HOWLAND, Ohio – Renowned sculptor Carole A. Feuerman has long been interested in the zodiac.

“I found it interesting and started learning it years ago,” she said. “Astrology is really math. You measure the distances between the planets. We are affected by the planets and the distance between people. Some people we are attracted to and some we are not attracted to, and it’s because you have planetary connections with that person.”

In her foundation’s new exhibition, emerging and established artists interpret the mystical power of the zodiac through sculpture, painting and multimedia works.

The world premiere of the exhibition, “Zodiac: Mysterious Power of the Creative,” opens today at the Medici Museum of Art and runs through Jan. 11.

The New York-based Feuerman is known globally for her superrealism sculptures. Two of her pieces now grace the lawn of the Medici and have become signatures of the museum.

Feuerman has donated the pieces – “Justice” and “Poseidon” – to the museum. They are part of a larger $1.5 million contribution of the artist that will be used to create a sculpture garden on the museum’s front lawn featuring works by major artists.

The opening of the “Zodiac” exhibition at the Medici coincides with the world premiere of another landmark exhibition that tells the story of the Rockefeller family. “From Oil to Art: A Rockefeller Legacy Rooted in Industry, Innovation and Imagination” also opens today.

Feuerman has developed a close tie to the Medici in recent years, through her professional and personal friendship with Katelyn Amendolara-Russo, executive director of the museum.

“Carole and I have become dear friends, and it’s meaningful to me to present this exhibition for her foundation,” Amendolara-Russo said.

Feuerman referred back to the zodiac to explain her new, but strong, link to the Medici.

“I must have a really good [planetary] connection to Katelyn, to Ohio, and to the artists who are here,” she said. “I am so proud of them and interested in what they do.”

Amendolara-Russo now sits on the board of the Feuerman Sculpture Foundation, which helps underrecognized artists.

The “Zodiac” exhibition is a first for the foundation and something that Feuerman had been thinking about doing for many years.

“All my life, I wanted to be an artist, but it was always hard to get a gallery or museum show,” she said. “Now that I am successful, if I tell an artist that their work is good and I want to help them, it does much for them because they respect me. They look up to me, and I look up to them, and it’s a thrill to see what the mythology and astrology means to them, and how they interpret it.”

Amendolara-Russo met Feuerman when she was studying in Italy. She had admired her work and would later ask her to have an exhibition at the Medici.

After the “Zodiac” exhibition closes Jan. 11, Feuerman would like to see it travel to other museums.

She would also like to expand it. “I think it should be open to other artists so our mission of helping underrepresented artists [is served],” she said.

The “Zodiac” show includes the work of 42 artists, most of them emerging. The established artists in the show are Feuerman, Donna Dodson, Pilar Zeta, Barbara Segal, Abby Modell, Evelyne Brader-Frank, Dan Morgan, Adetomiwa A. Gbadebo, Maria Pavlovska and Nadine A. Ghaffar.

Pictured at top: Carole A. Feuerman stands in the gallery at the Medici Museum of Art where the “Zodiac: Mysterious Power of the Creative” exhibition is on display.

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