FLCC to open ‘Objects of Play’ sculpture exhibit Feb. 5

Artist Don Sottile is known for his statue commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s meeting with a young girl in the village of Westfield, Chautauqua County.

Finger Lakes Community College opens an exhibit of work by Penn Yan sculptor Don Sottile on Thursday, Feb. 5, at the main campus.

Sottile will share work under the theme “Objects of Play” in the college’s Williams-Insalaco Gallery 34. He will give a talk at 3 p.m. and greet visitors at a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Both the talk and reception are free and open to the public.

The artist is known for his statue commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s meeting with a young girl in the village of Westfield, Chautauqua County. The girl, Grace Bedell, had written a letter to Lincoln in 1860, encouraging him to "grow whiskers and her brothers would vote for him and he would look nicer." When the train taking Lincoln to his inauguration stopped in Westfield in February 1861, he was able to show Grace his whiskers in person.

Sottile also crafted the sculpture of Daniel Penfield, founder of the Monroe County Town, that stands at the intersection of Five Mile Line Road and Route 441.

“Objects of Play” features more abstract work and is on exhibit through March 13.

Sottile studied art at the State University College at Buffalo and the University of Siena in Italy. He has also taught art and designed and built furniture.

Gallery hours are Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

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