Published 07/11/02 in issue #23 of The Hook.

Artist of many media, David Breeden is most widely known around the region for his stone sculptures, often carved of the distinctive soapstone quarried for decades in Schuyler and Alberene in southern Albemarle County.

Through the many changes of ownership and direction of the mill and that business, David Breeden has maintained contact and bought, cleaned up, or scavenged tons of native Alberene soapstone.

Breeden has created thousands of tabletop and small garden sculptures. His first local monumental, "Family," installed in 1981, still stands in front of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

David and Elizabeth Breeden with Family

Since that time, David Breeden monumentals have been placed at private and public sites, not only in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County, but in cities from Pittsburgh to Rio de Janeiro and Negril. Breeden reports that he has earned between $3000 and $160,000 each for the design, fabrication, delivery, and installation of public monumentals.

Breeden has more public pieces on display in the area than any other artist, among them "Faces of Belief" at the Unitarian Church on Rugby Road, "Tutorial" at Alumni Hall, "Professor in Conference" at PVCC, "Benefactoress" at the Kluge Children's Rehab Center, and "Unfolding Minds" at Cale Elementary School.

So, what if David Breeden wanted to enter a piece for consideration by ArtInPlace? His wife is the president of the nonprofit organization. Her expertise comes from almost 30 years of running Breeden's art business, Biscuit Run Studios, and arranging the financial, delivery, and installation details of his many projects.

"They all told me I would have to excuse myself from the deliberations," says Elizabeth Breeden with a little grin. ­Susan Tyler Hitchcock

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