Rhode Island School of Design
acquires sculpture

The Rhode Island School of Design recently acquired a sculpture by alumna Isabel De Obaldía from Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art. The sculpture which shares the name of her recent one woman show at mam/fa, Captive Spirit, was acquired for the permanent collection of the RISD Museum by their board of trustees. This acquisition is in keeping with the tradition at RISD to promote modern and contemporary Latin American artists and to complement the Nancy Sayles Day Collection of Latin American Art. Furthermore, it fulfills RISD's mission to purchase works by their alumni.

Writing about the sculptures of De Obaldía in The New York Times (Dec. 17, 1999) critic Grace Glueck observed that they have "a semblance of antiquity" and "glow with a gentle translucence that gives them a presence more spectral than physical."

In addition to being selected for the permanent collection at RISD, Isabel was recently made a Member of the International Council by the Board of the Pilchuck Glass School.