Lake Tahoe Community College art professor David Foster examines a clay piece with student and South Lake Tahoe native Andy Thron at LTCC. Thron, a third-year student, described Foster as both a teacher and a friend. Jonah M. Kessel / Tahoe Daily Tribune
"It's such a commitment when you cut marble - you can't put it back," said David Foster, chair of the Lake Tahoe Community College Art Department.
The art form imitates Foster's life.
"It's interesting how small decisions direct your path," Foster said.
The longtime LTCC fixture is about to redirect his path once again. He's retiring at the end of the academic year - sort of.
"I'm not really retiring," Foster said. "I'm transitioning from full-time professor to full-time sculptor."
Foster's LTCC career almost didn't happen at all: He nearly bagged the job interview when he discovered the college was in a motel. But he went to the interview anyway, and over the past 32 years created an art department from scratch.
When Foster was hired, LTCC's first president, James W. Duke, asked him to design a curriculum and facilities for an art department. He completed his assignment just recently.
Artist's reception for David Foster
When: 5 to 7 p.m. April 25
Where: Haldan Art Gallery, Lake Tahoe Community College
The show will feature Foster's photography and works in bronze and marble.
David Foster in the upstairs gallery of his South Lake Tahoe art studio. Dan Thrift / Tahoe Daily Tribune
Foster's vision and creativity will be on display from April 25 to June 21 at the college's Haldan Art Gallery when the sculptor concludes his teaching career with an art show.
His wife, Joann Foster, said he's given much of his life to teaching, and now it's time to focus on his art, though she said she jokes around with her husband about the cost of his art materials.
"Most men talk about their expensive wives with shopping; I have a very pricey husband," she said.
Five years ago, David Foster said, a cubic meter of pure white statue marble cost $5,000. He has traveled to Pietrasanta, Italy - where Michelangelo lived for a short time - to carve and purchase marble. Foster even exudes the Michelangelo mystique about his work.
Foster, who is retiring from teaching, will dedicate himself full-time to creating art. Dan Thrift / Tahoe Daily Tribune
Foster said he develops a relationship with the stone before he makes the first cut and doesn't bring preconceived ideas to the outcome.
"Every block has something hidden inside of it," Foster said. "It's the artist's responsibility to release it."
The process can take months or years.
For his piece "Sentinel," Foster first drew 119 sketches of his ideas. From those sketches, he selected eight and made marquettes - small clay prototypes.
And then he began to carve, and carve, and carve ...
"Sentinel" took 1 1/2 years to complete, Foster said.
Though he's looking forward to his new artistic freedom, Foster said he'll miss students and sharing ideas - though he'll continue as an adjunct instructor and continue his study-abroad classes.
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