Tightly bundled together in intricate patterns and shapes, a new sculpture exhibit weaves its way through the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum. The exhibits’ featured artist, Patrick Dougherty, incorporates pieces made entirely out of sticks, a wall of well-used gloves and photos of past works. The exhibit opened on Saturday and will run until May 17, 2026.
“Patrick desired to have this exhibition in a season that is typically more slower for tourism up here in the mountains with the cold and the snow, because he believed that it would be a great time to welcome people to the high country and show how much of a cultural destination we are in all seasons,” said Asher Davidson, the marketing and communications coordinator at BRAHM.
According to his website, Dougherty is a “stick sculpture artist” and has been working in the industry for 40-plus years, starting his career in 1985. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1967 and has work featured across the United States.
His previous works include large outdoor sculptures and buildings made entirely out of sticks. BRAHM’s showing of “Pilgrimage” will be Dougherty’s premier exhibition with indoor pieces and smaller-scale sculptures made out of sticks.
“They tell a kind of classic tale where you look into the forest and a face looks back at you as some personification of nature itself,” Dougherty said. “I always say that I had to figure out what birds and beavers already know; sticks have an infuriating tendency to tangle.”
One of the main pieces includes three heads shaped out of sticks that take inspiration from the Celtic folklore figure, the Green Man. The heads represent the unique experience of childhood adventures within nature, and children’s ability to see beyond what is in front of them.
“It kind of invokes a very childlike wonder for me. I grew up in the mountains, and so playing with sticks as a child has always been something fun,” Davidson said. “It takes me back to a day when children used sticks as their first play tools and creative building blocks.”
Around 250 signed and worn gloves hang within a glass case on the farthest wall of the exhibit. Dougherty wore these gloves throughout his life; each one representing a different project of his. The signatures on each are from the volunteers who helped bring his pieces together.
“The work gloves, which have never been shown before — I think you can see the wear and tear on the gloves and the signatures of the volunteers, which none of these works would happen around the world without them,” said Marjouie Hodges, an independent art advisor and former Director of Strategic Initiatives at The North Carolina Museum of Art.
Alongside the wall of gloves and in-person sculptures are pictures of Dougherty’s past works, and the design process that went into making them. This portion of the exhibit showcases the vast range of his work and celebrates the larger pieces of his that have been solely outdoor projects.
“Patrick Dougherty has done works across the state of North Carolina, but nothing in this part of the state. And so we thought this would be a wonderful way to share his work with the Western part of North Carolina,” Hodges said.
