Jay Hall Carpenter’s Model Home, be sure to savor the window dressings, the freshly painted walls, the pine-beamed attic and that deeply dug root cellar.  Enjoy the rhyming sounds in the trees out back.  Pay attention to the whispers inside the garage — the cobwebs and spills.  Yes, his house of poems opens wide doors of yearning and wonder, hosts you and your memories with welcoming acceptance and with filled-full basins of understanding.  Especially enjoy poems such as “Like Kids”…

Read More

“Tower Talks” Cathedral Podcast with Jay Hall Carpenter

By | Press

Host Erin Murphy: “Welcome to this week’s episode of Tower Talks! In today’s episode, we’re talking to Jay Hall Carpenter – a sculptor and artist who has contributed a great number of gargoyles, grotesques and other sculptures to the Cathedral, though as I learned from talking to him, that exact number is up for debate. You probably know his most well-known contribution, the Darth Vader grotesque, but his work can be found throughout the Cathedral and all around the DC and Maryland area! Jay is also our first artist to be featured on the podcast, so we were particularly thrilled…

Read More

Becoming, Transformative Sculpture by Jay Hall Carpenter

By | Press

SOLO EXHIBITION: A solo exhibition of 20 works at the May Gallery of The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.  The sculptures include rare carver’s models created for the Washington National Cathedral and many other works, public and private, executed from 1976 – 2019.  The exhibition will run from Jan 13 – May, 2020.  Open daily to the public from 8 am – 10 pm M-F; 9 am – 8 pm Sat; 11 am – 11 pm Sun.  The May Gallery is located on the first floor of the Mullen Library, 620 Michigan Ave NE, Washington, DC 20064.  

Read More

“The Dawn of Vaccination” unveiled at MSU

By | Press

The Dawn of Vaccination, a new bronze sculpture by Jay Hall Carpenter, was unveiled on September 27th at the Michigan State University.  The sculpture honors Dr. Grace Eldering, Dr. Pearl Kendrick, and researcher Loney Gordon for their pioneering work in development of the vaccine for Pertussis, or Whooping Cough, in the 1930s and 40s. The sculpture is the gift to the university from the Peter and Joan Secchia Family Foundation, and it stands outside of the Michigan State University’s Medical Research Center in Grand Rapids.  Carpenter’s remarks at the event included: “. . . Today, before this beautiful building at…

Read More

CBS Sunday Morning Gets Gothic!

By | Press

CBS Sunday Morning has created a wonderful story on Gargoyles and Grotesques featuring many of the 100 or so Carpenter sculpted for the Washington National Cathedral. Sculptor Jay Hall Carpenter and carver Walter Arnold are interviewed:  https://www.cbsnews.com/video/the-art-of-gargoyles/ (4 mins, air date 27 October 2019).  

Read More

Two Poetry Readings In June, 2019

By | Press

EVELYN’S RESTAURANT:  Jay will be a featured poet this June 8 (2019) at 6:30, at Evelyn’s, 26 Annapolis St, Annapolis, MD 21401.  (410) 263-4794  http://evelynsannapolis.com EDGAR ALLAN POE HOUSE & MUSEUM  has invited Jay to read the following afternoon.  Jay will read for 45 minutes – 1 hour on June 9th, at 2 p.m. in this intimate, historic space.  Tickets are required for this event.  Books will be available for purchase.  (The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, located at 203 North Amity St. in Baltimore, Maryland, is the former home of American writer Edgar Allan Poe in the 1830s. The…

Read More

JHC Poetry Reading: May 13, 2018

By | Press

DiVerse Gaithersburg will be hosting a Poetry Reading on May 13 featuring authors Jay Hall Carpenter Paulette Beete Laura Shovan at the Gaithersburg Library, Gaithersburg Maryland 2-4 pm.  All are welcome.  JHC will be reading from his poetry book, Dark & Light as well as more recent work.  Dark & Light is available on Amazon and will be available at the event.

Read More

On Creative Crossover

By | Press

The recent publication of my book of poetry, Dark and Light, has me recalling the words of the great illustrator, Howard Pyle.  He said, “You must throw your heart into a painting and then climb in after it.”  Does it matter that he spoke of painting?  Does this not apply equally to sculpture, writing, or gardening?  Cannot a spark ignite all manner of materials, and is anything illuminated without that spark? Over the past forty years I have had the unusual gift of time.  As I have labored in the clay fields (my studio), my mind has been largely free…

Read More

Darth Vader and Other Stars

By | Blog, Press | No Comments

As Star Wars is back in the American conscience, I will relate my brief encounter with greatness, Darth Vader. I had the great honor and pleasure of sculpting for the National Cathedral from 1976 through 1996 and became the Cathedral’s first Artist-in-Residence. I designed in clay all of the 400 or so grotesques and gargoyles, angels and other decorations on the West Towers. In the 1980s, while its west towers were under construction, the Cathedral held a decorative sculpture competition for children. Word of the competition was spread nationwide through National Geographic World Magazine. The third-place winner was Christopher Rader of Kearney, Nebraska,…

Read More