JOSEPH WHEELWRIGHT (1948–2016)

Vermont- and Boston-based artist Joseph Wheelwright has died, according to the Boston Globe’s Bryan Marquard. The creator of the Sleeping Moon, installed in Dorchester’s Peabody Square, Wheelwright received his BA and MFA at Yale and RISD, respectively, and helped found Humphreys Street Studios and the Boston Sculptors Gallery. Wheelwright often made work from natural materials, using granite, ice, and even uprooted trees, sometimes forming them into what he once called “sentient beings that are there communicating with you, if not cavorting.”

Wheelwright staged a 2003 show at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, which, according to the Globe’s Cate McQuaid, celebrated “both humanity and nature.” Added McQuaid, “There’s a dark side to both . . . which Wheelwright generally skirts in favor of humor and familiarity.”