Liberty Hill’s 1976 International Sculpture Symposium and Park

A Liberty Hill local artist, Mel Fowler, a painter and sculptor returned from a European International Sculpture Symposium in 1975. Inspired, he endeavored to organize the first symposium of its kind in the southwest. Fowler considered Austin, Texas but an other local of Liberty Hill, James Vaughan convinced him to hold the symposium in Liberty Hill, Texas. The International Sculpture Symposium took place in the fall of 1976 in celebration of the United States bicentennial. The small town hosted 25 sculptors from 6 different countries.

Many of the artists resided with local families who provided room and board for the two months that the artists created. Local organizations provided meals and local businesses supplied the materials for the sculptures. Concrete, steel, native granite and native limestone where the primary mediums used. Without state or federal capital, the Liberty Hill community welcomed people of different cultures and countries into their homes and hearts. At a time when people felt separate, the Liberty Hill community became a part of something lasting.

These time worn monuments to an artistic endeavor stand today in Liberty Hill, Texas. Many of the stone towering pieces are located in the Lion’s Foundation Park at 355 Loop 332 others are on the adjacent Liberty Hill Intermediate School’s property.