ARTISTIC VISIONS
PORTRAIT
of the ARTIST
BY WILLI MILLER
PHOTOS BY PORFIRIO SOLORZANO
The work of Fort Pierce sculptor Pat Cochran interprets what he believes the
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earth is trying to tell its residents. His solo exhibit at the Vero Beach
Museum of Art, held through Sept. 30 in the Schumann Gallery, exhibited
pieces with an environmental message and a touch of his subtle sense of humor.
Each one includes a globe of the world and illustrates the artist’s concerns about
the future of the planet. He began collecting the globes as a youngster.
Cochran works in a variety of media at his Shadetree Studio in St. Lucie
Village, where he casts bronzes for other artists and for himself, including a large
rose and an equally large hibiscus now in the Museum of Art exhibit. He recently
has ventured into concrete/mixed-media sculpture, with a towering, 14-foot-tall,
3,000-pound weather vane he hopes to show in Fort Piece this fall. His sculpture
“The Partnership,” created in collaboration with Vero Beach artist Ginny Street, is
on permanent display at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce and was
the first public works sculpture project in St. Lucie County. The artist is on the
board of directors of A.E. Backus Gallery and a member of Art in Public Places
committee for the St. Lucie County Cultural Affairs Council.
Pat Cochran’s Shadetree Studio is close to
the railroad tracks on Old Dixie Highway in
St. Lucie Village. Behind him are some of
the tools of his trade as a sculptor.